Spring 2017, Bucharest, Romania

Spring 2017, Bucharest, Romania
written by John Appius Quill

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I visited Bucharest, Romania with a friend in Spring 2017 and was surprised at what I saw. So many of my stereotypes were shattered and so much negative criticism from people who come from Romania or have visited Romania had to be re-evaluated. I had heard that Romania is a country in constant depression, ever-spiraling toward a lower standard of living. I heard that Romanians continue to flee their country of origin because of the ever worsening economy. I also heard that all the beggars in Europe come from Romania too. What a negative reputation!

The idea of the trip sprang from a good friend who spoke with a well travelled friend of his about Bucharest. This well travelled friend told us that Bucharest might be a city we would want to check out. He said the food was good and it was cheaper than most other well known European destinations. He told us that contrary to all the other negative opinions it was a safe city if you took precautions against pickpockets, because that is a very big problem there. He knew the circles we travelled in so he could accurately tell us what we would be in for. He knew the type of problems we would have and, like I said, his travel advice was very good. It was not clouded by stereotypes or the experiences of obnoxious idiots with self-entitlement complexes. You know the type that would be drunk and spit in a police officer´s face and be outraged to wake up in the hospital the next morning. So we went to Bucharest.

The travel arrangements went smoothly as did finding and renting an apartment for our stay. Here is a side note about Bucharest and most other cities, but especially Bucharest. There was a hotel from a large chain near us. It was a large beautiful building with hotel staff, dressed in red, constantly running in and out, getting taxis for the hotel guests. From all outward appearances we wondered if we should not have stayed there instead. But on closer inspection I noticed that at least half the hotel was not occupied. Later on our taxi driver told us the hotel was a ghetto with obnoxious tourists.

The moral of that story is two-fold. You can pay a lot for a hotel and have a horrible experience. Some hotels look very good from their pictures online or from the outside but can be real sewers. That´s why it´s good to stick with your favorite places and deal with the good people you know. As it turned out, our apartment was so much nicer and cheaper than that hotel, or most other expensive hotels. I have to use the dated expression not to judge a paper book by its cover here because it will cost you.

The second fold of this story is to talk to locals you might otherwise ignore. I always talk to cab drivers because their tips and stories are usually spot on. The people who live in the place you are travelling in can give the best advice and get you things that are hard to find. Like in our case, a sixpack of beer at midnight. You know, you can travel to a place for the museums, beaches, restaurants, cafes, sights and sounds but ultimately the people are what make it special. How you´re treated and friends you make along the way can really make a good trip. So, to sum this up, be a good traveller, be polite and honest and talk to the people that aren´t shady.

While in Bucharest we visited the city, its restaurants, museums, cafes, streets and churches, because Bucharest has so many churches. The main religion is Orthodox Christian and so many people go to church. When you walk by many of the churches on Sunday you´ll see people outside because there was no room inside. You can also hear the chants from the Orthodox Christian services in the streets the way you hear chanting from Muslim services in some Middle Eastern countries (I hear). Some of these churches are beautiful and the fact that they play such an important role in Romanian society is a nice cultural touch. I highly recommend visiting a few. There is one near Unirii Piata (Union Square) that is very beautiful. Sorry I forgot the name.

Bucharest also has some very good restaurants. The Romanian diet has a lot of meat in it and seafood. I even found a place that has the best fried chicken in Europe. It´s called “Chicken Staff” ( Chicken Staff website ) and you can find them all over. Sure they have KFC but don´t settle  for that. Chicken Staff has the best fried chicken wings in all of Europe. Their wings have just the right amount of spices with a crusty crust that crunches in your mouth like the music of a delightful symphony. I´m serious here folks. When I took a look at the place from the outside I didn´t want to go inside but I´m glad I did. There´s always lines of people there too and they serve other food besides fried chicken that´s tasty too. Now this is not haute cuisine but it´s good to have every once and a while.

Now I mentioned Unirri Piata (Union Square). It is the biggest square I´ve ever seen. It´s bigger than Place De La Concorde in Paris or any other square I´ve seen. It´s one of the centers of the city where a lot of businesses of all kinds can be found. It´s also near the old part of the city. Tours of all kinds leave from there and some of them are even free, although the information they give on some of those tours is not so accurate. Romania is in the process of doing what all emerging European states have done. They are re-writing their history. So expect to hear more about the great Romanian conquerors and leaders of the past. For starters. I had no idea that Vlad The Impaler´s use of impaling people was so successful a political tactic. Hummm, makes me question the U.S. private university system.

Here are some pictures of Unirii Piata:

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Let´s talk about restaurants now:

I already talked about Chicken Staff chain now let´s move on to better grub. One restaurant that is a big tourist attraction is called the Caru`cu Bere ( Caru`cu Bere website). They serve traditional food in a nice place with traditional Romanian music and dance from a traditional Romanian band. You can sit inside, in the basement or outside, depending on the weather. Personally, I like sitting outside most of all to enjoy the nice weather I enjoyed the whole trip. Romanian food has a lot of meat with salads but little vegetarian choices.

Here are some pictures of the basement of Caru`cu Bere:

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Another very touristic restaurant with good prices and good food was the Hanu Lui Manuc restaurant ( Hanu Lui Manuc website ). It has your traditional Romanian dishes at a good price but the big deal here is that you´re eating inside a type of medieval hotel for merchants. It was designed as a rest stop in between two large trading cities and was owned by the richest man in Romania at the time. The richest man in Romania at the time was an Armenian who promoted business and good diplomatic relations in the vassal territory of Romania. I think the man´s name was Hanul Hanuc. Romania has been a vassal state for most of its history to different super powers. I loved the courtyard where we ate.

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Another good restaurant that I really liked was called the Vatra ( Vatra restaurant website ). It´s a nice place to eat like the Caru´cu Bere with an old fashioned feel like the Hanul Hanuc but far better customer service and dancing and music. Keep in mind that in Europe good customer service is not obvious or even standard. I´ve talked to so many people who have told me how terribly they were treated in restaurants, shops at hotels, bars and clubs throughout the different countries in Europe. So if you find a place where the people who work there are polite it´s worthy of mention and Vatra restaurant is such a place. So check out the website and book a table for some good food in a very nice atmosphere.

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.The last restaurant that I can think of is a seafood restaurant called La Pescaria Dorobantilor ( La Pescaria Dorobantilor location ) and it is the one I liked the best. With great food, nice atmosphere and fantastic customer service you really just want to go back. I cannot say how much I loved the dinning experience here. Whether it´s a business dinner, cozy meal with that special someone or a night out with friends, La Pescaria Dorobantilor is the best place to eat in Bucharest. You should not leave Bucharest without having visited it at least once.

So if you travel to Bucharest make sure to check out all the good things it has to offer and I was also advised to travel the countryside too. It is an emerging country that just might have a bigger role in Western Europe´s future. Keep in  mind too that it´s in Bucharest that I found the best fried chicken in all of Europé.

FIN

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