Day 9: A day (and night) in Bucharest
My friend had been recommended a place called something with "crunch": the concept was to choose the size of the bowl, choose the cereal, the type of milk and an optional topping. They had so many types of cereals, a lot of which looked disturbingly sweet, colourful and unhealthy. They had the three different types of milk in terms of percentage of fat, but on top of that you could get coloured milk. I didn't do that. Just got some banana weetabix after having stood there for probably five minutes trying to figure out the extent to which the I should stay healthy or try something new, or the fact that I could have one different breakfast since I was on holiday. The toppings included Twix, Mars, Oreos etc. and so I mixed my semi healthy stuff with some unhealthy chocolate.
After that, we took the metro to the northern part of town in, I think, their biggest park, Herestau. We walked around there for quite some time; there was both a Japanese garden and a rose island ish but not a lot of the rose bushes were in bloom yet. There were playgrounds, people playing instruments and selling ice cream. We sat down somewhere by a lake and talked a bit about our experience back in 2011 when we both won a the same trip to Paris (see more here).
There was an open air museum there but since I had already been to the one in Baia Mare and we had only just started exploring this massive city, I chose to rather continue our walk. We walked one of the main streets past two museums of art, one of contemporary and one of more traditional art. Then we found, or she knew, a small passage covered with umbrellas as the ceiling. There was a small restaurant there, where we decided to have lunch/early dinner. We both ordered pizza that came surprisingly quickly. And it was surprisingly good. Like really good pizza. Apparently they were baked in a stone oven. While eating, they played several songs by Carla's dreams; perfect warm-up for the evening's concert.
We continued walking for a bit but it was already quite late since we had left the house so late, so we decided to head back to her place since I wanted to change before the concert. It had been a really hot day so I was only wearing a thin dress but I figured I needed tights or change into jeans for the evening and a cardigan as well.
I got a bit lazy at her house and I also wasn't entirely sure of what I wanted to wear for the evening so we didn't leave until sometime past 7. The doors already opened at 7, but according to the ticket the concert itself wouldn't start until 8.45 PM so we still had plenty of time. My friend was maybe going to meet another friend in town, so she was kind enough to follow me all the way to the…place where the concert was. It was quite a walk from the metro station and though the sky has been blue the entire day, it was now turning grey and looked like it might start raining. I even saw something that looked like lightning, but since my friend didn't see it, I wasn't sure if it was. Plus I didn't hear any thunder.
I got to the concert area where I parted with my friend. I showed my ticket to some guy who said something to another guy who gave me a red armband that said "cat. B". It also had Carla's dreams logo and name on it.
I'm used to travelling and I've also been to concerts (Ed Sheeran) by myself - but being by yourself in a foreign country where you don't speak the language, at a concert with a band that isn't famous outside the Romanian speaking countries…it's a bit different. It had been over a month since I had bought the ticket as well so I didn't remember where I was supposed to sit or stand, and I couldn't see any signs either. I just looked at the people around me and concluded that category B was the people closest to the stage - but standing.
There was no warm-up band and the concert did start surprisingly timely around 8.45 PM. Carla's dreams remain anonymous by wearing hoodies, sunglasses and painting their faces. Though I've mainly got the impression there's just one main singer, there seemed to be some kind of…extra singer as well. They did two of their most famous songs at the very beginning and the atmosphere was amazing. It was a round theatre with no roof so the audience was sitting (or standing) all the way around the stage. It started raining for a tiny bit at one point, and a bit more at a later point, and I was a bit worried the entire evening would be soaking, but it turned out to not be so bad.
For a couple of the songs, they had a sand artist on stage, the art of which was also projected onto the big screens. I was a bit envious of the people around me who knew the lines by heart and could sing along to everything; I certainly know the songs as well as humanly possible for someone who doesn't speak the language, and during the choruses I'd about my voice out despite not being sure I'd get the words right. The sound mixing could have been better but it was generally a very good concert, mostly for the amazing atmosphere and being outdoors was cool to me…for some reason. | |
After half an hour or so, when it was getting past 11 PM, I got a message from my friend saying she would be at the bar in ten minutes so I started walking. It was only five minutes walking for me or less to get there. On the way, there was a single lamppost that was out, so it was almost completely dark and I saw something tiny move on the ground. I thought to myself that I really hoped that hadn't been a mouse…Lliterally 5-10 seconds later, I saw something else in the darkness but now there was a glimpse of light from the street up above. It was a frog. I don't even remember the last time I saw a frog! So needless to say, I was quite shocked…I feel like I had almost forgotten they existed - no kidding. But I don't think the first thing was a frog, because it didn't jump.
I met with my friend, an acquaintance from my time in Macedonia last year, a friend of hers and a cousin of the friend. The place was completely crowded outside because of the good weather while there wasn't a soul inside dancing.
We had a drink while talking about various things. The cousin had studied in England so she spoke perfectly (though annoying and, strangely, American) English. My friend and her friend spoke English as well and I was quite relieved and thankful that they kept the conversation in English the entire time. After having finished our drinks, someone decided we should rather go into the Old Town. I think because they wanted to dance and nobody was dancing here. So we caught an Uber into the Old Town where we walked around for a bit amongst very crowded streets and the windows with the half-naked women dancing. I have no idea what made them choose the place we chose, but we ended up in some English or Irish inspired bar called like…Trinity if I remember correctly. The music was only okay, but got a bit better with time. Even there, not a lot of people were dancing but they still danced a bit in our small group of four.
I was getting really tired, partially because I was just wearing ballerina shoes and had been standing all night long during the concert, and partially because I just felt really tired in general. Travelling wears you out a bit I mean…
I checked the bus times but I'd have to wait for over an hour for the next one, so I decided to download Uber despite some problems I had had trying to log in. I was just too tired to stay for that long and was determined to find a way around their stupid login or verification method. I ended up needing to sign up with a another email address…
While I was doing all this, they put on the, probably, most famous song by Carla's dreams, which was also the reason I had got to know them. Now my newly made acquaintances said I definitely had to dance, since they knew I had just come from their concert. But after that one, I told them I'd go. My friend said she was also going home, but her friend and the cousin stayed behind.
We had to walk a few minutes to get out of the Old Town, since no cars are allowed there. Then we got an Uber each since she was going in the completely opposite direction. I think I was at my friend's place at 2.45 or 3 AM, which was still earlier than the bus would have left town.
I called my friend like she had told me to do, and she said she'd come down. The houses, or blocks, look very similar and though I knew I was in the right street, I wasn't sure which entrance was hers. I tried checking the street number, but the thing is that she lived no. 2, but even for that number, there are several entrances.
Then I heard a clicking sound, so I thought my friend had decided to open the door through the buzzer instead, and I went in. It was fairly dark, but I got a small glimpse of light from somewhere, enough for me to realize, when just about to press the elevator button, that the elevator had a different colour from the elevator in her house. This severely confused me and I knew I had to be in the wrong building but…why or how had the door been open? And the even bigger question; where was I supposed to go? I went back outside and looked myself around for a bit until I saw my friend standing in a cardigan outside the next door looking tired. She seemed just as confused as me and asked me who had let me into the other building.
"I have no idea…" I said, but pointed to the fact that there was still a clicking sound. There was probably something wrong with the door causing it to be open at all times. We went upstairs together; this time I recognized the elevator.
Next up; the exclusive neighbourhood of Bucharest and the night bus to Chisinau.
Romania Day 10: Romanian flea market and night buses
We had breakfast/lunch in a nice outside yard but the service was terrible. My friend had been there several times and said it was never usually this bad; lots of people who arrived after us got their food before us. Half my tea was all over the saucer and I had asked for milk and brown sugar (it was chai latte…), but I got neither with it, and when I reiterated I had asked for milk, it took another ten minutes to bring it.
After the disaster, we went back into the Old Town where there was a flea market that my friend wanted to visit. Flea market probably doesn't give a good idea of what it was like: a cafe or restaurant that emptied some space so that a few people could sell their old (or homemade) clothes. There were a few accessories as well. They had some really nice stuff but nothing I was keen enough on getting. It was only when I thought we had looked through everything that I found a short, black , pretty plain dress but with the upper back being laced. It looked elegant, cute. I still love lace even though I guess it's being taken over by other styles. It cost only 20 lei, or around 5€. While thinking about it, I found an orange dress as well that was very sixties like, that was mainly cool because it reminded me of Alicia Vikander in The Man from UNCLE - and I love both Alicia and the movie. Plus I was wearing a white dress from Desigual that could potentially be quite sixties ish, and with huge earrings. So it just felt like the mood I was in. It seemed like that one bar of hangers had endless amount of things that suited my taste because I also ended up taking two additional skirts with me downstairs to the bathrooms with my friend.
It was all very nice but either I didn't feel like it suited me, the elastic was too tight or didn't fit at all. The only thing that I could possibly think of wearing was the black dress I had originally spotted. The laced back made it so cute and black is always elegant, but the only thing I disliked was how far down the dress reached. I wouldn't call it cleavage, I think…but it just went a bit too far down for my personal preference. But my friend reminded me that it was only 5€, so in the end I got it. Then I could say I had got a dress at a Romanian flea market ish. And she had also got a blouse thing so then we both walked away really satisfied. I'm definitely happy I got it.
Afterwards we took the metro to a neighbourhood just by the park we had been the day before. It was my ex colleague from the night before who had recommended we walk around in the area. It turned out to be the exclusive part of town; really fancy cars, big designed houses with tall fences, fancy looking restaurants with terraces…. We walked around there for a bit but were actually already in a bit of a hurry in terms of getting dinner/food before going back to her place so I could pack and catch my bus.
We took the metro again and ended up somewhere, I think, close to a park she had been talking about since I had got there. However, we were first to meet up with a friend of hers who knew Bucharest a bit better. We actually meant to go to a restaurant my other friend had recommended, but this girl had had some bad experiences there so we went to some other place instead. The portions were gigantic at that place - but the food was also really good. The three of us sat there chatting for a while; telling her friend about the shopping we had done and other things we'd seen since I had as arrived. Both my friend and I ended up getting doggy bags for the rest of our food. I thought it'd be good to have it on the bus if I wouldn't be able to sleep and would get hungry while my friend had so much of her salad left that it was probably going to last her for lunch at work the next day - and maybe even dinner.
In Romania, you can't split the bill/py separately unlike at home. Don't ask me why; I find it very illogical. So when we were about to pay, we could either all chip in with cash, in which case I'd need to find an ATM, as I wouldn't have enough to pay for the bus. (The booking had only been a reservation, much like the one my friend had made for me when going to Baia Mare). Or the second option was that I'd pay for everyone by card, and they'd pay me in cash, in which case I'd end of with an excess of Romanian cash that I wouldn't need. I thought about it for quite a while, and eventually decided took pay by card. My Moldovan friend sometimes goes to visit a friend in Cluj-Napoca, so I thought maybe he could or would want to exchange my Romanian money. Now, a week later, I feel a bit like it could have been a game; the decisions you make have consequences further down the road and this would eventually turn out to have been quite a wise decision.
After that early dinner, we finally went to that park my friend had spoken about for so long. It was quite nice, a also rather crowded since it was a really sunny day. We got one scoop of ice cream each to cool down a bit, walked around a lake, then back again as the nearest exit towards the closest metro station was in the other direction. We parted with her friend, since she was going in the other direction, and took the metro back to my friend's place. I packed my big backpack, and bad only a small backpack I bought in Chile that fit into a paper bag I had for my doggy bag.
It had almost got dark when we got back outside, headed back into town. The bus station was opposite to the bar I had been the night before, but wasn't very close to any metro station so we took a metro into town, then Uber from there for only 10 lei. It seems my friend could tell I was getting a bit worried about time, because she told me that the whole thing about needing to be at the bus station half an hour before departure really wasn't that strict. Indeed, we got there 20-25 minutes before departure, yet there was only like one or two other passengers on the bus so far.
I used to opportunity while still in the EU with no additional roaming charges, and before people would go to sleep, to message my friend in Moldova and let him know I was now on the bus and that I'd arrive in the morning. I asked for directions to his house and he told me to try to get an app so I could book a taxi if we'd have WiFi when I arrived. Otherwise I could take a normal taxi which would probably cost around 50 lei - Moldovan lei; around 2.5€. At 11 ish, after having tried - and failed - to set up the app, I was too sleepy to stay awake and said I'd figure it out in the morning. Somehow.
Next: Chisinau! A.k.a. first impressions of Moldova.