Romania to Rome

As we boarded our plane bound for Rome, we couldn’t help but think that our time in Romania went all too fast.

Our last night & day were very enjoyable. We arrived at our hotel in the heart of Bucharest where we found it to be extremely old and let’s just say, the internals were authentic to when the hotel was built. This included such “features” as climbing 2 flights of stairs to get to the lift which you had to open the outside door, then 2 internal doors and even then, only 3 very close friends could fit. We were on the 5th floor, but the lift only went to the 4th. Of course. But it was central, cheap & clean – we didn’t care.

It was our friend Lora’s last night and had an early flight, so we took a quick walk around part of the enormous city,
found a nice bar to have a drink and reminisced about our collective time in such a beautiful country. Needless to
say, we all had a lot to say and we’ll all miss it in a big way.

Deb & I had Tuesday to ourselves and once we sorted our flights + accommodation to/in Rome, we set about seeing more of the nation’s capital. First spot – the Palace of the People. The 2nd largest building in the world behind the Pentagon. 3000-odd rooms and when built in the 80s by the last dictator, they had to relocate 1/9th of the entire city to cater for the building + grounds. It is enormous! It’s only 12 stories in places meaning that the width & depth of it to cater for that many rooms has to be, and is, huge! Sadly we didn’t have time for a tour, but just walking the width of the building took 10+ minutes.

From there, we ventured into the main city part where some 2million people call home. Near one of the main parks/fountain areas, there were throngs of people. Literally thousands all in line. Nick Cage is in town doing a movie so we thought maybe his movie set was nearby. Then we noticed the crowd was predominantly older women with flowers. Nick appeals to the older generation now?

Turns out it was the day of Saint Dimitri and all the Catholics were out in force. Romania is super religious at the best of times and this brought them all together. Cool to see.

If you ever Romania, which we suggest you do, don’t just visit Bucharest. From our short stay there, it offers nothing that the “real” Romania offers. It’s a big city just like many others and has no real charm. Get out and see the other cities & towns like Brasov, Cluj, Sibiu and so-on. That’s the real Romania.

Off to the airport thanks to Mark Webber’s twin, who happened to drive just like him, a stuff up on which airport and a 1.5hr flight resulted in arriving in Rome. Back to civilization – quite fitting given these guys basically invented it.

Our hotel is brand new, 15mins from the main attractions of which there’s a million of. After a brief search of the city, we found a very nice little restaurant called Est Est Est. Absolutely awesome food and cheap! Turns out they’re the oldest pizzeria in Rome. Not a bad effort. We had pasta, and for those who know me as the guy who used to only order steak @ Fasta Pasta, when I reckon the pasta is good – it’s gotta be pretty reasonable! It’s almost like it was Rome-made. Boom!

We still have some illness issues which are annoying, but not stopping us doing anything. Our plan is to see lots during the days here, but rest up at night and try and get over it. So far, we absolutely love it here! Can’t wait to see it all!