I hardly expect you to rush online to book your flight to
Bucharest, but you won’t be disappointed if you do. Here are ten reasons you might consider a Romanian holiday.
1.
Bucharest: "Little Paris" has art, architecture, food, and
fashion.
2.
Cheap lodging: If you avoid the international chains you can score a room
in the center of Bucharest for $70, half that outside the capitol.
3.
Food:
Dinner for two in Bucharest with wine or beer for $30. You can get by for half that in the country.
4.
Language: Despite the communist years, Romanians don’t use
Cyrillic. Most people speak pretty
good English and if you know a little Spanish, French or Italian, you can make sense of
the signs. Lots of English TV
stations, too, including CNN.
5.
People: Romanians are friendly and helpful. They’ll smile and joke even as they
overcharge you. And you will smile
too. Young women are fashionable,
old crones are a sight and all the guys smoke.
6.
Art:
It’s not the Louvre but Bucharest has a fantastic art museum with some
really good Romanian artists, like Frederick Storck and Cecilia Cutescu-Storck.
7.
World Heritage Sites: Eastern Orthodox, Greek Catholic,
“painted churches,” “old wooden churches,” and medieval “fortified monasteries”
combine history, religion and art.
And there is the Danube Delta, too.
8.
Scenery: Beautiful (but bumpy) country roads, wonderful mountain vistas, charming
rural villages will keep you occupied.
9.
Time travel: You will swear you have journeyed back 100 years when you
see the horse drawn carriages, hand-made brooms, old women gathered around the
communal well and so many other sights from bygone days.
10. It’s easy: Romania is so different from other places you have seen but
somehow feels almost familiar. Can’t
explain it – you’ll have to experience it for yourself.
Oh, and let's not forget Dracula!
