I remember what I felt like when I first saw Mexico on my way from the airport to the hotel in a taxi. It didn’t feel like I found a great new home—I felt let down. It was different when I arrived in Bucharest. It’s a big city, old buildings, churches, some dilapidated and falling apart, others glorious, lots of graffiti… it’s far from perfect but vibrant. You can find anything you need here, it seems. I like that there are lots of parks in the city. And restaurants. The grocery stores have good quality produce, and the dairy selection is decidedly European—not just better than in Mexico, but also worlds better than in Canada. And that’s just my impression from visiting a couple of mini-markets in downtown…
Lesson #1: Do not take a taxi. The taxi drivers will rip you off. I paid 2-3 times the real price from the airport, and I only know that because a local told me. Take Uber instead – at least you’ll know upfront what you’ll pay, and they don’t know you’re a foreigner when the price is set, so you’ll pay what’s fair locally.
The nice thing in Bucharest is that pretty much everyone I’ve encountered here speaks English. It feels comfortable that way. I still have to get back to learning Romanian, at the very least as a matter of respect for the countrymen. I’ve responded to a few people in Spanish or German on auto-pilot here… total language confusion in my brain. I flew Lufthansa with many Germans from Mexico City to Frankfurt, plus the flight was delayed by more than a day, so they put us up in a hotel etc. Hearing so much German and speaking it got my brain into German mode again. And of course, I’ve been living in Mexico and speaking and trying to learn more Spanish for months (with the exception of my Vancouver visits), so that is also floating around in my brain. The bit of Romanian I’ve learned more than a year ago hasn’t quite resurfaced, so I will have to make a conscious effort for that to happen.
The first evening in Bucharest, I went out for dinner and devoured a huge rack of ribs with delicious coleslaw and fries which came with a garlic sauce, and I had a very nice Merlot on the side. I was hungry after two to three days in airports and planes. Then, I found a supermarket for water and some breakfast food. Being so incredibly tired, I made an effort to stay up until past ten to beat the jet lag as fast as I could, and I had a good night’s sleep.
It was a slow morning the next day, in the grip of jet lag. I wasn’t deterred and enjoyed it the way it came along. My explorations took me to the Old Town of Bucharest, and I wandered around looking at old buildings and churches and innumerable restaurants and bars. I’ve never seen so many gentlemen’s clubs, sex shops and “live nude” places (which I assume are striptease bars) where only men are welcome. I went into a few art galleries instead, and I loved Cărturești Carusel, a book store with several levels. They have English books alongside with Romanian books as well as other languages; I even found a German book section.
I visited the Mănăstirea Stavropoleos, an historic monastery in the middle of the old town. The inside of the church is covered with murals, walls and ceiling and cupola. It’s small but impressive, and it smelled like frankincense in the church, a strangely familiar scent I remember from visiting churches in my youth.
After walking around a bit more and seeing the Atheneum (philharmonic concert hall) from the outside, I returned to the Old Town and had a typical Romanian dish, mititei or mici, at the iconic Caru’ cu Bere—of course I couldn’t deny myself a beer there, damn gluten-free.
Based on my first impression, I think I like this city. Tomorrow, I will do my best to get up earlier and join a walking tour with a guide.
A few more impressions:
Hey don’t knock our dairy! It’s all we got! 🙁
How did you feel after the beer? Remember I sent you something that suggests for many people it is not gluten but many of the proteins in wheat!
Food looks great! How much in CDN $ for the rib meal?
Usually I sprinkle in a few words of the language but i don’t know any Romanian!
Have fun, be safe.
C
Ribs were about $20 CAD – it wasn’t a cheap restaurant on my first day. You can definitely eat for less here. A couple of days later, I went to a different restaurant and had a hearty soup and a beer, and I paid less than $8 CAD incl. tip.
Ok thanks! Ya it takes a while to find the cheaper places to eat! Looks good though
C
I am glad you are enjoying your new city!