Sunday, January 8, 2012

BUNA!

I recently read an article entitled 10 Travel Risks Worth Taking. I think I have successfully completed travel risk #1: Travel on a Whim.

As mentioned in my Switzerland Splurge entry, Spain has many puente breaks. Last year, for the December puente, I had booked flights to London, Dublin, and Edinburgh. However, ahum. Due to massive amounts of snow and ice and an air traffic controller strike on top of that, I never made it out of Spain.

This year´s December puente was the opposite.
Where did I go?

ROMANIA!

When I told people I was going to Romania, they asked me ¨¿¿Porqueeee???¨ (why?) Then, they asked ¨¿Con quien vas?¨ (with who?) Well, the answer is simple. After I arrived back from Switzerland, the only thing on my mind was figuring out where to spend the next puente. Enter Kristen. Kristen and I met each other last year when we both worked in Extremadura. (Kristen stlil works there!) We talked often but never had coinciding weekends to travel juntas. But, being in year two of the teaching program, we´ve been to many places. We´ve done all the touristy places.... Italy, France, Germany... we needed something extraño/strange/weird.

We went to my favorite website: Skyscanner, and decided to choose the cheapest foreign country neither of us had visited. Skyscanner has a ¨cualquier lugar¨ (anywhere!) option, that checks all airports in every country on the dates you choose... it´s incredible! Options included: Portugal (check!), Spain (check!), Belgium (Kristen check!), Switzerland (check!), and in the fifth cheapest spot: ROMANIA (no checks then!)!

So, we booked tickets the same day: traveling on a whim.

The only thing I thought I knew about Romania was that that is where gypsies are from... in Spain, there is a group of people who are said to be Romanian gypsies. However, I find that isn´t so true. A fellow teacher explained to me that these ¨gypsies¨ have been in Spain for a very long time and are really Spanish. However, they probably came from Romania a while ago in search for a better life. So, with this stereotypical image of the people in my head, we went to Romania only to find out that the people are nothing like this at all. And. Where do gypsies who live in Romania come from? ¨India¨ -- Tom, our Romania guide. So, gypsies are not just Romanian people. It is a way to refer to the people in your country who live very different lifestyles, travelers... while they are poorer people and live off what they can find/steal/get for free, Romania as a whole is nothing like this. This is the most important thing Romania taught me: stereotypes aren´t true; they are just stereotypes. 
Gypsy villages: views from the car
Gypsy living.
I have a sweet Romanian friend, Lety, living in El Gordo/Navalmoral who taught me how to say hello in Romanian: Buna! So, when we were boarding the flight in Madrid to go to our Romanian adventure, an older Romanian woman came up to me and started speaking Romanian.... I was very confused; when I didn´t respond, it made her confused too, as she had thought I was Romanian. Her daughter translated to Spanish: ¨She said you are a pretty girl.¨ So, right there, Romania and I became good friends.

I said ¨buna!¨ for the first time on the trip to this wonderful woman and it felt so natural (a really great ice breaker that we used throughout the trip - when we entered tiny train cars, to our waiters, and most of all to win over the taxi drivers!!). When I went to the bathroom on the plane, this lady reached out to me and was smiling from ear to ear to say buna to me! And, when we were transported from the plane to the airport terminal, she waved to us on the bus -- we had made a good impression on her, just as she had on us.

Well, this wonderful Romanian hospitality didn´t last long. Enter the bus.

We bought tickets for the city bus to go to Bucharest´s city center, where we were to spend the day site-seeing before going to Brasov for the night. Each ticket is good for 2 trips, so we bought 2 tickets (We met another auxiliar on the plane, Katie, who went with us to the center!) We validated the card as soon as we entered the bus, just as the nice lady in the ticket booth taught us. We heard all the beep-ing noises and thought we were cleared. At least we thought we had....

Enter Romanian woman, dressed in a green turtle-neck, jeans, and trainers. She said to Katie, ¨Ticket?¨ So, thinking we had nothing to worry about, Katie gave this woman her ticket. The next words we heard were the beginning of a long argument that would last the remainder of our bus ride: "Not valid."

So, for the remaining 20 minutes of the ride, we argued... in Indian English: "Ticket no valid." "Yes, ticket valid." "We use machine. Valid." "No, money." "No, receipt and ticket. No money." "Money." 

I think we would have been fine, but we had given her one of our passports...which she wasn't giving back until we paid. So, when she found out we weren't paying the 150 lei fine, she lowered it to just 50 lei (10euro). Well, that was a red flag - how can you just lower a fine? She realized we weren't backing down, so she called in backup. Enter man from the back of the bus, also in normal clothes. Jokingly, I said, let's just speak in Spanish - well, he understood Spanish. He spoke perfect Spanish. So, we started arguing our points in Spanish. Again, we didn't get anywhere... so, I asked the entire bus, "Excuse me, does anyone speak English?" A woman said she did, but she didn't speak Romanian - her advice? "Get the passport!" So, we tried to take it back, and the (fake!) controller screamed at us. 

We decided to pay - but only after we got to our stop. We didn't want to take any chances of getting in a similar situation. While we knew it was a scam, we were stuck. Passports are our life - so paying any amount for its return was logical. Several women helped us afterward, trying to get our money returned, but nothing could be done. So, if you are ever traveling in Romania - and you're a blonde, don't give your passport to anyone! It's probably a scam. 

First Thoughts on the "City Center" of Bucharest
Wow. I wasn't really sure where we were, but it was an area of town I didn't want to be in for very long. "City Center" usually means the nice part of town - clean, nice buildings... but we were around nothing of the sort. We passed a church that had scary men yelling at us from scaffolding, many dogs running around in search for food, and rundown houses that would be abandoned if they were in the USA. 
City streets of Bucharest
I find this really beautiful...
We made it to the hostel, and I was extremely surprised. Doors Hostel is by far the coolest, most relaxed hostel I've ever stayed in. While we didn't have reservations there until Saturday evening, they were happy to give us a map and get us on our way. We went for a nice lunch at a famous restaurant, pointed at the menu and were surprisingly happy with all the lucky guesses. Two things about Romanian food: good and cheap! I didn't eat anything I didn't like all weekend.
Door's Hostel
Downtown Bucharest at Christmastime!
Wonderful restaurant where we had a wonderful lunch!
Random Monastery.
Romania has lots of wonderful soups... with pepper garnish!
Surprise: I picked steak and chips! Yum!
This whole meal (soup, salad, steak, chips, and cheese cake only cost 6euro!!!!!!)
Sending postcards home and eating traditional Romanian stew: Tocanita!
Kristen and I got a late train to Brasov, the next stop on our adventure. We sat in a small, private train car with 4 other people for over three hours. We attempted to speak with them... English, Espanol... but none of them spoke anything but Romanian. After the journey, we needed to find a taxi to take us to the hostel. As we stood in front of the taxis, with the drivers jumping out of their car yelling at us "taxi? taxi?" we decided to just wait. Then, we heard, "Girls, can I help you?" from a voice behind. It was a woman and her two daughters from the train. One of the daughters said to us, "My mom said you both could use some help since you don't speak Romanian. We are getting a taxi - we can get one for you all too." So, we jumped at the idea. They informed us that the first rows of taxis in public places are "gypsy taxis" and are not to be used, as their prices are higher and they will drive you around town and take all your money. We went to the second row of taxis, the girls spoke to the driver, and we were on our way. The driver was very friendly and turned his car into a disco, blaring loud, dance music until we arrived to the hostel. 
Check the taxi cab doors to see the price/km.
We got a bit scared as the taxi began sliding down the slippery hill just in front of the hostel. Again, what was the "city center" looked like a scene out of a horror film - a place you don't want to be. But, thank goodness, we had arrived to the hostel safely, quickly, and for just 10 lei (2.50euro). 
Not the type of street you want to arrive to at night. The hostel was the white house on the right..
Transylvania: 3 Castle Tour
Friday was spent visiting three casltes: Peles, Bran, and Rasnov in the middle of Transylvania - the land of Dracula!! We went with a guide, Tom, who drove us around, gave us lots of information along the way, took pictures for us, and made sure we stayed on track. He was our real life "Tomtom"! The castles were incredible. Peles was so ornate and modern for its time, complete with a central vacuum system and central heating. Bran, the setting for Dracula, was very cold and simple; its courtyard was beautiful though! Rasnov was an old fort, undergoing renovations to restore it to all its glory. 

Views of Transylvania and the Carpathian Mountains from our van!
Peles Palace was amazing!
Watch out, I'm armed! (Ok, I was excited about the snow!)
Amazing details.
Curvy roads to the next castle...
Bran - Bran Castle on the hill. (Dracula's Castle!)
View from Bran Castle
Cool circles on the windows...
Beautiful courtyard (& me!)
Souvenir?
Or maybe a hat?
Kristen and I opted for smoked cheese. Yum!
Bye Bye Bran!
Next stop? Rasnov - the fort on the left hill.
Rasnov sunset
Kristen and I
View from Rasnov Fortress - overlooking Rasnov City below
Rasnov Fortress
When we arrived back to Brasov, we did a walking tour to learn more about Brasov. Our guide, Radish (who's real name I can't actually remember!), gave us a very interesting tour of his city. We visited the Black Church (who's name comes from a fire that burned the town long ago), old city walls, city entrances, and the white tower that had a nice view of the city. Since it was rather chilly outside, we stopped along the way for some warm drinks: vin feirt (hot wine) that is a typical winter drink! We sat around talking, sharing travel stories, hearing old Romanian legends/superstitions/traditions, and drinking free drinks that the bar owner was buying us! It was such a fun night. Since we live in Spain, where tipping is non-existent, we left a rather poor tip, but hey - at least we left one, right?
Second smallest street in Europe - Rope Street
Coolest ice skating rink I've ever seen... next to a fort and an old palace.
The music was great too.... Listen here: "Musica" by Fly Project!
Old city entrance for the Romanians during the time of Hungarian rule.
One Way. (I love being able to "read" signs!)
View from the White Tower overlooking Brasov's main square.
The girls I spent the week with - Katie, Kristen, Irene, Samantha (to my right)
and two other girls from the hostel who went on the tour with us!
Andoo's Fast Food - we got a huge meal (ordered by nice Romanian men who I asked for translation help)
for only 2 euro - chicken, rice and veggies - it was perfect!!!!!
The Last Day
Tomtom offered us an incredible offer while we were busy castle-hopping on Friday. He said he would drive us around the last day (Saturday) so we could visit two cities instead of one. So, we began our long, last day by taking the teleferico to the highest point in Brasov to overlook the city.  In the past, this point on the mountain was an old disco (said Tomtom) that caught on fire in 1559, when most of Brasov burned. Today, there is a memorial on the hill and a BRASOV Hollywood sign that is lit up at night for the whole town to see.
Beautiful Brasov
at the BRASOV sign
Our transportation!
Katie, Irene, Samantha, Teleferico opperator, Me, Kristen
We piled back into the van and we were on our way to Sighisoara and Sibiu, two beautiful towns in the middle of Transylvania. While I was tired from the night before and only wanted to shut my eyes, I couldn't! There were castles and forts on the hills nearby, old beautiful towns we were passing through, and gypsies selling anything from traditional Christmas wreathes and broomsticks to copper kettles and pots. 

Selling traditional Christmas flowers that they had to search for in special trees...
Copper, anyone?
Brooms!
Sometimes it was rather scary driving on the curvy streets. While Tomtom drove down the middle of the streets most times (scary!), we were moving in and out of semi-trucks, dodging cyclists, and slowing down for horse and buggies on their way back from market... carrying their new purchases of pigs and cows in their wagons. I was just happy we didn't hit anyone. When someone would cut it close and barely get back to their side of the road just before hitting us, Tomtom would say "Saturday drivers" - it would have been better to just close my eyes and sleep. If you don't believe me, Kristen has a video. Too bad you couldn't see our facial expressions on it - I'm sure they were priceless.
Avoiding horses... semi-truck on the horizon... AH!
Going to market.
Waiting...
Sighisoara
A mid-evil, UNESCO World Heritage town in ancient Romanian history, welcomed us with brightly colored houses and beautiful views. Kristen and I called it "Dinosaur" before we learned to pronounce it. I wanted to take photos around every corner... these pictures don't do it justice. The colors! the streets! The chickens! The lettuce-looking plants! The towers! The houses built into the old wall! It was so pretty!!!
Sighisoara
Dracula's house.
So peaceful!
Old = Beautiful
Tom, our guide, overlooking the city.
What if this was your house? Incredible! Built into the old city wall...
So festive!
Sighisoara
Sibiu
We were only in Sibiu for a few hours, enough time to eat, visit a Christmas market, and realize getting home was going to be harder than we originally thought. We thought we could get on the 5:30pm train to Bucharest... When we asked the lady for two tickets, her response was "NO!" No? No, what? Well, we figured out that it was cancelled...and so was a second train to Brasov... the only two trains that could get us back to Bucharest in time for our flight back to Spain. We stayed calm; we went to the bus station which was next door. 

As we entered the bus station ticket office, the lights were being shut off and the workers were exiting. Seriously? This would be our luck. But, again, we stayed calm. We asked for a bus to Bucharest and they told us "11pm tonight" - well, that wouldn't work for us. We needed a bus right then and there if we were going to make our flight. We begged and asked for a bus... they said "run to that bus..." (as they pointed to a bus we could barely see named "Fany") We ran quickly, and with two minutes to spare, we boarded the bus. Finally, we were on our way to Bucharest. I was so happy we made it. We got a bit worried when we got to the "bus station" in Bucharest - as the roads to get to it made us think they were taking us to a far away place never to be seen again... but, the potholes were just to scare us, we made it safely (and an hour early!) to Bucharest. 
Christmas market before lunch.
Exotic Fanta!!!! (and a yummy pretzel.)
Upon arrival to Bucharest for our last night in Romania, we took the metro to the hostel. We met a few guys, George and Ben, in our room and decided to go out for drinks. We walked to see a Russian church (that was nearly impossible to find - and ended up being the wrong one!), we visited the second largest building in the world, only second to the Pentagon, and enjoyed walking the main streets listening to loud music as we passed bars. We had Romanian kebabs (which are better than Turkish kebabs in my opinion!) and walked around to see the Christmas lights*, which of course were still on... haha Who knew Romania had such a lively night scene! It was so inviting! However, instead of going to one of the bars, we opted for tea back at the hostel - which was a nice, relaxing way to end our Romanian adventure.
Huge. And we can't understand its sheer size from this photo!
Russian Church
Lively, Bucharest.
*We met a girl in the Brasov hostel who told us to go look at the Christmas lights upon our arrival around 11:30pm our first night (Thursday). So, around 12:30, we headed out, doubting the lights would still be on. When we came back, we spent a while speaking to the hostel worker. We told her that Spain was in crisis and so the Christmas lights are turned on for only a few hours each day. Our new Romanian friend said, "Wow, Spain is smart. When it is in a recession, it acts like it - cutting unnecessary expenses. We (Romanians) have been in crisis since '89, and we leave our lights on 24/7." Seriously, so funny! 


So, back to our last night. After tea, we slept for about 1.5 hours and went to the airport around 4am. The smallest international airport EVER. 

Not sure if you can see all the masses of people here - but note to future travelers going to Romania - you don't need to get to the airport hours ahead of schedule, about half an hour will do. Arrive early if you want to sit on the floor or use euros in their gift shop - yeah, you can't even use up your leftover lei - "only euro!" (Pretty sure this was a lie, racism at its best, since I saw the people before me use lei on the other register. Ok, yes, they were Romanian, but that's not fair... I'm still a little bitter. So, I had to use all my leftover lei at the snack machine. And, boy, did that get some stares... I bought two or three peach teas, two chicken sandwiches, pretzels, chocolate cookies... you name it, I bought it. But hey, why not bring lunch back to Spain - it was a fourth of the cost!)

As Mark Jenkins said:
“Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.”
Our adventure on a whim turned out to be one of the most interesting experiences I've ever experienced. The kindness of Romanian strangers, the beauty in the old homes and streets, the low costs of everything, overcoming language barriers, staying calm in scary situations, and the joys of new friendships. With a sense of eagerness to see and understand more places of the world and a wonderful travel companion, there is no limit to where I can go. And that excites me.

5 comments:

  1. great blog...now i wanna go! thanks for the blog.

    rosalyn

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  2. Great post Whitney!! Makes me want to go to Romania! :)

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  3. I have been '6 times' and am now moving there from the UK. Much prefer Romania :)) It's AWESOME!!!

    David

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  4. Thank you so very much for this blog! I will be using the information you gave for my own trip! This is very helpful, thank you very much! It looked like you enjoyed it very much and your pictures are beautiful. I am so excited for my tour!

    God bless!

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  5. really lovely blog so much information here in this blog love to see the country Romania lovely and peace full place

    ReplyDelete