Hotel Monte Nelly Bucharest

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Yes, Romania is inhabited! With Romanians... and rroms...

NO, the capital is not Budapest (and you can tell that to most major artists coming for concerts here)!

NO, we do not have an infrastructure! Only 1 highway and three quarters...

For more detailed information please do visit Wikipedia and other related sites.



BUCHAREST: THE GOOD PARTS!

In the very ...

... her to the train station one day after I am supposed to leave. A facilitator from Germany, Magda, was leaving a day before me and Marius (the person who was driving) promised Magda and Olya already. There was a problem. I was left in the middle and no one was really helping me get to where I want to be, so the AIESEC chapter decided that I should go a day before my flight with Magda (so that Marius can drive only two times and not three) and I would stay with the National Committee ...

... building in the world after the American Pentagon. It's quite amazing to behold its sheer scale even if it was built at the whim of a man who could be fairly described as an absolute ******. Nicolae Ceausescu was without a doubt the worst dictator to emerge in the Eastern Bloc outside the USSR. He came to power in Romania in 1965 and, while he garnered some support in the West by occasionally not toeing the Soviet line, oppressed and tortured his opponents in some ...

... must have done well for itself as it now moved into this gorgeous villa with a huge balcony. A few others joined and it sure didnt feel like I left this place more than 7 years ago. Lots has changed...but it still is the old Bucharest with the same smells, its beauty and uglyness. A Romanian described it to me well..she said "Bucharest looks like a movieset"...All in all a great night. Never thought i was going to be back here and let alone arriving here on a bike, but ...

... so I was surprised at the quality and price in a bit of a tourist trap which was very popular with the locals. Service was terrible so went back to caru cu bere where the waitress asked where the German was and the service was terrible. Decided to drink litres as it was easier but the service was so bad I walked out of bar without paying. Back to hostel where everyone was asleep so I joined them. Went to the toilet up the corner in the night while sleep walking.

Out of the flatlands of eastern Hungary and into the hills of Romania! The hills are not as good for farming or covering vast distances by bicycle but quite interesting to look at while bicycling through. We could see how society took a step down with in the first hours of us crossing the border. The hay harvesting and bailing is all done by hand here. Even Grandma is out there with a rather large scythe. They stack the dried ...

... and actually figured my way around the system (easier than Athens) and got to the train station and managed that as well...cranky ticket agent but with the ticket in hand- back on the Metro then to Internet café to book a hotel in Budapest (I arrive at 5:40 a.m., hotel wont do me much good at that hour, but I plan to find it and sit in the dang lobby if I cant get into the room). A quick description of the Metro- the ceilings are painted black. The walls are a pale brownshit shade ...

... reboot itself. Earlier, Mart and I had been doing some talking about how we don't really pray for things the way that we used to, and I was saying that regardless, when something good happens, I am willing to attribute it to a benevolent God who's looking out for me, and can figure out what I need, even if I haven't specifically asked. This was one of those instances. The relief at having received my card back has colored the rest of the ...

... of (we didn't scream "DIE *****!!!" enough for their liking either). One girl, who was particularly fond of vodka, got rather intoxicated and decided that it would be a really good idea to urinate on Bogdan's bed before passing out in a pile of rotting apples. After the party, the girls snuck back to Jemima's place and Chris A and I hid in the loungeroom downstairs so that Bogdan wouldn't make us ...

... sehr schoen, ein Idyll. Die Siebenbuerger Sachsen, die diese Festung errichteten, hatten echt was drauf! Harmonische Gestaltung im Mittelalterformat. Wirklich, wenn ihr im Sommer noch nix vorhabt - auf nach Transsilvanien ("hinter den Waeldern") - so viele schoene Naturflecken, gutes Essen, freundliche Menschen. Weiter ging's in eine total abgelegene Stadt, die dennoch blueht, zum Mittagessen und Plausch mit "Alice's" Freunden: Odorheiu Secuiesc (fuer Freunde ...