Viking Cruises

22 | Eastern Europe Destination Guide 15th-century court, now an archaeological site of medieval ruins. "Bran Castle in Transylvania is a fairytale," says Calaceo, "this is where the real Dracula lived." Like all the best guides, Calaceo has a knack for showing the star attractions, such as the 300-year-old Stavropoleos Church, as well as making time for contemporary highlights like Carturesti Carusel, once an abandoned 19th- century building, now a stunning bookshop, art gallery and cafe. "Much of our Old Town was destroyed in the 1980s under communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu," says Calaceo, "so we celebrate what we have left." I'm shocked to hear that Ceausescu's plans for a new Bucharest led to the destruction of almost one fifth of the city and the forced relocation of 40,000 people. Even more astonishing are Calaceo's stories about a group of defiant engineers who moved more than a dozen churches and other historic buildings along metal tracks to save them from demolition. "Rolling them a few metres each day you could hardly see them moving." We see the conclusion of Ceausescu's evil plan at the Palace of the Parliament, more a testament to a madman than a "Palace of the People". With its 3000 rooms, nuclear bunker and retractable glass ceiling wide enough for a helicopter, it was Ceausescu's dream to build the largest, most lavish civic building in the world. "More like the world's stupidest building," says Calaceo with a sniff. After ruling Romania from 1965, Ceausescu – forever known as the Butcher of Bucharest – was overthrown, tried and executed on Christmas Day 1989. The building (second largest after the Pentagon in Washington) remains unfinished. BULGARIA: OF FORTRESSES, fiends and fresh pies An overnight sail brings us to Viden in northern Bulgaria, one of the country's oldest towns where we remain docked for the day. While some choose to explore the medieval fortress of Baba Vida, I've signed up for two, half-day tours designed to bring me deeper into rural Bulgaria. "Viden is the poorest region of Bulgaria," says our local guide Albena Darakchieva, wasting no time in painting a grim picture of a country still recovering from 50 years of Soviet rule. "More V IDEN , BULG A R I A

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