Blogs from Bucharest, Muntenia, Romania, Europe - page 11

So close, but still not visited. Romania was always interesting to me and seemed like worth visiting. Similar culture, recent history and other facts make the mentality of people living there similar to the one over here. Beside this, my dad’s parents and family were originally from Banat, so I wanted to visit some of it as well. Not all roads lead to, by all my roads start from Belgrade, as the starting point for all my trips, so far. Not only because of trains departure from there, but also because of visas. Such a familiar situation: arriving in the morning to finish up visa issues and taking a train in the afternoon or evening. This time my train Belgrade - Bucuresti has departured at 15.55, just on time, with barely anyone on it (at ... read more

First, to clarify: Boulevard (self explanatory), Strada (Street), Calea (Way), Piata (Square)... Sunday, November 30 was election day. Monday, December 1, was a national holiday celebrating 90 years since Romania united its provinces (more or less). This is why there are a lot of flags out and about. I started a long walk from Boulevardu Tineretului, up to Piata Unirii, and then cut over to Strada Lipscani. I took lots of pictures from the streets around Lipscani, including Smardan, Franceza, Selari Nicolae, Doamnei, Hanul cu Tei, etc...Then, I got on Calea Victoria, passed Piata Revolutiei and continued up Victoria until I reached Piata Victoriei. I have included a link to a good map of Bucuresti, so you can get an idea of the layout: http://www.sapteseri.ro/en/map/bucharest/ It was a very foggy day and remember it is December, ... read more

In light of my comments made several months ago about my idea of travelling abroad to "do some good" I felt it was about time for an update. Since finally completing University (with a 2:1, I would like to add!!) I have found a job working at Barclays in Poole. The job is good and interesting, although not what I wish to do forever! However, despite any reservation I may have about it I can only think of it as a blessing because it has led me to meet a fantastically proactive, motivated, caring group of people who are known collectively as the Biggin Hill Romania Group. By plagiarising the Group's website I can tell you that the charity was founded in 1990 by members of St Mark’s Church, Biggin Hill. Since then they have been ... read more

Even a mother wouldn't say Bucharest is good looking. Our night train from Chisinau pulled in past foreboding grey suburbs, while everyone both inside and outside the grotty Gara du Nord station seemed to be whispering "taxi" in a highly suspicious manner. We had been warned by our Lonely Planet oracle to give these a wider berth than a crocodile with BO so, heads down, we headed for the sanctity of McDonalds. We had nowhere to go, anyway. We would stay within the golden arches for three hours. Our apartment would not be ready until 10am at the earliest. It was 6.30am, and we reasoned that wandering around a city where most things wouldn't open for three hours, with massive backpacks weighing us down, would be pointless. Fortunately, we found a copy of The Guardian on ... read more

Just a quick update while I'm killing time in the free internet room of the hostel. My bus out of Istanbul was sketchy from the start. It consisted of only myself and five Romanian ladies, all running some kind of illegal trafficking scheme. The bus employees were in on it too. They had bags full of knock-off Nike, Reebok and Adidas gear as well as a bunch of jewelry. They also bought way more than the maximum amount of cigarettes allowed at the duty free shops both at the Bulgarian and Romanian borders. They had me go in and buy the maximum for myself also. They also gave me some jewelry to wear in case the border patrol had any questions. Don't worry, that part was legal (I think). Despite the no-smoking signs in the bus, ... read more