Romania (Bucharest), B-

Pivnița lui Teo

Continuing from my initial review I now observe a very obvious divide at the end of this trip between millennials and gen z, compared to boomers and silent gen. Effectively due to orthodox Christian cultural values, the older (and/or uneducated) population is full on right wing. They don’t have any tolerance for LGBTQ, mild tolerance for non-orthodox Christians and I don’t think I’ve seen any Muslims either. I’ve had a Bolt driver indicate (paraphrasing) that “‘fascist’ countries (UK, Denmark, Nordic area) instruct kindergarten children how to masturbate because pedophiles are grooming them”. Another driver indicated because a political opponent (Simion) conceded victory after the 2nd polling that somehow the president (Dan) was a cheater. This kind of ignorance is disturbing.

Basically the older population wants a “mild” form of communism or may be better to say a populist leader to follow. My theory is that 90% of the population during communist rule were unable to go to college, thus still have a high school mentality as far as politics. This mentality is pervasive in the US as well, w/ Christian nationalists going to church on Sunday, only to immediately leave the parking lot and yell racial epithets toward non-white people. There’s… dark times ahead globally, and now educated in my 40s, my conclusion is that Christianity is actually the problem. It’s a social construct to keep the uneducated unaware of the true source of societal issues.

Parcul Nicolae Titulescu

Not going to go much further into politics on this review, but religion is also a source of gender based inequality here as well, where women are delegated to “girl jobs”. I noticed this in Thailand and the Philippines as well, although I know some women in leadership positions there (along with Romania, its not blanket but stereotypical).

Grădina Cișmigiu, Scovergăria Micăi

The traffic patterns after 2 months seem perfect to me now. There is no need for a stop sign because pedestrians always have the right of way. However, in Bucharest there are police everywhere, so they enforce it. Opposite of what would occur in the states. Going to miss that. Just would never drive in Europe in general. Claustrophobic road lanes lol.

Shoes… definitely need a nice pair of comfortable shoes that you don’t care about getting dirty. I only brought 2 pairs of shoes: 1 all purpose (On Cloud Hi Waterproof) and 1 for fitness (On Cloud 5). In Europe for gyms you need a clean pair to use due to all the animal poop outdoors. My all purpose shoes are hot, heavy, water resistant style semi-boots. They cost $200 when I got them from Wesley’s in Chicago. Standing at an intersection I can feel the sun burning my feet due to the insulation. A lightweight $50–100 range would have been better. Probably buying a new pair in April.

Salina Slănic Prahova

Language… I feel that if I took the time to learn it, I could be fluent, likewise with Spanish. Forced linguistic learning from frequent traveling seems to provide my brain a high level of adaptable vocabulary, if a context clue is provided. Root is romantic Latin language, and I studied Latin in elementary school so it seems easy to pick up until sentence structure comes into play. Additionally, surprisingly… the public transport system is NOT translated to English. First one across all my travels to not have a uniform language. But still easy to understand.

Strada Sforii

Cost of living… very deceptive. For foreigners, I would consider it high, depending on your home currency. For locals, depending on who you ask and their profession… mid-range. Highest costs being housing and meat. Transport, these people got a local car company (Dacia) providing low cost vehicles to the populace, but a large middle and upper class contingent instead import vehicles from Western Europe (BMW, VW, Porsche) to use as status symbols. Petrol is around 7.5lei/l (1.75 USD per liter or 6.57 USD per gallon). Problem is I see so many people doing nothing in the middle of the work day. Very curious about the government benefits provided to the public.

Burgeria Știrbei

Continuing with culture… it’s very laid back as mentioned previously. Comparable to Perth, WA without immigration. Note what I said there is not saying there’s racism, but lower amounts of migrants (Indian/Pakistani and East/South Africans). They are still here of course, but with a smaller general population. Have to note that because there seems to be less tolerance for non Christian religions here. There’s a ton of kebap and Lebanese restaurants but none are Halal certified that I’ve seen. Additionally, there’s a decent enough selection of vegetarian restaurants but a lack of pure vegan options. In the 1 week review I mentioned the pork and dairy dependence and that sort of bleeds back to lack of vegan options. Overall though I now love the food here. I just wasn’t eating at the right places earlier.

Continuing with another cultural observation have to note the beauty standards (of course). Seems in general to follow Eastern European standards. Women lean toward Arabic features above the torso (botoxed faces, buccal fat removal, lip fillers, high profile breast augmentation if chosen), Russian features below the torso (narrow waist, narrow hips/butt, otherwise shapely legs). Men lean toward a blended Bulgarian (bulky chest, quads, midsection which turns into stereotypical butterballs later in life) muscular nature. Going to the gym increased the likelihood of viewing these features in person. Individuals lower on the social chain obviously don’t have the time or money to invest into themselves, so were more natural West/Eastern European blended aesthetics. One more thing I noticed, young girls are… overly feminized. I’ve done more than 1 or 2 double takes of a 8–10 year old girl in caked makeup and a elegant dress walking with their parents. They didn’t appear to be Roma (gypsies), but somebody else will have to clarify for me cause that shit is weird.

Could I come back here? Sure! But it’d be more limited and more focused, in comparison to a 2 month stint. The country is still in the middle of transition from communism to socialism, and the infrastructure outside of Bucharest is lacking. Without the ability to connect to major fast rail networks and having an inefficient airport compared to other contemporary cities in Western Europe, there’s not a lot of social mobility unless you have money. And to be in Europe but unable to migrate to another country for a better opportunity is something that‘s going to eventually give way to anger against bureaucracy.

After 2 months these are my highlights and reasons to return (and these are just the highlights, couldn’t even remember everything here..):

• Ciorbarie Nerva Traian 5/5
• Real Foods Nerva 5/5
• 20grams Coffee Roasters 5/5
• Hanu’ Berarilor Casa Oprea Soare 5/5
• Asian Lab 5/5
• Burgeria Știrbei 5/5 Major Highlight (on my list of Best Burgers)
• SIP Bucharest Cocktail Bar 5/5
• Bucătăria.localfood 5/5
• Saint Roastery Specialty Coffee 4/5
• Seven Ladders Canyon 5/5 Major Highlight
• Tomb of the Unknown Soldier 3/5
• ASTRA Museum 3/5
• INSPIRATIO 3/5 (but amazing candles)
• Piața Mare 4/5
• Tâmpa 5/5 Major Highlight
• Sub Tâmpa 5/5
• Charlie’s 2.0 — Brunch & Coffee 4/5
• Crama Sibiul Vechi 5/5
• The Fortified Church of Biertan 3/5
• Pivnița lui Teo 5/5 Major Highlight
• Cabana Valea Aurie Restaurant 4/5
• Mănăstirea Rupestră Șinca Veche 4/5
• Dristor Doner Kebap Tineretului 4/5
• Bran Castle 2/5
• Castle Peles 5/5 Major Highlight
• Strada Sforii 4/5
• Grădina Cișmigiu 4/5
• Biserica Neagră 3/5
• Ograda 4/5
• Salina Slănic Prahova 5/5 Surprising Major Highlight
• Cetatea Sighișoara 5/5
• Personal Trainers from Downtown Fitness Obor (Laurențiu Cical, Ina Florentina) 5/5

These however are points of interest that I was unable to visit, and would love to in the future:

• Bucharest Fountains (was closed for renovation)
• Vulcanii Noroioși Pâclele Mari
• Transfăgărășan Road (see this Top Gear segment for a visual)
• Wild Bear sightings and/or hunting
• Danube delta (for flowers and bird sightings)

Special thanks to Amina and Diana for providing guidance for Bucharest and Transylvania in Romania.