I spent a day in Bucharest, and couldn’t wait to get out of there. I went to the Black Sea, a place I’d always wanted to go. I had a Eurail pass for the Balkan Peninsula, so I figured it would be easy to get around. Wrong. All Romanian trains are on indefinite strike. I had to get around by convincing people to give me rides and paying plenty because gas is so expensive.
The coast has small Soviet-style resort towns for Romanian families to go on vacation. No one speaks a word of English. It’s actually a pretty cool place to visit if you’re a 10-year-old Romanian kid.
Romanian restaurants pride themselves on having page after page of animal products. They honestly have pages of pork products, pages of beef products (every part of the animal is listed with some sort of sauce or side dish) pages of various grilled meats (I saw “bear” on the menu at one restaurant). For me, the vegetarian, there was always pizza with peppers and ketchup. And that’s what I ate.
I’m sure there are a lot of nice people in Romania. I’m sure they are warm, welcoming, and honest. But Romania is in serious trouble. The government is so corrupt that people have no hope of a future. They make about $5 per day. Their expenses are higher than that. I spoke with people who said most Romanians wish for the communists to come back, because at least under Ceausescu they had some meat, eggs, milk, and sugar. Now they say they are starving. They have a huge amount of farmable land, and most of it is being done with horses and donkeys. There are gypsies on the roads everywhere.
The communist days weren’t so easy either.
My big problem with Romanians is that many of them are serious liars. I had a date with a Romanian girl in New York last year; she lied about everything and enjoyed it. While I was traveling, I was also trying to sell a camera on Craigslist back in New York, so whenever I checked my email I would also repost my ad. But not from Romania.
Romania has so many scammers trying to talk people into sending them money that Craigslist blocks out the entire country. You can’t get to Craigslist from a computer in Romania. That is a very very bad sign. I was able to get to Craigslist from Albania, but not Romania. I wouldn’t be buying any Romanian stocks in the coming years if I were you.
Then there’s the Danube Delta, one of the breadbaskets of Europe. But the government has made a mess of everything, and now it’s just a country of peasants trying to get by. They live in their 1970s Ceaucescu concrete apartment blocks and do whatever they can.
If I went back to Romania, I’d go straight to Transylvania and enjoy looking at castles. Forget about Bucharest and parts East. But I don’t think I’ll ever go back. There are too many other places in the world to see.
- by David Siegel
Comments
Trains are NOT on indefinite strike. They were for a couple of weeks at most. In fact, the expensive gasoline that you paid can easily be compensated by the cheap rail tickets. Try to find a rail ticket at 30 Euros that would travel from Vienna to Paris - that's how much the rail ticket costs across Romania - about the same distance between Vienna and Paris.
And the 5$ per day is the MINIMUM salary in this country. Sorry you couldn't meet the 30% of the population that are actually part of a blooming middle class and whose life style is pretty much resembling to any Central European.
I had great fun there and I'll always go back..Their mountain trails are so cool,skiing is cheap..by the Black sea you should have tried Vama veche..I love that place! Try to visit some monasteries too..You cannot regret that.One more advise: try to have a romanian (English speaker) with you in order to avoid some of the language problems.
I visited Romania nad my kids, american citizens, were surpriszed to see how many locals spoke english. You have to go with an open mind to such a beautiful small country, not with stories of people that see only the negative in things!
You just look like the stereotypical 'dumb American' who just shows up somewhere where he doesn't know anybody or anything about, and expects people to roll out red carpets and kiss his ass, being honored he simply...showed up. I've been touring Romania with foreigners for the last 5 years and I have not received complaints. Yes, life for a vegetarian is not easy in Romania, but not impossible either. You're exaggerating and showing ignorance. Romania is a EU member since Jan 1, 2007, and although lagging behind the other members, after 40 years of communism, it's moving forward. You should show more diligence in expressing opinions about contexts you don't relate to or understand.
This is definitely the most biased and unfair posting I have recently read. You fail to mention in Bucharest the traffic is so heavy because of the fact there are over 1.2 million cars at a city population of roughly 2 million. You fail to mention Romania is not a poor country but had one of the highest in the world economical rates of growth in the past two years, way over the average of the area and even higher in compariosn to Western Europe.
I am wondering what sick people you et that told you if was better with Ceasuescu when things are getting better and there is such a large percentage of young people? They could care a less about 20 years ago. But YOU, you seem to care: what is you point?
Conclusion: this is obviously a biased and PURPOSEDLY NEGATIVE COMMENTS AND SHOULD BE DISMISSED AS A FAKE.
Anyone seeking information about Brasov please feel free to contact me at shirokuma9@aol.com. If I do not know that answer my Romanian wife will. For those that are thinking that she married me for the visa, think again. I can’t get her to move to the US. So to be with the woman I love I am giving up a very high paying stressful job to live a simpler but much happier life in Brasov. Happy travels.
My name is Nandor,and I ould like to tell in Romania the vegetables are organic,when you come to Romania DO NO'T GO to the countys of Covasna and Harghita because 85% from the people there are hungarian and they are crazy they hate Romania they are monsters,the hungarians are monsters
That’s not true; I am an Indian who married a Romanian girl in New Delhi at Romanian Embassy. I came to Romania at May/2008. I don't speak Romanian or other European languages but I found a job in Craiova. In my office everybody speak English so language problem is a big lie. Yes old citizens don’t speak English but less than 30 years old people speak good English. Just one month before my son born in Craiova city. I am very happy with my wife in Romania. So what ever you said it’s not true it’s a big F**kin lie. Romania is a beautiful country and people are very nice.
you are very stupid.. I am a romanian and I am proud.I finished highscholl and I speak english of second class..
But, it can not be denied that there is a certain element of Romanian society that does engage in scamming. There is a village, that its entire existence is just around internet scamming.
You have to be careful on some of the trains too, there are numerous reports of Romanian youth getting on there and trying to intimidate people to hand over money. I saw some that got on the train and were walking past each cabin, using camera phones to take photos of women.
I think Romania is culturally distinct from its neighbors, in good and bad ways.
As far as gypsies intimidating you to hand over your money? Cum se spune "Wuss" pe romaneste? Losers.
1. we , in this country DO love meat. It's a fact. Healthy people in Roomania DO eat meat. Less than 3 % of the population is vegetarian and very few foreigners spend money in Romanian restaurants to be worthy giving them special treatment.So, when u go to Romania, you eat what Romanian people eat. if you dont like it, dont come here next year, stay home and eat you veggies( com'on man, u r a real man, right, u should eat meat, not only veggies, like a top model.... )
2.yes, the rails are sometimes on strike. This is EUROPE,Hello ??? Not US, not UK ! It is Europe, and just like in Italy or France, we do strike, whenever we want. It's part of the fun of coming here. Don't like it ? Stay home next time, there, in your country where u can eat your healthy vegetables and where the rail is never on strike.
Now, if I think a bit, if your country is THAT great, why bother to travel anymore ?? Just stay there and enjoy it.
As for the romanian cuisine, for you and others who don`t know, is a blend of traditional foods and influences from turkey,greece and the balkans as a whole, austria, hungary, ukraine and russia,...lot more choices than i had yesterday on the menu of the restaurant i visited here. And yes, they do it well ; three times in the last few months i had to return the food here because they undercook it, because
And my opinion about you: just another globe trotter that made cash either by inheritance or by winning the lottery (because yes, i know how much american companies pay for someone who wants enough free time to travel around the globe and write reviews) who expects the world to bow before his american passport, and is shocked about the real world. DUDE! Romanians are trying to scam you because so many others before you with an american passport went there and proved how stupid you are, in an overwhelming majority!!! It`s not their fault for trying, it`s your fault if you bite it.
What did your parents teach you?
Your barmitzva didn't make a man.Just a pussy.
Menahem
I wish you said that to those Romanians who travel to other countries and steal to make a living. Romania is part of Europe? Sorry, you must be joking! I've lost so much of my hard work to Romanians that if it were up to me I'd build a fence around it and deport each and every Romanian back to Romania.
I am from Romania, I live in Romania, I graduate three Universities, I work hard and I earn 300 euro for month but I am honest. Why are you thinking that the Romanians are thieves? May I propose you something? Come and visit my country again. Come to us, at my ”poor” but sweet home and I guarantee you that you will change your opinion. 00400745487811
To this day, my uni friend still bugs me with questions of travel plans to go back to Ro as she loved my relatives and the people's hospitality- you should try it again, but with a Romanian friend next time! Julia
yes, Romanians might try and scam you or rip you off, but once again you shoudl've been aware of that. I am Romanian, i travelled to many European countries, i live in the Middle East now, and i have seen worse places than Romania has! You should travel to a place like Egypt where you will get ripped off much more than in Romania .... then you will get to appreciate the beauty and the culture of this country.
I dont know which were your expectations from Romania - it is not the US and it will never be (thank God!). It is an ex-comunist country ... it's been only 20 yrs since the comunism fell ... but what do you know about that?