Corbyn’s idea of a break? A week in Dracula country with Celtic fans
FAMOUS as the home of blood-sucking vampire Count Dracula, Transylvania is not renowned as a popular destination for British families on their summer holidays.
But perhaps it should be no surprise that Jeremy Corbyn opted for a break in central Romania this year – after all, he has enjoyed previous trips to former Communist Eastern bloc countries.
Earlier this month, the Labour leader and his third wife Laura Alvarez toured Transylvania for a week in a hire car, starting their holiday in the city of Cluj-Napoca after a three-hour flight from Luton Airport with Wizz Air on August 7.
During the flight, he met fans of the Scottish football club Celtic who were travelling to see their club play CFR Cluj in a Champions League qualifier.
They invited Mr Corbyn to the match that night and once word reached directors of the club that he was interested in attending, he was allocated tickets.
Arsenal fan Mr Corbyn posted a picture of himself and Ms Alvarez in the directors’ box from where they watched the teams draw 1-1. One supporter later tweeted a picture of himself with the Labour leader in a street near the stadium and joked that Mr Corbyn knew every verse of Broad Black Brimmer – a pro-IRA song sung sometimes sung by Celtic fans.
A Labour spokesman last night denied the claim, saying: ‘I think it’s a wind-up. It’s absolutely not the case.’
The Celtic directors were being escorted by Cluj-Napoca tour guide Cosmin Rusu, 43, who also became acquainted with Mr Corbyn.
Recalling the evening of the match, he told The Mail on Sunday: ‘ The head of security at Celtic asked me to hand three tickets to someone called Corbyn. I said, “It is an honour to meet you, sir.”
‘He introduced me to his wife, saying, “She is Mexican.” He was dressed in trekking shoes, a polo shirt and a casual jacket. I had never seen a Romanian politician in such an outfit.
‘During the match he was very excited and was cheering for Celtic. He said that he had been on holiday in Bulgaria last year and that this year he wanted to come to Romania. He asked me if I could help him with information and that he needed a map of Transylvania.
‘I think his wife was going to be map reading. He said, “My wife is responsible for all the technicalities of travel.” ’
Mr Rusu, who also works as a university lecturer, told Mr Corbyn that he could buy guide books written in English at a bookshop in the city centre. After the game, it is believed that Corbyn and his wife headed back to their hotel – the £110-a-night Doubletree Hilton – without joining Celtic fans who were drinking and singing in nearby Irish bars.
The following morning, Mr Rusu took the Labour leader to the book shop he’d mentioned the previous evening. During the 15- minute stroll, he explained some of the city’s history, mentioning King Matthias Corvinus, the 15th Century ruler of Hungary and Croatia who was born in Cluj-Napoca.
‘Mr Corbyn seemed to be amused that his name was similar to Corvinus,’ he added. After two days in Cluj-Napoca, Mr Corbyn and his wife are believed to have visited the medieval cities of Sibiu and Brasov, and the surrounding countryside which features forests inhabited by wolves and brown bears as well as the imposing Bran Castle known as Dracula’s castle.
Set on a rocky outcrop overlooking a village and fringed by the Carpathian mountains, the bleak 14th Century fortress inspired Bram Stoker to publish his Gothic horror novel Dracula in 1897.
The castle is now a major tourist attraction with more than a million people a year visiting its rooms packed with medieval torture and execution equipment.
Shunning more traditional Mediterranean holiday resorts would have saved Mr Corbyn a fortune – a three-course evening meal for two in a smart country restaurant in Romania costs less than £20.