Well, It seems this is my first post for 3 or 4 days. I am still alive, I just have had a few things to arrange, do, and think about the past few days, and I just didn't have time or wasn't inspired to write. I also had a cold which didn't help.
So lets see... On the Tuesday, I met with Miss C and her friend Mr M. We were going to drive around and take photos but unfortunately, Bucharest was covered in a thick fog. It was incredible, you couldn't see 10 metres in front of you. We drove around the city a little bit and it was beginning to become clearer how big this city really was, it is huge. I can't be bothered to Google the actual size of the city but we drove for about 20 minutes and hadn't left the city yet. Apparently, we'd only seen half of the city too.
I saw some buses here, that have big metal arms that come of the back and connect to a cable that runs over the city streets, like a tram or a train. This was very intriguing. Neither Miss C or Mr M, really knew how to explain it to me so I still don't know the reason for this. As with the first impressions story, I saw more of these impressively huge concrete buildings. Most of them with great architecture but they are old and run down. Most people in the city live in apartments, but there are some houses in certain areas of the city. One neighbourhood we drove down reminded me of inner city Sydney, with old style townhouses adjoined. "This reminds me of home", I said.
The other thing you notice while driving around is how poor some of these people are and how little the government cares. They live in squalor conditions with raggedy clothing and missing teeth. There are packs of stray dogs everywhere throughout the residential neighbourhoods, and then in the space of 50 metres you see expensive sports cars and Armani stores. There are hundreds of Western Union offices aswell. I saw some more of these massive buildings hollowed out and crumbling. I asked "\These are beautiful buildings, why don't they fix them or knock them down and rebuild them". Miss C told me that "The government don't want to spend the money".
They told me we were going to an Irish pub, but after pulling up and parking, it appears it is no longer there. We get back in the car, and drive back to Old Town. On the way back I see an interesting dome shaped building and it looks as though it is covered in lights. "Is that a casino" I asked. "Yes, we have 2 in the city. That one and another one on the other side of the city", replies Miss C. Driving around Bucharest is not easy. There really doesn't seem to be much order when it comes to traffic. One intersection we tried to turn in cars came four wide from the opposite direction and I thought at some point we were going to have an accident. It's absolutely crazy the traffic in Bucharest. Mr M is a pretty skilled driver and seems like he has plenty of experience and knowledge of handling the traffic, but for anyone who is visiting Bucharest and wanting to drive around, my recommendation is to think twice about that. I see some interesting statues and monuments which hopefully I will get some photo's of at some point.
We arrive back at Old Town and we go to the same restaurant that I first met Miss C. 'Crama Domneasca'. We sit and talk for awhile. I have a vodka and Red Bull. I am very tired and need to wake up a little. I hadn't slept much the night before and was starting to get a cold. Miss C orders a whiskey (If I recall correctly) and Mr M has a coffee. Mr M has some family matters to attend to and leaves. He will return later, and he was going to give me a SIM card for my phone as he had a spare one. I ask what the name of the restaurant means and the loose translation is Imperial Cellars. We look at some apartments on my phone. Miss C is helping me to get an apartment so I can stay longer without having to pay expensive hotels. In Bucharest, you can rent a basic apartment for 200 Euro a month fully furnished, which is a lot better than 30 Euro a night in a hotel and you don't have to be tied into a lease. Strangely, In Romania, the whole country uses Lei, the ATM's only give lei, however rents are charged in Euro. Every month they have to take lei, go to an exchange and change it for Euro to give the agent or landlord. I'm assuming the landlord would then change it back to lei in order to spend it. So I am not sure what purpose this whole process serves except to keep the hundreds of currency exchanges that are located everywhere here in business.
Miss C orders some food. For me she orders Mici. It appears to be seasoned pork, rolled up into a sausage type shape and grilled. It looks amazing. It came served with mustard. I take a taste, it tastes amazing. Miss C tells me it is better with ketchup and I agree with her that it would be, but it was nice anyway. Miss C has the Chicken Schnitzel. The thing about Romanians is they like to enjoy life, they like to eat out at restaurants and have a few drinks. They are very friendly, social and family oriented people. Romania has a bad reputation because of the actions of a small percentage of people. It's like Mr M and Miss C both said, "Every country has it's good and bad people". It's sad that the good people of this country are thrown into the same basket as the shit.
We talk some more and Mr M arrives back at the restaurant. I have another vodka and Red Bull and am starting to feel a little more pepped up. We finish our drinks and we drive around trying to find an agency, this is what they call a real estate agency in Romania. We drive around for awhile and it's starting to get dark and the fog is thickening. We cannot find one so they drop me back to the hotel, and we make arrangements for the next day. Between the time Mr M gave me the SIM card and we arrived back at the hotel, I had lost the SIM card. I feel like such an idiot. Hopefully, we will get a good day soon and can take some decent photo's. I am staying around for awhile so there will be plenty of opportunities.
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