Romania is a fascinating country and despite its location deep in the heart of Eastern Europe it is actually more akin to the western romance cultures than any of the Balto-Slavic cultures that surround it. The Romanian language for instance sounds remarkably like French or Italian..sharing many of the same verb and nouns.. which made it very easy to get around.
We started our Romanian adventure in Bucharest. Bucharest is an interesting city due its turbulent history and is a self proclaimed Paris of the east...but, despite their best attempts to live up to these claims, we didn't really see this side. Yes, Bucharest has large Champs D'Elysse style avenues and yes they have their own Arc De Triumph..but they still failed to capture the joi de vive that Paris exudes. For us Bucharest seemed like any other large western industrial city..with prices to match...I think we payed 40usd fore a hostel room.
Bucharest street scene
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ibidThe main reason we came to Bucharest was to sort our Indian visas..which proved as big of a pain in the @ss as it was futile...(i.e. 100%). We got up early and trekked all the way across town to the location of the consulate (as per their website) only to find out that they had apparently moved..the phone number no longer worked either..so after asking every policeman, travel agent and bookstore owner we could find we finally tracked them down to the exact other opposite end of town (of course). With only one hour left to submit our Visa applications that day (since they close noon) the clown at the consulate (who wasn't even Indian) tells us that we need several other supporting documents (hotel reservations, flight tickers, bank receipts, etc..) which of course we didn't have (since they weren't listed on the visa applications requirements page of the website)..he then tells us that it'll take 2 weeks minimum if we're lucky..this of course put dangerously close to our departure date..no bueno. we asked him if there was anything he could to help us or to expedite the processing..he simply shrugged..at which point we started shouting very loud and slowly "but we're american..American!!..comprende amigo~!"..ok, so we didn't actually say this..but still, no luck. Ugh..we decided to opt for plan B which was to get to Budapest as soon as possible and use the consulate there..(their website seemed to indicate that they could process the visa in about a week).
Before heading to Budapest though we decided we had to stop and see Transylvania first...which was actually the real reason for us coming to Romania to begin with..
Once we got out of the Bucharest area Romanian really opened up..the country side is beautiful actually..and with autumn approaching all the leaves are starting to turn colors. An hour or two west of Bucharest our train started up into the Carpathian mountains.. Ever since "Ghost Busters 2" did I want to see the Carpathians..if I remember correctly..Vigo, the villain, was from Carpathia.. Later I learned that Dracula and the werewolf were also from the Carpathians....something about this hairy, apocalyptic, blood-sucking disposition of this eastern european range intrigued me from childhood.
Fast forward several years and here Helen and I were on a rickety ex-soviet era train jostling up into the dreaded peaks. After 4 or so hours we arrived at our destination, the hill town of 'Brashov' (best said with a heavy Sean Connery accent). Unlike Bucharest, Brashov and its neighboring towns of Rashnov and Bran (as in Dracula) were very cool and the scenery very beautiful. Transylvania in general seems somewhat untouched by the 20th century, which, when mixed with the darkly wooded mountains, the think unibrows and pointed widows peaks of the locals, and centuries old vampire lore really gives a enthralling 'oldy-worldy' sense to the place. We spent several days here eating in restaurants converted from underground catacombs, drinking bulls blood wine, hiking up hillsides to the ruined citadels and fortresses of ancient Moldavian kings, and roaming the old town squares. We even caught a night of the annual Jazz festival going on in town and snapped our fingers to the hip-happening sounds of "Transylvanian Groove" and others (because nothing goes better than Transylvania and jazz..as in jazz-cula? or is it dracu-jazz).
Brasnov Church
Brasnov Street scene
Helen at Bran Castle
Brasnov main street
Rasnov street scene (note the large Hollywood-esque sign on the hill..all the transylvanian towns had these..strange)
Brasnov Main Square
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Reaper on way home from work..
Ryan turning on his 'vampire charm'Sad to leave, we shortly had to make our way to Budapest to beseech the Indian consulate there for kindly consideration. Again on the overnight train...but this time there was a bit more excitement as we got into a bit of a fight with some 'I think I'm Eminem' styled Romanian punks wearing LA Lakers jerseys, FUBU jogger pants and gold chains...these guys were jack asses..they burst into our cabin at about 3 am where Helen and another guy and I were dozing, smelling of booze and started making a huge ruckus.. laughing, giggling, talking loudly, jabbering on the phone..we asked politley that they attempt a smidgen of quietude or at least hold their discussions in the hall or in the food car..which they not so politely declined to acquiesce to, so after about another half hour of heated verbal exchange they eventually got off to go home to their mama's..seriously..their mama's...after all their posing and posturing as thug gangsters it turns out that one of the guys was on the phone to his mom the whole time trying to arrange a ride from the station..it sounds bad but I would so have loved to for one of them to raise a fist..argh..I would have loved to have smacked them a few times..
oh and this reminds me...Romanian fashion..hahahahah... one word: 'tracksuits'.. the entire country is dressed in Nike, Adidas, or some other off-brand track suits..the kind the Tony Soprano wears when he's 'off duty'...it's friken funny actually..entire families wearing matching tracksuits out for their evening stroll..walking through the towns was like walking through the set of a surreal 70's bad guy movie.. damn funny.
anyway, needless to say, we survived unscathed..Transylvania warrants a visit again..next time we'll camp I think.
4 comments:
Brasnov Mainsquare and ibid kinda looks like the inside of one of the Vegas hotels. You know...kinda like the Venetian or Paris where there's the fake sky and stuff? It's very pretty. You could have saved money and just gone to Vegas though. I like the picture of Ryan. There have been no pictures of Ryan that I almost doubted his existence. Come to Philadelphia.
Your are starting to sound a little punchy Ryan. Remember, admitting to being american is not a good idea :)
punchy!? as in fruit flavored? weird..
anyway as far as admitting to being american that was our first thought too..and for a while we were telling people that we were Canadian..especially in areas like Morocco. Problem was as soon as we said that we were from Canada they'd ask "from where in Canada" and so we'd say "Vancouver, BC" and then they'd say "oh I have a cousin there, he lives in such and such district..do you know it?" or "what's the weather like this time of year?" or "so what do you think about the Canucks' season so far?" To all of these we of course had no answers..but it was especially the last one (re: the Canucks) that really sank the ship since no self respecting Canadian would give an 'I dunno' shrug (like I did) to a question like that..it's the equivalent of trying to pass for American and not knowing what a hamburger is..
so we stopped lying about where we're from and actually most people we have met have been very excited to learn that we were from California..it's as if we said that we were from Shangri-la or something..I credit this to the pervasive influence of Hollywood and MTV..
"Oh California must be very nice..very wealthy..what do you think of our country so far?.." or "oh yeas..Arnold Schwarzenegger.." followed by a thumbs up are the usual conversation starter that we get hit with..
So while Bush's America might not be very popular, Schwarzenegger's California most definitely is..
Punchy as in silly goofy :) Glad to hear it is positive to be Californian. We should be our own country anyway. Stay safe you two.
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