Romania
ROMANIA | Thursday, 26 July 2007 | Views [231]
So despite the excitement on the border, I made it to Bucharest on time. Not to the bus station I was expecting, but I got pointed in the right direction and it wasn't too long a walk. Plus it was early morning and therefore the heat was still bearable and my bag isn't heavy. Incidently, the whole airflow backpack thing really, really works wonders.
Another great hostel: the Midlands Youth Hostel. Nice rooms, friendly staff and some kind of prize for the best free breakfasts so far. I arrived at about 7am and the guy just let me go to the bed I'd booked for that night. I'm also pleased to report that the tap water is entirely drinkable.
After a bit of a nap, I headed out to find food. Unfortunately, with getting money from an ATM (god bless Nationwide and their lack of bank charges!), I only had large denomination notes that no one wanted to change. It was really hot, I really wanted an icecream and okay, I admit it, I went to McDonalds. And I'm not sorry. The smell of those places takes me right back to the summer I worked in one. Brr. But I changed my note and got a chocolate McFlurry. Mmm textured algy.
I had every intention of going for a walk round town but it was really too hot to consider it. Instead, I stocked up on water and headed out to a park with some hostel folk. I spent a pleasant, lazy afternoon lying in the shade chatting with Scandaweigens. The second day, however, I did do a lot more walking. I wasn't going to be there long so I couldn't really let the weather stop me from seeing the place.
Bucharest seems to have a generally bad rep, especially from Romanians, for being dirty, boring and unpleasant. Now, it's not that green, it does feel hotter than other cities, and it's not as stunningly beautiful as L'viv or Prague, but it's actually really quite charming in it's own way. It's pretty clean, it's certainly not unattractive, and it does have some interesting bits and bobs to explore. There's the historic old town for a start which is, well, historic and old. The usual interesting buildings and so forth. I also explored further north, along the tree-lined avenues of the posh part of town. I only made it along to one museum but I was really impressed - the open air Villiage Museum. As far as I understand it, they've transplanted a number of homesteads, churches, mills and so on from rural areas rather than letting them be destroyed. They were mostly from the 18th and 19th Century, wooden and often beautifully decorated. I think there was some kind of craft fair thing going on, as there were lots of benches set up around the place with people weaving or carving or, y'know, getting their folk on. There were even handy drinking fountains up so I could refill my water bottle. WIN!
However, due to my dawdling in Czech Republic and Poland plus arrangements for meeting Doug in Slovakia in a few days, my visit to Romania was distressingly short. No time to even visit Brasov, so maybe do that next time. On the evening of my second day, I got the night train to Budapest.
On a final note, I'm sure you can imagine my trepidation about the impending border crossing. As it happened, the Romanian guard checked my passport, obviously clocked I was English, and all but clicked his heels together as he handed the passport straight back saying "Thank you, miss".
Tags: Culture
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