Across the Friendship Bridge and over to Bucharest
Hello, Romania!
Reports I read online before we left, all talked about how the only bridge over the Danube between Bulgaria and Romania, can take hours to cross due to heavy traffic. The reality was that it was so easy, car and people free, that we slowed down a few times to make sure that we are not missing some control point along the way. One booth on the Romanian side housed both countries passport checks, which took all but half a minute to pass through. Easy!
Romania’s might be going through economic recovery which is faster than Bulgaria’s, but its roads so far have brought back memories of pothole ridden Sofia of 10 years ago. A short 60km after the border and we were driving on a road that had tracks. I have to say, it was the first one for me. Tracks on asphalt, all on the circle road around Bucharest.
Their roads and drivers leave a lot to be desired, but the hospitality is second to none so far. Green grass, buckets of toys and trampoline – the kids are in heaven.
Bucharest itself is not so inviting. Some places just call on you to explore and dig deeper, Romania’s capital is not one of those. The center has a good collection of beautiful buildings and charming walking area. Unfortunately the busy part was full of fancy restaurants and snobby looking people jumping out of expensive vehicles.
The river walk was next to mind altering traffic, although still enjoyable.
We were missing the connection somehow. No street food, no cafes everywhere and other than the cars, not a whole lot of action around. Not much to connect to. We were just outsiders walking in a city, which is fun for approximately 30min on a good day.
The most exciting part of our walk turned out the nudity of the statue in front of the National Museum of History. A controversial fixture depicting the birth of the Romanian nation, which might be here only for a short while if many, many people have their way. We left our mark on it just in case.
Bucharest did not win us, but we did find some lovely people right in the outskirts of its busy streets.
“We were just outsiders walking in a city, which is fun for approximately 30min on a good day.”
Oh how true this is. Some times we can wander for hours and its wonderful and new and beautiful at every step….but I agree that in some places 30minutes is just about the limit!
Love the colourful backyard!
If I cannot connect with a place, feel part of it somehow – breathe it, taste it, smile with the people – it loses me. Travel through a shopfront window is not for me. It has not happened often so far, but alas, it does from time to time.
What?! I thought Bucharest was supposed to be wonderful?! Mind you, I’ve heard this from people who were just passing thru and vowed to go back to explore, from the looks of it no need! But wow, what an amazing garden your hosts have! That lawn is so lush & inviting! Great play space :)
Now you are into EU borders, you will soon get used to crossing frontiers without noticing, thanks to the Schengen agreement. And I fear you also will get used to soulless, boring, clean inner cities without much to connect to… Street food vendors and the like are not characteristics of (eastern) European cities, I fear. :-(
Jenny, I hope you are wrong and our day around Bucharest was just a fluke. We will soon find out. Tomorrow we are off to one of the famed cities in Romania and we will see.
Stacey, I would not call it wonderful, although it does have some grand architecture around, which surely helps. There is a beautiful lush green park, which I will try to write about later, but the city was just…cold and distant.
Too bad you didn’t find Bucharest inviting, great though that your family still managed to enjoy and have fun… and take wonderful pictures.
We had a wonderful time with the people we stayed with. Now off to see the rest of Romania. Excited to continue.