Letter: Typical Vlady tourist
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Sir: Having been lucky enough to spend a month in Transylvania this April, I was baffled by Carole Cadwalladr's article 'Transylvania for suckers' (28 May).
The castle at Bran, for instance, does not pretend to be the old home of Vlad the Impaler. It is named after him because he once owned it (though he never visited it). It is, however, a most impressive castle.
From the article, one would imagine Brasov to be an empty, decrepit, and depressing city. It is, in fact, extremely beautiful, lively, and friendly, as is the restaurant she mentioned in Sighisoara. I should imagine the reason Ms Cadwalladr had problems ordering tea there was that the waitress did not speak English. The Romanian for tea is ceai (pronounced 'chai') as Ms Cadwalladr would know had she been courteous enough to learn a few words of the language before visiting, or even take a phrase book. She might then have discovered how amazingly friendly and generous the vast majority of Romanians are and what a beautiful, welcoming, and fascinating country it is.
Yours faithfully,
PAUL YATES
Exeter, Devon
28 May
(Photograph omitted)
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments