"Absurdistan, wooden churches, Dracula.... " a Romania Travel Page by Romanian_Bat

Dracula Park? Bad roads? Stupid bureaucracy? Lousy officials? Gypsies? Ceausescu? Compulsory seat reservation on most train tickets? Ugly communist architecture? Poverty? For sure these all make up the present or past reality in Romania, but this is not all. Beyond the damaged and dusty package and the odd smell, Romania has things for people to discover. Drop the guide book and the already familiar images you have got from the international magazines and come to see for yourself. After all, no camera whatsoever has the sensitivity of the human eye...

Whether in the middle of the Danube Delta, up the trails of Fagaras Mountains, in Sighetu Marmatiei, Iasi, Cluj or Bucharest, you will never, ever know what you are going to get. You may go to a restaurant in one of those fine old Transylvanian cities, ask for zacusca, be served aubergine salad instead and get a bill for pork steak (the price of which is listed by 100 g. in the menu and not by the portion anyway). Then, this is one of the few countries I have been to where people's ego goes far beyond any imagination and where people will always blame everyone else but themselves for their own incompetence or / and impotence. But to hell, Welcome to Romania and do not worry, it is going to be a unique experience. One that you will never forget. Amen (enters the choir of priests in black).