Free Day in Bucharest
Trip Start
Sep 01, 2006
1
12
14
Trip End
Sep 11, 2006
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Bucharest,
Romania
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Free Day in Bucharest
The Wee Hours in Bucharest
Dear Readers:
I wake up this morning feeling like I smoked an entire pack of cigarettes last night. My lungs ache and my eyes are red, and I am truly regretting the two hours I spent at the gay club last night. I use the bathroom then go back to bed until my alarm goes off at 9:00am. None of the guys are in the breakfast room when I get there at about 10:00am, so I sit in a corner and glare at the people who are smoking nearby. Enough already!
I putter around in the room, check emails and update my blog
01 A Room With A View
. Then I write out all the awards for tonight's farewell dinner. I am sitting in my corner chair feeling like I really want to take a nap, but knowing I still need to go out and purchase some gifts for the clients. I don't really have any idea where to go, so I continue sitting in a state somewhere between dozing and contemplation.A phone call takes me out of my reverie, and it is a lady from group services. They are aware that several of us must leave the hotel very early before the breakfast buffet begins, and they want to know how many breakfast boxes to make. I think this is wonderful service, and a step ahead of me because I had earlier this morning been thinking about exactly this situation.
After working out the details I ask her for ideas about where to go shopping for some nice gifts for my clients. She tells me that on Sunday the only two good possibilities are the old mall and the new mall. I ask which she recommends, and she says the old mall, which is the first shopping mall in Bucharest. After hanging up I marvel at how the universe provides solutions in the most amazing ways. I had been lethargic and uninspired, and out of the blue the phone rings and someone provides me with a direction.
02 Parting Shot
I go downstairs to take a taxi, but first check out all the stores on the ground floor of the immense Marriott, hoping to luck into something. Everything costs a fortune, and there really isn't anything suitable-except a double shot of espresso for me from the coffee shop!
The taxi driver speaks fairly good English, and he congratulates me on the decision to go to the old mall instead of the new mall. He says that everybody likes the old mall better, and that nobody goes to the new one very often. In fact, he says, they don't sell enough food, so if you buy a meal there it is likely to be stale because the ingredients are old. He went to the new mall last Valentine's day. "Oh, with your wife?" I inquired. "No," he replied, "I left my wife at home and took my girlfriend." Ah, Romania! You constantly hear stories like this, followed by the explanation that life is short, and you must have fun while it is still possible.
As I exit the taxi he does me the favor of telling me where to catch a taxi back to the hotel so as to avoid the most expensive cabs. I thought that was nice, considering the fact that his taxi was one of the most expensive ones! But he said he had gone to Germany and taken delivery of the car he was driving himself, and that it was all his, and that he was deeply in debt to pay it off. I guess that was supposed to make me feel better about paying more than double the price I paid for the return trip.
The mall isn't anything special, but I find a great store with excellent photo books of various aspects of Romania that we have seen (the high mountain pass from the first day, the monasteries and churches, folk culture, towns, etc.). I purchase a variety of the books plus some CD's of a famous Romanian who plays the panpipe. One has the Four Seasons by Vivaldi and the other contains Romanian folk music. Each client will receive, in addition to his personalized award, one photo book and one CD.
The taxi back to the hotel is less than half the price, as I mentioned before, but the driver smokes and doesn't speak English as well as the first one did. Nor is the car very nice, so it proves once again that you get what you pay for.
Back at the hotel I decide who is getting what books and what CD's, then iron my shirt for tonight's dinner and shower and shave. I'm ready to roll.
I had on my program that the dinner would be at a particular restaurant, and I had announced which restaurant to my clients at dinner last night. However, we pull up unexpectedly to one called the "Count Dracula Club." I specifically asked that we not have anything more to do with Dracula on this tour, and express some dismay to the guide, who explains that the other restaurant was not available and this one had to be substituted. Hmmmm. We'll have to make some further inquiries about what happened.
We have a private room, at least, and the food is quite good. The appetizers include some hummus that is very heavy on the garlic. I'll be making great friends on the airplane tomorrow. The main dish is chicken with vegetables, and the desert is puff pastries and ice cream with berries.
Throughout the dinner we take turns sharing our favorite moments and experiences from the tour, and also hear from our driver and guide about their impressions of this group. They are both very amazed at how easygoing we are, and the driver says it was more like a vacation for him than work since he was able to see areas of the country he never visited before.
During quiet moments between courses I begin the awards presentations, and they are all very well received. I insert them here for your enjoyment, with the names of the guilty parties omitted. They fall under the general category of the "Blood Sucker" awards:
The Blood of the Virgin Award to xoxoxo for his refusal to profane his palette with wine-diluting water before, during or after dinner. Purity and propriety are among his secrets to a long and happy life.
The Communist Doctrinaire Award to xoxoxo for holding aloft the teachings of his beloved "Rough Guide to Romania" as the whole truth and last authority on the country. His dedication to this cause is directly proportional to the density of yellow sticky's with which he has festooned his dog-eared copy of this precious tome.
The Premature Carbonation Award to xoxoxo for getting so excited about finding non-alcoholic beer in primeval Romania that even his luggage got all moist. Such premature eruptions are prone to happen whenever you lodge anywhere outside the immediate radius of "Mile Zero."
The Re-Routed Turkish Invader Award to xoxoxo for realizing that the bone-crushing Romanian roads render impossible his goal of conquering this unruly country through his sophistication, erudition, efficiency and orderliness.
The Vlasic the Impaler Award to xoxoxo for his sacrifice in ordering up a platter of very large pickles with which to finish off Count Dracula instead of the nutritious salad he would have much preferred.
The Stairway to Heaven Award to xoxoxo for climbing the "Virtuous Ladder" of knowledge and success from the "Hell" of his humble roots in New York, undeterred by family demons who would deflect him from his purpose.
The Soaring Bat of Romania Award to our driver, for flying us safely over the treacherous Romanian highways and byways, and delivering us back to Bucharest with all our parts and pieces intact.
The "Barb"er of Transylvania Award to our beloved guide, for cutting and trimming the English language into new and delightful arrangements of words, but for always making the meaning very clear and helping us get to know the real Romania.
Of course you had to be here to really get a lot of these references, but they are pretty funny if I do say so myself (with humble thanks to Jonathan for his help in their creation).
It is now about 1:00am, and I will need to hop in the shower and get ready for the transfer to the airport in a couple of hours. Four of us are leaving the hotel at 3:45am, so tomorrow I hope to get a lot of sleep on the plane. I'll be flying home again on September 11th, just like I did on that fateful day five years ago when I was returning from Spain. How much the world has changed in that span of time!
Romania has far exceeded all my expectations, and I can't wait to bring another group! Perhaps next time we will make the tour two weeks long and include the Black Sea and Bulgaria. It will probably be a couple of years from now. Maybe you'll be with me then?
Big hugs,
Dan
