After a long trip with little sleep we made it to Bucharest. We met up with one of our other travellers (Estella) from Peru (now living in the US). We took a taxi for 30 lei (approximately $9 US) to go 17+ km. CHEAP compared to the US taxi rates. The Lei is the national currency, also called Ron. Apparently, a few years ago the Lei became so large with multiple zeros that they dropped the zeros and changed the name to Ron, but everyone still uses Lei. The exchange rate is a little more than 3lei:1$. We stayed at Villa Zorba where we had a small apartment with 2 rooms, 2 living areas, and a kitchen all for 6 people. Plenty of space! It was well kept and in a fairly convenient location. The weather was cool and rainy the first 3 days we were there. Temperatures in the low and mid 40s. Definitely glad we brought our rain jackets!
When the rest of our clan arrived (Gramma, Teresa, and Rosa) on April 18th, we went out to dinner at a lovely little restaurant down the street from our apartment called Gaudi. We enjoyed soup and pasta and our first Romanian wine made with a Romanian grape (feteasca neagra). It was a smooth bodied red that paired perfectly with our tomato based soup and pasta. Adam conveniently stumbled on a wine shop where we met two lovely people, one of whom is from England and spoke extremely fast. We went back the next day and bought a few different wines from the region! All were around 44 lei which is less than $15 US.
The next few days we spent walking....lots and lots of walking. I have to hand it to our other travelers (all over the age of 60), they did great. We must have walked over 5 miles each day. We walked everywhere rain or not. Our 1st full day we visited the National Museum of Art which is in the original royal palace. We saw rooms and rooms of Romanian paintings, drawings, and sculptures. We also saw Revolution Square where in 1989 the communist party was overthrown after mass murder was ordered by Caeacescu (communist dictator). It was a sorrowful place where many innocent lives were lost. It was this event in 1989 that gathered the people to action to take back their freedom. Bucharest has a very sorrowful past, but it appears they are recovering. We also saw the Romanian Atheanium which is a large and elaborate theater where the symphony plays. We toured this building and it was incredibly beautiful. The theater holds only 800 people but it looked like much less. It was an intimate and antique building. In the theater there is a mural that stretches around the auditorium wall that tells the history of Romania. Beautiful!
The next day we walked down to the Lipscani District that has a variety of vendors and restaurants. Here they were selling art, traditional candy, and crafts. One of the unique things they do in Romania for Easter is they hand paint eggs. These are extremely elaborate. Easter in Romania was different as the majority of the country practices Eastern Orthodox. They had a variety of church services from Friday to Sunday. We were never able to actually sit in one; however, we did visit a couple after a service and they were all very quiet and reverent. I did not see the outward celebration that we see in the Protestant culture back in the states. They did celebrate Easter with egg decorations in the town squares called (piata). We also saw an Easter breakfast at the Hilton hotel for 195 lei/person roughly $65/person. Needless to say we had a granola bar instead! Haha! They did decorate with rabbits and baskets similar to the states.
The entire city was full of extremely expensive stores like Armani and Gucci. Their sidewalk displays were elaborate and beautiful.....you would certainly see us pointing in awe at the displays as we walked by. Let's play a game.....can you spot the tourist?
The culture is extremely unique. They have a mix of gypsies, well-to-do society, and what we would call middle class, just as in every culture. Their clothing is also unique, but all very different. People watching is extremely fun!
We also visited the Parlamentary Palace which is apparently the 2nd largest building in the world second to The Pentagon. Needless to say, it was huge! It was closed for tours the day we visited, but we did get to marvel at its size and intricate architecture.
Last night we had dinner in the district and afterward stood and watched a gypsie duo play music. They had a violin and an accordion and they entertained for hours. They played such pieces as Beethoven and apparently had them memorized. Amazing! Gramma and the other ladies decided they wanted to dance to the music and started dancing in the middle of the square. A man came and asked Gramma to dance and they danced together to the music. Come to find out, this man (a former priest) is from Ilinois and went to Knox college and grew up in Sterling and had Gordon Speer as a teacher! Small world huh!? We also met another girl who had come to the states for her job....to Moline because she worked for John Deere. Small world!
We are on our way to Brasov on a train as I type.......that's all for now!
Kristin Noel
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