Bucuresti Bucharest

The story begins on a rainy April afternoon...

And since then, everything revolves around this dusty town.

Welcome to the balkans! (please read all)



They say "Romania, land of choice", we say " Romania - Land of jokes"

OR should it be: "Come to Romania, your car is already here!" ?



Enough with this mean comments!

I'm going to set things right, since that guy from "No ...

... and now the post communist period. Our guides have been so educated and also so amusing how they relate this terrible history with humor. So amazing how the war still effects the people still on a day to day basis. The Parliament Palace in Bucharest is unbelievably beautiful and huge and the most impressive structure in the city. Last day on the boat ... off to Turkey.

... Mr. Radu took us to the Metro for a ride on the underground system and then a nice long walk past many of the cities sights. We had fun looking at the make of all the various vehicles as we walked. As Mr. Radu did not speak English, there was not a lot of conversation, but when he showed us a building or sight and waved his arms animatedly, we were able to understand his point. Becca remained bummed out for several blocks after missing out on being ...

... the way, as to be honest you wouldn't have a clue what country you were in looking at the capital, with its many shopping centres, etc., which you just know many people living in this country have never seen or have any money to even spend in there - it is like two different worlds! Anyway, after our short visit to Bucharest, we are now heading for Bulgaria, to an English run campsite that was recommended to us by the New Zealand couple we met in Bran!

... My Socialist Republic. It has matching broad expanses of marble staircases flanking ceremonial entrances so Mr and Mrs Dictator could come down as a matching pair, singing all Rupert Holmes' 1970's classics. The largest one was rebuilt three times as the Ceaucescu's were just wee folks, and the stairs had to be made plenty shallow so it didn't look like they were too small for their grand digs. The Palace stares down the Boulevard Unirii: designed to be ...

... just how much Romania is not set up for travelers. This is a good sized city, there are big buildings, sprawling suburbs, a massive, western shopping supermarket (think super-Target), that sort of thing. We spent too much time wandering around this city and found one, count it on one fist, ONE hotel. We were pretty burned out at this point, having done 610km in 5 days out of Budapest without a break, so we're figuring to sleep in the next day, and take the bus or train to ...

In western Europe, motorways go around and between cities, while smaller roads take you into the centre. In eastern Europe, this rule is reversed, so the single-carriageway road I'd been happily following for hundreds of kilometers suddenly became a motorway for the last 10km, with no evidence of an alternative route. There was evidence of the motorway having been used by a horse and cart (actually only evidence of horse- cart inferred). I figured ...

... that same morning on the train we took, only one day earlier. They too claimed to have called the hostel to make a reservation (although none of the 8 people in our room or the hostel manager ever heard the phone ring), but were informed upon arrival that there was no room at the inn. A furtive wail let out and much chaos ensued. Complaints turned into demands which quickly escalated to little more than a playground style shouting match of did not did too. The dejected and ...

... Tepes' birthplace (now a tacky restaurant for tourists ofcourse!), and an incredible old German cemetry on the other side of the hill (apparently Sighisoara was originally a Saxon settlement). At the train station on the way home, Marie, Emily, and I met a couple of English guys here to renovate a holiday home. They introduced themselves by saying "I think I've seen you at the British Council before." This was a little embarrassing, as we do indeed spend several ...

... we told them what to do with their entry fee and found a back door. We wandered around trying to find somewhere reasonable to eat. There were some lovely older buildings, mansion style. Poor old things were really run down. Still, the city had a really nice feel to it. We saw some sort of monument that was quite new. It looked like a big piece of **** on a stick. Close by was the balcony where Ceausescu had made his last speech from in 1989. Not long ...