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Bucharest, Romania
44° 26' N 26° 6' E
Apr 19, 2008 11:47
Distance 447km

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Other entries in Bucharest

Sandwiches with a side of Sunburn

Text written in: English

It's our last day in Turkey and I'm a little sad about it. WE decided to join the girls on one last outing back to the Cisterns. Shan and I both wanted to go again anyway. It was much better this time around because it was significantly less crowded. I got to take my time examining the Medusa's without feeling rushed, which was nice. We decided to stop for tea in the underground snack bar before heading over to the Blue Mosque. They had already been so they left us to go shop and we went around to the side entrance for visitors. At the visitors entrance shoes are removed and bagged and women's heads are to be covered. They're not at all strict with the head covering part but out of respect Shannon and I put our  hoods up anyway. The floor of the mosque is covered in cushy red carpet and there are massive wheel chandeliers to light it up. It's not as cavernous as Sofiya but still beautiful and impressive. It was slightly crowded so we didn't spend too much time. After leaving we walked over to the side to check out the Serpentine column. The green spiral was stolen...I mean imported...from the Temple of Apollo at Delphi by Constantine. We were a little hungry so we got a few of the round rolls for later and decided to sample the corn on the cob for immediate consumption. It was a little strange, but good - a little sweet/charred chewiness. We sat in the park until we were finished and then headed back to the hostel where we found Keri and Robyn waiting for us. We went on a hunt for another street vendor for lavash wraps since ours wasn't working and found one that was even better and less expensive so Shan and I got a lamb one to share. We plopped ourselves on cushions back on the hostel roof and watched them deck it out for the coming capacity crowds as we ate. Apparently Anzac Day is on the 25th and the city is overrun by Aussie's that week. (I don't really know much about Anzac Day either so feel free to Google it.)
It was pretty sunny out and poor Shannon got charred pretty badly in the 45 minutes or so that we were out...some people never learn. Keri and Robyn waited with us until we left for the airport, it's a shame they couldn't come to Romania with us! I was relieved that we'd gotten to the airport early because passport control took awhile. Shanon was so pink/red that the normally solemn passport control guy cracked a smile and actually laughed as he asked her what happened. Hilarious! While we waited for the flight we treated ourselves to totally American coffees at Gloria Jean's, which I think we have in the Burbank mall. The flight to Romania was an hour and 15 minutes and went quickly. Unlike Turkish, the Romanian word for 'thank you' is SUPER easy and we were using it in minutes. We found our driver from Butterfly Villa Hostel quickly enough. He was blue-eyed with longish, brown curly hair whose nickname is Puiu, which we think means 'chicken.' Also hilarious. I adored him immediately as anyone who feels comfortable enough to make fun of me 5 minutes after meeting is A+ in my book.
The vibe at this hostel was completely different from the last one and we were knocked off our feet for a bit. It was way more of a late-night crowd and it was smaller, crowded and a tiny bit claustrophobic. I would come to love it! After a little regrouping I decided that I could either be boring and hermit myself away on my bunk or I could push myself of of my comfort zone and go socialize. I chose the latter and yes I am proud of myself. I wandered outside and inserted myself into the conversation out there. It worked well enough because the next thing I knew I was having very interesting conversations with Simone, an American transplant in Scotland, Joachim, a blond-haired French guy, and Puiu. Puiu kept peer pressuring me into having a cigarette and I caved. Oops. Before I knew it it was 2:30am...a huge change from going to bed at 9pm in Turkey and I was relieved that the jet lag had lifted. Bucharest has some wild nightlife or so we heard, as a few of my new friends were just heading out at 2am. Maybe next time...