Hello Everyone,
Romania is still a poor country, but things are steadily improving. They have joined the European Union to help their economy & standard of living, and have also joined NATO to help assure their independence from Russia. However, their national airline, Tarom, leaves a bit to be desired. We flew to Bucharest, from Amsterdam on Tarom. They used a very old “reliable” Boeing 737-800 that still had remnants of the old seat back telephones and ash trays on the lavatory doors. The lavatory light did not work and there was no toilet paper available. On this 2 1/2 hour flight they served no complimentary water. The airplane did have the upgraded curved wing tips. So, at least they are keeping the mechanics in good shape.
Bucharest, Romania is often confused with Budapest, Hungary. In fact, they still haven’t gotten over the huge gaff, in 1992, when Michael Jackson, on his “Dangerous” tour there, opened his show with “hello Budapest.” Bucharest has always been a “poor sister” to Budapest, but they’re steadily improving.
The jewel of Bucharest is the center historical district. It’s a square section of the old city that houses the most beautiful architecture from their early years. A nickname for Bucharest has been Little Paris, or Paris of the East. The name came from the fact that the builders of the old city tried to copy the architecture style of Paris, and it really shows. Many large ornate buildings have been restored to their original splendor. I’ve included a few examples in the photo gallery here at the web site link.
The old historical district is now the “cool” hangout place for the local “hipsters” and tourists alike. Sandwiched in between all the beautiful buildings, monuments and hotels, are hundreds of restaurants, shops and night clubs. The clubs appear to operate continuously, throughout the day and night. Our first night there, the music blasted, on our corner, until 6AM. Fortunately, our hotel, The Rembrandt [originally built as a Jewish bank], had been retrofitted with sealed, double pane windows that reduced the loud music to a bearable “muffle & thump” for sleeping. 👍
Much of the main city is loaded up with the typical buildings and monuments of the former Soviet style, what I call “Brutal and Massive”, that resulted from the many years of Russian occupation. There is a huge dancing fountain of note, that adorns a large runway leading towards the government buildings. And, they have their very own “Arc de Triumph” over a major street.
On the way in to town, from the airport, I noticed our Uber driver make “the sign of the cross” several times as we passed a church that was ringing its bells. Uber works very well here. It’s fast, reliable and inexpensive. You can take it around town for a couple of dollars a ride. On our second Uber trip, the driver continuously made “the sign of the cross” while driving. I was starting to get a little worried that we might be needing some Divine help to finish the ride. Oh, well…. I guess it’s safer than texting while driving!
For our first day out we had signed up for a “free”, 2 hour, Old City walking tour, from Freetours.com. They get volunteers to offer these tours in exchange for tips, at the end of the tour. It’s really a great system. We always do this wherever a tour is offered where we are visiting. It’s much better to give a nice tip to a good tour guide, than pay, up front, for something unknown. Our excellent guide, Anaid, walked us through the old town, explaining lots of things like, the origin and history of Dracula. She told us that Romanians are habitually late for everything. So, one of their early Kings, Carol I, had large clocks placed all over the city [many of which are still in use today] to help people be punctual. But, alas, the clocks only ever served to tell them how late they were.
After as many years and destinations we have been to, we still manage to find something delectably new every time we travel to a new place. While visiting a folk village, where they moved and reconstructed real homes and businesses from hundreds of years ago, we found a new treat….. a “honey cone.” It’s an ice cream cone filled with a mixture of unfiltered honey, bee pollen and bits of bees wax. It was delicious. The only caution is that when you eat the cone down, the honey wants to overflow very easily. That can leave you with a bad case of the “sticky fingers” before you reach the next wash stand. 🐝 🍯
Anaid, the tour guide, also told us that in Romania, the most popular vegetable is “pork” and she really wasn’t kidding. They eat some kind of pork every day. Their favorite is “Mici”, a 1 inch by 5 inch skinless sausage that they grill by the millions. Sometimes, all they eat for the entire meal is a bunch of Mici…. with mustard, of course and maybe some bread. We ate it 3 of the 4 days we were here. While waiting in line at the expansive public market, for some Mici, I noticed a big sign that read…. “Veni ,Vidi, Micii”….. I came, I saw, I ate Mici. Julius Caesar would have been proud.
We found the “Papansi“, the special cherry cheese doughnut desert we were looking for, at a restaurant and tried it. The experience was mostly disappointing. The cherry cheese covering was delicious, but the doughnut didn’t taste like any doughnut I had ever eaten. It was more like a bagel, than a doughnut. However, we did try a cherry flavored plum brandy that was very nice. They call it Dracula’s Blood. Very tasty after walking 10 miles around the city.
The best dinner we had in Bucharest was with Lorena & Vlad, through EatWith.com. We have used this service many times all over the world and have never been disappointed. You sign on through EatWith.com and connect with a local family that is willing to host you for a “traditional” ethnic meal [for a set price]. Lorena prepared wonderful hors d’oeuvres that were an unlikely combination from “fish egg salad” to “broiled pork chunks”, then served various cuts of pork prepared in a clay pot along with Polenta, and that, followed by two pies, plum and nectarine. Vlad provided “moral support” and stimulating discussion. They were both very conversational, and she knew a lot about the USA. Lorena said that when she was a teenager, in communist Romania, she came upon a book in English about the Kennedy assassination. It was The Warren Report from the presidential commission on the assassination, and she was so fascinated by it that she became a lifelong follower of the United States political system. She later discovered that books like it were sent “underground” to Romania, by the CIA, to help people in the Soviet block learn about the USA. We spent 3 1/2 hours with them and didn’t want to leave, but the time was very late and we had to catch an Uber back to our hotel. We will keep in touch with them.
If you like to take public transit, as we do, the handiest thing is sweeping Europe. It’s called “direct pay” and it works really well. Now, to pay for a transit ride, all you do is “tap” your credit card on the fare machine and it immediately charges your credit card for the fare. No approval, no signature, no nothing. To ride across town on the Tram line here cost 67 cents. I could even “tap” with ApplePay on my Apple Watch. I never had to take my credit card out of my [secret] pocket. I even tapped my watch once for 9 cents to get into a toilet at the bus station. Now, why can’t we do this in the USA? Well, a little bird told me that it is partially because the merchants only have to pay 1/2% to the bank when a customer taps a credit card, not 3% to 6% like the banks charge in the USA. These tap rates are regulated in the EU, but they are not regulated in the USA. The banks can rip your merchant any amount they want and they can’t do much about it…. except now, in the USA, they have started asking us to pay an extra 3% fee for using a credit card.
That’s about it for Bucharest. We’re headed next to Istanbul, Turkey for a couple of days before the Black Sea Coast towns of Safranbolu and Trabzon.
Carol has posted a blog about Bucharest that you will find at:
https://carolapucci-tips.blogspot.com/2024/09/bucharest-east-europes-hidden-gem.html
And, do check out the photos on the right. Just click the top one to start.
Later…………… your favorite travelers, Tom and Carol
Bucharest Photos
Click to Enlarge and Read Caption
