Suffering under the heat wave
Trip Start
Apr 08, 2007
1
93
144
Trip End
Oct 01, 2007
Bucharest,
Romania
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
I got in on Sunday afternoon, having taken a maxitaxi in from Curtea de Argeş. Actually, it was a later arrival than planned, as we didn't leave until 11:30 and I was expecting it to be at 9! I had booked a night at a hostel out in the old, green suburbs east of central Bucharest, so I headed straight there after getting off near the Gara de Nord. While the surrounds were pretty and historic, I knew I was in for a rough night when they put me in a hot, stuffy dorm room with six other people. Even with the door open, there was little to no ventilation, and, on top of that, they'd put me on an upper bunk! Uh-oh.
Well, my suspicions turned to be correct. After an afternoon strolling around town, from the charming old quarters of the north to the stark, cold monumentalism of Ceauşescu's Piata Unirii, I tried to cool off in the common room downstairs. Not a whole lot of improvement there, so I decided to go for dinner instead and actually happened to find a fairly cheap place with AC. Absolutely enormous portions too - I ordered some penne and a salad and both came on huge platters. Anyways, returning to the hostel afterwards for a shower and the usual pre-bed preparations, I figured there wasn't much else to do than try to catch some shut-eye. Easier said than done. While the other roommates had yet to retire (and didn't show up 'til way later), it was nearly impossible to get cool and comfortable. I'd fall asleep for maybe 20 minutes, then awaken completely soaked in sweat. Change positions on the bed, then try to sleep more. Repeat ad finitum, all night. Then a group of Bucharest's infamous stray dogs go on a barking spree for half an hour in the middle of night. And finally three of the other "guests" roll in at 5am and proceed to shuffle around in their bags and talk in a loud whisper for 20 minutes. Fun.
Once 8am had rolled around, it was basically a waste of time to attempt to sleep anymore. The sun was up and it was only getting hotter. As for the hostel though, I was determined to be out of there ASAP. So, after a paltry breakfast and a failed attempt to wash up and cool off, I went to the nearest phone booth and started calling what few cheap hotels were around. I ended up having to go with the Hotel Carpati - a nice old place in the center where I'd stayed years before - at a much steeper 118RON (€38) a night. So much for staying under budget as planned, but at least I could get a good night's sleep (or at the very least a better one). Having arranged - and paid - for three nights at the hostel though, I had to go and explain the "change in plans" and get a refund. Fortunately there wasn't much fuss about it, so I was quickly on my way.
After switching to new lodgings, I spent most of yesterday wandering around the historic center of Bucharest and then down into Piata Unirii once more. I made it a point to find all the old monasteries and churches lurking in the backstreets and corners of the latter. Although I had explored the area several times before, I had never managed to locate two religious sites in particular: the monastery of Radu Voda and the little Church of Bucur the Shepherd. This time I finally worked out where they were. After following the slow-moving Dāmboviţa along a stretch of towering apartment blocks, I finally got to a small break in between, where the two structures lay hidden in the streets behind. Then, once I'd had a good look around, I made my way back to the middle of the Civic Center to visit the others. Antim Monastery, St. Apostles' Church and Prince Mihai Monastery all lurk in locations completely obscured by Ceausescu's megalomaniacal constructions, having just barely survived being systematized themselves. While it's incredible that they avoided demolition (by comparison, the much celebrated, historic Văcăreşti Monastery was razed to the ground along with numerous other churches), they now appear sad and forgotten, abandoned on the edge of a nightmare urban landscape. Though it wasn't my first time to visit, it's always stirring to see the state of Bucharest's once gorgeous historical core.
After the little tour in the heat, I decided not to push myself too much in the afternoon. Instead I stopped for lunch and then tried to telephone Mayu from a call shop up near Piata Romana. Unfortunately, the whole neighborhood was out of power when I arrived, so I was out of luck. So from there I tried to get a hold of my old Brānduşa, who's living now in central Bucharest with her partner. We then arranged to meet up in town just off historic Calea Victoriei and then retreated to the relative cool of her apartment. It had been five years since we'd last seen each other, so there was plenty to catch up on. Her partner, Giacomo, turned out to be a very friendly and comical guy, so it was easy to get to know him. He also managed to set me up with a way to call back to Mayu - the internet phone program he uses on his PC actually allows for free calls to fixed phone lines in Japan! So, Mayu and I got to have a long conversation for the first time since she flew out of Athens . . . very nice indeed.
Brānduşa, Giacomo and I went out for dinner last night at a beautiful old beer hall in the historic center called Caru cu Bere. I'd already walked by it before and imagined it to be an overpriced tourist restaurant. On the contrary, most things on the menu were quite reasonable and they even had their own in-house beer available in full 1-liter mugs. The place oozes with atmosphere, so it was a fantastic place to spend an evening out. Then at the end of it all, Giacomo insisted on paying! More than I really counted on or needed, but I suppose it was a welcome gesture after all the money I was shelling out at the hotel. In fact though, I don't have to shell out from here out. The two of them invited me to stay at their place from today, so that should help significantly in getting me back on financial track. Romania is really surprising me with how expensive everything's become!
Anyhow, as I stated before, the heat has only gotten worse as of today, so I've done precious little outdoors. Other than hoof it over here from the Carpati with my pack, I've stayed in and enjoyed the fresh air-conditioning. Tomorrow it's supposedly going to improve, which is good; I don't want to spend all my time in Bucharest sitting indoors. But it's nice to take a day off on occasion, especially when it's pushing the mid-40s Celsius outside. Hopefully this is the worst of it.
