Blogs from Bucharest, Muntenia, Romania, Europe - page 6

Whether his intention was to enhance his own personal glory, or the glory of the party, or perish the thought even the glory of the Romanian people; Ceausescu left the capital city of Romania a far different place than it was before he came to power. Bucharest was at the centre of his grand obsession to outdo the French, with it's main boulevard built slightly larger than the Champs D'Elysees, and the Arch of Triumph also larger than the famous Paris attraction. The sheer scale of the work recently undertaken in Bucharest may never be matched in Europe, and could only have occurred under a communist dictator. Sixty thousand houses were flattened and their tenants evicted to clear the land for the Palace of Parliament, with matching architecture in the new buildings lining the three kilometre ... read more

Bucharest, Romania has cheap flights leaving Istanbul Friday after work and returning Sunday evening. That’s just about the only criteria I have for weekend trips. I have never been to Romania before and really didn’t know much about it, but when another teacher told me that there was a deal on airfare and several others were going there for the Christmas weekend, I jumped on board. Istanbul has two great airports with flights all over the world. I live and work on the Asian side of Istanbul, so I keep an eye on cheap flights from the Sabiha Gökçen airport. Now that I feel like I’ve seen most of the sights in the city, I’m looking for ways to see more of the region. There is no Christmas vacation in Turkey since it’s a Muslim country, ... read more

Alrighty, I’ve had some complaints that nobody knows what’s been going on with my adventures this side of the world. Sounds like it’s time for a short update on what I have been getting up to, where I’ve been and what kinds of animals I’ve killed. I stopped blogging just before travelling, because hooking yourself to the duties of a computer-article just gets tedious. This is especially true when you’re on a farm and working from 7am – 9pm every day. I signed myself to WWOOF for a month in Romania. WWOOF stands for Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms also known as "Willing Workers On Organic Farms”. The second question immediately asked is, “Why Romania?” Well, I figured it was a country I would never have visited otherwise, it was totally random and it gave me ... read more

Three of us departed from Dulles at 8:45pm on Sept 9th ... flew through Heathrow, and arrived in Bucharest at 4:45pm Romanian time. We had very smooth flights; I slept many hours, and arrived feeling very refreshed. We got through customs easily and quickly, and Carrie and I were checked into our hotel by 5:30, with a 7 hour time difference. Door to door from Rob's house to the hotel was 17 hours. The taxi ride from the airport to the hotel InterContinental was very pretty, past parks, bike lanes, and many picturesque buildings. We drove down Bucharest's version of Champs-Élysées - complete with an Arc de Triomphe built after World War I. Our hotel is rather fancy, especially for the price. Every room has a balcony, all with great views. Our rooms are on the ... read more

No matter how good their English is don’t whatever you do ask a Romanian for directions. It was 9pm and the taxi driver explained that this is Unirii Square our agreed stop off so I could save 5euros instead of my hostel. A large square built during the dictator Ceausescu days that’s not far from my accommodation. The street I need to ask for is only one street away from the square. I see a church, which was a landmark, but in Romania churches are really not a landmark as there are so many. I ask a restaurant and they point a different direction to the taxi driver… Both are not the right way. I walk around back streets and main streets and end up at the same spot as before near a subway exit. There ... read more