A real highlight of the trip so far…
Romania has been surprising me!
Yes, the country is gorgeous but it’s the people that have really been the highlight.
The supposed narrowest street in Eastern Europe
I feel really lucky to have chosen the hostel that I did…or having Juliano find me amoung the travelers on the platform in Brasov. The Rolling Stone Hostel was what a hostel should be, and I was more then a little sad leaving there today.
First off there’s Maria, who owns the place. She’s a force of nature! She’s in every guidebook which state that she meets almost every train…the hostel isn’t in guides yet. She’s loud, energetic, a little crazy and a whole lot of laughs. My first night there she chatted with the guests and even gave 5-10 back/shoulder massages to everyone who wanted one! Man, she’s got strong hands.
Then there’s Greig, Maria’s husband. He’s quieter but just as nice. He takes groups to Bran (Dracula’s Castle) and Rasov (a small citadel city) everyday and generally makes sure everything is as it should be in the hostel. He’s alittle shy about his english, but when you get him talking he really knows his history.
Diana and Sylvia their daughters are always on call at the hostel. They run the day to day operations and couldn’t be more helpful! They go over the whole city map with you pointing out restaurants, stores and sites, noting hours of operation, and even tell you the prettiest walk to each. They’ve got train schedules memorized, suggestions of trips and spend most of the day making sure the place is spotless. Plus, their ALL smiles!
Even more special, in a way, are the guests. I’ve never been in a hostel where everyone was generally cool and fun to talk to! We played cards, watched movies, told stories and hung out in the comfy living room whenever the weather took a turn for the worse, which was a lot this week. I met girls from Australia, a brother and sister from France, 2 English blokes, 3 German buddies, a couple Scottish lads, a surgeon from Spain, a couple from Australia and even a few Americas. The crazy part…? I could see myslef hanging out with ANY and all of them. Conversations were interchangeable, everyone happily passing time. It was really amazing. I’ve never come across a place like this.
I spoke to Juliano about it and he reckons it’s because they meet the trains and because they have such strong personalities only the cool people take them up on the offer. I agree…and though I told them I would write to Lonely Planet to get them in the guide, I really hope it doesn’t screw up the chemistry. The place simply rocks!
St. Nicolae Church
Okay, okay…enough gushing.
Off to Bucharest…
Today I went to the train station with Edward from Iowa. He was headed to Bucharest and I to Sighosoara. When we got there we found out there were many train delays, and this being Sunday there were fewer trains then usual. I realized, a bit sadly, I’d have to go straight to Bucharest.
The train was running 80 minutes late and while discussing this a guy from Sudia Arabia, who spoke perfect english, said his host family was going to arrange for him to take the mini-bus, so we could get info if we wanted. Along we went…
We found out the 2.5 hours ride was only about 5 euros and hopped in. Wow…what a ride! The driver was INSANE! Insane I tell you! He was passing cars at every oppurtunity, swerving into the oncoming lane and gunning it….only narrowly making it at times. Passengers bumped, swayed and bounced out of their seats as this mad man flew through mountain roads and city traffic. Edward commented he was happy not to be in the front watching the action and I had to agree. The driver was even racing the minibus that left at the same time as us! The other driver would occasionaly catch up, honk and wave and our driver took this as a cue to boldly go where no sane driver would. Let’s just say we won the race, with a screeeeeeething halt at Piazza Victoreii in Bucharest!!!
Oh yeah…one of the bests parts of this story…the music. The driver pumped up the music everytime a song came on that he liked. The radio stations are a weird mix of Romanian pop (which for some reason, I really like) and American songs. I should say the worst American songs you can think of. These included: the theme from the Neverending Story, Cottoneye Joe (a driver favorite), Hands Up (that extra cheesy party song, ‘Hands up/baby hands up/give me your heart/gimme gimme your heart/gimme gimme) and so forth. We even listened to mass for awhile…it is Sunday afterall.
Well, I got my hostel sorted out…a far cry from the last place but for 8Euro a night I can’t complain. Been walking around a bit but I’m not exactly falling in love with the city. Everything is either being built up or ripped down and the streets are dusty and sad.
Of course, the city’s pretty recent history is pretty sad, what with the crazy Communist President (who’s name I can NOT spell…the one that begins with a C…okay fine, I’ll look it up…Ceausescu) who meglomaniaclly ripped up half the city, displaced thousands, built himself the 2nd largest adminstrative building in the world by ripping down thousands of homes, starved the people in order to put on a brave face in the international trade markets and liked to contaminate dissidents with radiation so they would die slowly and painfully from obscure cancers. During the 1989 revolution the people overturned the government, captured the Pres. and put him in front of a firing squad…and I almost have to believe it was the appropriate way to go. I mean, radiating people for fun!??! Eh, ghad!
The Monstrosity…so big you can’t get it all in one picture!
Well, the city is on the rise…but it still seems an incredibly long journey to joining the EU. They’re cleaning up, building more sound buildings, restaurants are opening, the tourists are coming…it’s a bit of a coup…but I’m not sure about it all yet. I’ve only earmarked a couple days for Bucharest based on info from other travelers. Unfortunately all the museums and sights are closed Mondays, except the Parliment monstrosity. Somehow though, I don’t think I’ll be staying around for Tuesday…
Guess we’ll see….
Brain on a Stick…um, I mean Revolution Monument
This statue looks alarmingly like George W. I never did find out who it was…
Tags: Romania
LizG
My mum was one of the first aid workers to enter Romania just after the revolution – she tells a brillant story of getting invited to the new Prime Ministers house (whom I later met…) and being served a special dish of boiled horse penis..
Philip