Blogs from Bucharest, Muntenia, Romania, Europe - page 3

Well day 2 of my summer adventures ended up getting off to a late start. I ended up getting to bed around 2am - a combination of the overwhelming head, the snoring Pakistani in the bunk next to me and Louise messaging me kept me up - so after getting dressed and having breakfast I left my accommodation around midday. First stop was the train station to stock up on some more bottled water (I have never drunk so much water before!) and then I was off to figure out how to get a bus ticket. The first lady at the ticket office I approached just ended up yelling at me in Romanian (not she what/why she was yelling?). The next lady was slightly more helpful, and by that I mean was able to get my ... read more

Wednesday July 29, 2015 – The train arrived in Bucharest on time, at 6:15am. I’m not a fan of arriving so early, but this time I had a hostel to go to, so it was not a problem. I got some money at an ATM and then took the metro to the hostel. I had to walk about 10 minutes, but the directions were clear. This hostel is small and is an apartment where the owner and his mom live. There are two rooms, and the one I am in is for four people, but I will have it to myself for both nights, which is great. It also comes with a hot breakfast. I took a shower and relaxed a bit and had breakfast, then headed out at 9:30am to find and meet the 10:30 ... read more

Up early as we wanted to skip Bucharest traffic (which I completely understood now!) had breakfast (they had fresh red peppers slices at breakfast so I grabbed a handful for snacking on the coach later!) and asked Hendrik about the possibility of my clothes. He immediate said no, as clients often leave clothes behind to ‘throw away’ so its company policy to either throw them out or if the staff want they can keep. I was flabbergasted (while understanding at the same time) as I knew mine were neatly folded and tucked away; hopefully NOT looking like garbage or unwanted. But he said he would phone the ship; but little to no chance they still existed. I was crushed; not only at the monetary value lost, but again all my fav long sleeved shirts/dress tops and ... read more

The worst you can take away from people: their hope. Many years ago I crossed this country. Till then it was the worst country I ever saw. Everyone try to steal or scam you. Prostitution on every corner and corruption by police and border crossing. After many years and experience I concluded that in the end you can't blame this people. The worst thing was taken away from them. Their hope. The hope for tomorrow and no one who's reaching a hand to help for a better future. Today Romania it is not more the Romania which I remember in my childhood. Especially after this visit, my view to Romania and Romanians has been completely changed. As it was a business trip, instead of a report day by day, I report more the highlight of the ... read more

I've been living in Bucharest for 18 years and I tend to walk through it without looking around much. At some point, I noticed that there are some wonderful buildings in this city and that, even though most of them are not very well taken care of, there are still plenty of things to see here. This is more of a photo album than a trip and I hope it will grow over time. There are plenty of beautiful things in Bucharest that I haven't seen and plenty others that I've seen too often and became used to pass by without a second thought. I intend to change that.... read more