Wallachia is a historical region in the southern part of Romania, picturesque due to its location between the Carpathian Mountains and the Danube River. Its rich heritage is attributed to the presence of the ancient Dacian kingdom, Attila's empire, and the Wallachian principality ruled by the famous Count Vlad Tepes, better known under the sinister name Dracula. All of this – along with beautiful landscapes and delicious cuisine – makes Wallachia a popular destination for tourists from all over the world. The variety of meat, fish, vegetable, and legume dishes, the passion for dairy products, especially cheese, and the delicious and hearty desserts – it is difficult to list all the dishes, so we will introduce you to the most iconic and appetizing ones. Try ciorba, a thick national soup, or soup with chicken broth and dumplings. Do you love meat? Then pay attention to offal sausage kaltabos, meatballs chiftele or parjoale, lamb meatloaf drob, skewers frigărui, fried sausages mititei, lamb ribs stufat. Rasol – potatoes, vegetables, and meat boiled in one pot. Romanians love meat dishes, so here are a few more dishes to try. Toba – stuffed pig's stomach. Tochitura – beef stew with tomato sauce. Varza Calita – stewed cabbage, which is prepared with pork, sausages, or poultry. Virsli – sausage made from kid or lamb meat with the addition of pork. Sarmale – stuffed cabbage or grape leaves. Do you prefer seafood? You can choose crayfish or even snails. However, there are many fish dishes in Wallachia, among which ragout placinta din peste and fish in brine – saramura stand out. Vegetables in the region are usually stewed or more often stuffed – peppers, zucchini, eggplant, cabbage, kohlrabi. And of course, the classic of Romanian cuisine – cornmeal mush mamaliga. There are several noteworthy cheeses in Wallachia that you should try. Cascaval – yellow sheep cheese. Telemea – white curd cheese. Urda – boiled sheep cheese. For those with a sweet tooth and pastry lovers, Wallachia offers a real treat. Try the bagels simit, donuts gogosi or papanasi (the latter with jam), pies cozonaci, crescent rolls cornulete. Wonderful are the chocolate cakes – biscuit Amandin and layered Joffre. Among alcoholic beverages, vodka, brandy tuica, fruit brandy palinca, and cherry liqueur visinata are common in Romania. Among non-alcoholic drinks, we recommend elderflower juice – socata. Visit the town of Curtea de Arges, enveloped in old legends. Here, at the Episcopal Cathedral, there is a spring with salty water. According to legend, the tears belong to the master builder Manole. He convinced the workers that for the safety and beauty of the building, a woman who first steps onto the construction site should be walled in. Ironically, this turned out to be the master's wife, who was bringing food to her husband. The workers did not give in to persuasion and did their job. The ruler of the country did not want to pay the workers, so he ordered the scaffolding to be dismantled. The masons could not descend and died trying to make wings from the remaining boards, and Master Manole jumped from the height and crashed where today you can see the salty spring. Targoviste is interesting for the ruins of the Princely Court, where Count Dracula himself lived in the fifteenth century. There are also notable architectural monuments – the Sunset Tower, the Small Princely Church, and the Great Princely Church. On the territory of Wallachia, there is also a special highway – the Transfagarasan, which connects the region with neighboring Transylvania. The road is considered one of the most difficult in the world and, at the same time, one of the most picturesque. It is said to be better suited for sports cars than ordinary cars – so steep are its turns. An average driver will find it easy to drive here only in summer during the daytime. Not far from the Transfagarasan highway, there is the notable Arges Gorge, above which rise the ruins of the Poenari Castle. The wife of Count Dracula threw herself from the fortress walls, not wanting to be captured by the Turks. A little further up the Arges River, it is dammed by a high dam, creating the artificial Lake Vidraru. The area is not only picturesque but also interesting for fishermen, where you can catch large trout. In the forest area here, there are plenty of wolves, wild boars, bears, hares, and the rare black roe deer can also be found. You can take hiking routes of various difficulties, including "forestry" paths, which involve the use of ropes and overcoming suspended ladders. However, if difficulties do not excite you, you can always just ride a motorboat on the lake.