"Another year, another country" rambling_rose's Profile

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An English Teacher abroad

Teaching English means you not only get to travel around, but live in different places around the world. Why Romania? I'm not sure, but it seemed a little off the beaten track, and having a bit of Spanish, it seemed that the language would be easier for Eastern Europe than any of the Slavic ones.
So, I arrived here about 3 months ago, and am gradually learning about history, the culture and of course, the people.

Tineretului

home sweet home

I'm living just south of the centre, near a park called Tineretului. Say it. Try again, syllable by syllable. Ok, go and practise....
It's great to be near a park - a bit of green lung in an essentially grey and grimy city. Lots of people out at the weekends, a lake in the middle, bars and a restaurant open in the summer months, and now the leaves are turning shades of yellow, orange and red. Lovely.
As you can see from the photo, Romania blocks of flat aren't exactly beautiful. Functional more like. And boiling hot now that the building heating has been turned on at about 30C.

The People's Palace

Casa Poporului

My flat has an extraordinary view of Ceausecsu's grandiose edifice. Second largest building in the world (after the Pentagon), you can take a short tour around a tiny proportion of the place. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but being on such a huge, inhuman scale, the inside leaves you just as cold and sterile as the outside.

bulevard with a view

Bulevardul Unirii

The closer you get to The People's Palace, the more unreal it seems. Nice fountains, though.

Parcul Tineretului

Green space. Aaaaa, lovely.

Fantastic food

visit to the market

Best tip for eating is to make it yourself. Check out the fruit and veg markets for amazing seasonal produce, brought to you by the farmers that grow it. Although, seasonal can have its downside. What anyone does with piles and piles of horseradish root is anyone's guess

More parks

The better know park is in the north of the city - Herastrau. It's absolutely enormous, although most of it is lake. Well worth strolling around on a Sunday with the locals.

old and new

Bucharest street scene

A typical sight in Bucharest. Compare and contrac the brand spanking new Financial Plaza with the sad-looking building across the street.

Intro Updated Nov 20, 2006
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Comments (6)

MalenaN Jan 1, 2009 at 1:41 AM Report Abuse

Happy New Year Rosie! Have a great year full of fun travels!
mturkkan Jan 7, 2008 at 6:59 AM Report Abuse

Happy Birthday to you from Antalya
picslook Feb 23, 2007 at 9:13 AM Report Abuse

to sir with love,oh teachers .still amazing us in any field of life ,your home page is great,your pics too due to the ideal zoom . i failed in (Tineretului. ) exam.. )i wish you happy. again &again..,god bless you
WanderingFinn Jan 7, 2007 at 2:03 PM Report Abuse

Happy Birthday to you! I have been to Romania (Black Sea coast and liked it a lot) but never in Bucharest so far. I will travel there soonest possible!
2004me Jan 7, 2007 at 7:00 AM Report Abuse

Happy B'day & happy new year to you !!!
RickinDutch Nov 20, 2006 at 1:59 PM Report Abuse

Welcome to VT! Caution, this site can be addictive! Greetings from Alaska.