Timisoara, Romania

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Hi Everybody!
Walt and I have just returned to Belgrade from Romania. We had a fascinating adventure! Just getting there was very difficult! We took a bus from Belgrade to the bus station near the border. At that point, we had to get a taxi and were able to do that by Walt speaking German to the bus driver. He understood enough to tell the taxi driver where to take us. The bus and the taxi were not allowed into Romania. The driver took us as far as to the Serbian checkpoint. We walked from there to the Romanian border - which was about a fourth of a mile. Next, we walked a half mile to a gas station. The owner was very nice but did not speak any English. He understood enough German to help us. He called a relative or friend to come drive us to Timisoara, the nearest town with a hotel. We paid his friend 35 Euros which we considered a deal for a 60+ mile ride. We rode through small villages and areas with cultivated fields. Many of the small homes looked very old. It rained throughout our drive which made the day a little cooler and more pleasant. The driver left us at the bus-train station. We wanted to make sure that we could find transportation back to Belgrade. We determined that a train would be going there on Sunday which would work out great for us. We walked around in the area and found a clean and convenient hotel. Even though Romania is in the European Union, they do not want Euros. We changed our money into Romanian lei. The agent would not take any new U.S. twenties. Everything gets to be a hassle!!! We walked to the City Center and found a beautiful promenade area. We watch two weddings take place on the square at the Orthodox Church. I went inside and took pictures along with all of the relatives. The older people sat on small benches against the wall and everyone else stood. At the end, the guests first. Next, the wedding party exited and formed an arch with their bouquets - male and female attendants. The bride and groom walked under the arch. The bride was handed a large red apple which she threw over her shoulder. It was caught by a male attendant. One bride left in a horse drawn carriage and the other in a silver BMW with flower bouquets on the hood. There were beautiful, old European style buildings in every direction. The center of the promenade area was landscaped with unusual patterns of flowers and shrubs. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a statue that is in mz hometown of Rome,GA. The statue of Romeus and Remus was a gift from the city of Rome, Italy. They had a copy of it. We were impressed with the beautiful city parks in Timisoara.
We were not expecting to be impressed with Romania. Yes, it is a poor country. It does have gypsies and some of them want your money. You probably need to be a little more careful here than in some of the other places we have visited on this trip. Eighty nine percent of the people are Orthodox and ten percent are Catholics. There are very few Muslims and Protestants.
I am sorry that this blog is so long, but I must tell you one more story. We rode the train back with two very nice young ladies. One is currently finishing up her doctorate in London and has studied at Columbia University in N.Y. The other is an art history graduate and is moving soon to N.Y. One girl was very tired from riding a previous train 15 hr. Walt offered to move to an empty car so she could lie down. All seats on this train were second class with no sleeper. Walt did not know that someone had planted smuggled goods in the car where he went. While he was in there, a young athletic type guy came into the cabin. He jumped up on the seat , quickly with a screwdriver removed an overhead vent, and took out about 6 packages. Walt could see that they were sealed in plastic and he could hear a metallic sound in them. A woman came to the door, took the packages, and quickly placed them in a large bag. At the next stop, a man was waiting with a car. The bag was handed off to him and he placed it in the trunk. The car moved away, and the train left. The two Romanian girls said that it is usually the Serbs who smuggle goods into Romania. This time, it had to be the opposite. Walt couldn't believe what he witnessed.
FYI - the Mafia is very much in action in many of these countries. The girls told us that the Mafia runs the ferry that we took from Italy to Albania.
We have an airplane flight tomorrow to Bar, Montenegro. It will be nice to get somewhere quickly.
E

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Comments

[Everette]

Smuggling
Everette forgot to say that the perp wiped his fingerprints cleaned from everything that he touched. I later saw him dropping the bag from the train and watched two men pick it up. They were watching me watch them. I guess that I am now on someone's hit list. Oh well, we will be out of Serbia tomorrow, but they may have long arms that reach west. Walt

[Karen Ray]

Finished your entire blog...
..... and learned that you two were in the Far East last Oct/Nov when Eric and I were traveling a very similar path! Bangkok, Singapore, HK, Vietnam, Taiwan, Okinawa, Nagasaki (amazing!), Shanghai and Beijing. We missed Laos, and Cambodia, and did not get to Xi'an, much to our dismay. Keep the fascinating info coming! You are providing great travel insight to your readers. Be safe!

[nicole]

thanks
hi i learn about you in history and i like you too you are likely to be the fasts laens on earth well done for being born on the earth