We got up early to beat the tourist rush and do some sightseeing nearby. We headed northwest of our hotel as the sun was rising, seeing many cats, a few homeless people, but no other tourists. Some beautiful buildings and architecture – especially the government buildings and museums. There were some interesting statues and monuments, too. One odd one looked like olives on giant toothpicks.
We had our first hotel breakfast, and it was a pretty nice one. There was freshly squeezed orange juice (the real deal), omelettes, marinated mushrooms, homemade brownies, and a cat that had come in to look for some scraps. They seem to let the cats have the run of the place. After we didn’t feed it the cat went over and sat on a chair to wait for more generous hotel guests.
When we sat down for breakfast the staff forgot to ask us about coffee but once we checked in with them they brought out two well-made cappuccinos. Yet that wasn’t enough and so afterwards we walked a few blocks to a little cafe and got two more coffees to go. On our walk back we passed a truck leaving after dropping off his cargo, and it scraped up against a sign on his way out making a huge squeal. Then the driver managed to drive over a stone roadblock preventing traffic from entering, and that caught everyone’s attention. Two old ladies appeared from out of nowhere and were shaking their fists at the driver, who had gotten out of the truck and was looking puzzled about the incident. Two police officers who happened to be right there leaning against their police car ambled over and you could tell it really wasn’t going to be a good day for the truck driver.
After a while we went back out to do some more sightseeing and get lunch. We started from the fountains and then followed the fountains that led to the Palace of Parliament, a huge Soviet era monster that really filled the horizon. From there we walked past it and behind, heading towards the dramatic Catedrala Mantuirii Neamului – a gold topped cathedral that stood tall while still under construction. It was a long walk but good exercise, and our goal was to visit the cathedral. Unfortunately it seemed like there was no access to the cathedral (because of the construction?) and so we ended up walking into another church thinking it was the correct entrance to the cathedral – but we stumbled into a funeral and it was a bit awkward. Nobody seemed to care, though, and we tried to leave as unobtrusively as possible.
It was a long walk back to Old Town, so by the time we arrived we were ready to eat. We stopped at Caru’ cu Bere, an old traditional Romanian restaurant that makes their own beer. It seemed like their focus was on huge roasts of meat but we were thinking something smaller and got a traditional noodle soup, and a bean “casserole”. What arrived seemed a little different – a bean dip with some flatbread and a small bowl of chicken noodle soup. Even though they were not what we expected they were delicious, and we spent quite a long time relaxing outside sipping their homemade beer and drinking local wines. While sitting outside under the umbrellas some light rain started, and we were glad to be comfortable and protected – if it had started raining during our long journey to the cathedral we would have been miserable.
Thanks to a pretty cool system that connected the gaps between umbrellas we didn’t have to worry about the rain, and just ordered more drinks until it stopped. Once it stopped we went back to the hotel to take a rest. Rather than run the air conditioner it was nice to use the two big windows that opened out over the cafe street. I was relaxing, enjoying the breeze through the room, and then it started to rain – hard. The rain came down like sheets – and the way the windows were set up we could leave the windows open and listen. It was really peaceful until suddenly our phones started beeping with alert messages from the local government – flood warnings were issued. It continued to rain hard for another hour before it finally let up.
In the afternoon we went back out to try do some more wine tastings, similar to the great experience we had in Belgrade. Thanks to the internet we found Abel’s Wine Bar near our hotel, and it turned out to be a great experience. We took a table inside (in case the rain came back), and settled in. The owner had a plan all ready to go, and we were able to try five different wines – 2 whites, a rosé, and 2 reds. The owner clearly loved wine, and helpfully explained each wine, the region and the grape it was made from. He had a slight speech impediment but he was nice enough to do all the explanations in English for us, complete with maps and charts showing us information about the Romanian wine industry.
The wines themselves were all impressive. I thought only the rosé was merely OK – the others were much better than I was expecting. We especially liked the second white wine we tasted: TĂMÂIOASÃ ROMÂNEASCÃ. It was so floral and fruity without being sweet or cloying. We noticed that after our raves about that wine that the owner sold a bottle to another couple sitting outside. It wasn’t just wine – we had a big plate of cheese and meats to munch on while we tasted.
The couple outside enjoyed their wine while playing with their phones, two kittens played around them and it seemed like the rain was finished for the day. Inside we were treated to some background music straight out of the 90’s and 2000’s – even the Macarena made an appearance.
After the tasting we went back to our hotel for a quick break and then headed out for some more traditional Romanian food. Kuniko has a student who was working in a ballet in Romania and he had provided some recommendations for restaurants. We tried his recommended place, down an alley and under a covered area. The cement was still wet from the rain, and two cats played underfoot – not really begging but optimistic. We had three great dishes here, cabbage rolls, some meatballs, and meat pie in phyllo dough. The house wine was cheap and delicious, and it was a great experience.
Unfortunately when the bill came the staff said “cash only”, so I had to sacrifice my 50 lei bill that I was reserving for our tour to Transylvania tomorrow. So the order of business after dinner was searching for an ATM, and after a bit of wandering around we found one that looked trustworthy. Just as the transaction was about the complete the ATM suddenly shut down, and simultaneously the ATM next to us shut down, too. The guy doing that transaction was as bummed out as we were. It took a while but we finally found one that worked. Since we were walking around we hit Carrefour Express to do a little shopping – love those little Carrefour shops.
While walking around we did some exploring, too. At one point we were trying to cut through a shopping center, going up steps and trying to find our way out. There wasn’t anyone else taking this path, and some of the hallways were empty and spooky. One hallway was lined with colored glass panels on both sides, and turning the corner we were starting to fear a psycho killer, but finally we made our way through.
Eventually we got back to the hotel, taking lots of pictures of the buildings at night on our way. Once again the lady in front of the Irish bar called out to us to come in – but this time she stopped and said, “Oh, I remember you guys…!” We all laughed and then we went on up to our room. That night we slept with the windows open to enjoy the sound of the cafes below.
