rambling_rose's VirtualTourist Home Page

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.

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.

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.

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

Green space. Aaaaa, lovely.

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

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.

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