Romania-Hungary Recommendations
In case you get a chance to go, and wonder which of the following stood out for us: Or for our future reference: Restaurants 1) La Conac , Iasi (outdoor, homely Maramuras style, unique) 2) Caru' cu Bere, Bucharest (art nouveau interior, traditional food, folk dancing) 3) Casa Bolta Rece , Iasi (famo...
Budapest
NB This final blog of the trip has been written several days later, after we returned to the Netherlands. After something of a memory test (well I am using a few notes), there should be a satisfactory amount of detail to fill in the gaps. 14-8 We had to walk around and around looking for a taxi in t...
Maramures
7-8 We were staying at hotel Carpathi in Baia Mare; this is where Eva, my best friend’s mother (who comes from this city) worked back in ‘74. I asked the receptionist if it had changed much and he said: “In the 70’s it was old school, but it had charm. Now it looks like any other hotel”. Today began...
Cluj-Napoca
3-8 Dinner was at Zama in the University district. I opted for the goulash, despite the real deal being only around the corner (we’ll be in Budapest soon). 4-8 The national Art Museum was worth the visit and I even recognised some of the artists’ names from the other museums we’ve visited. Lunch was...
Brasov
30-7 Sebi, Dumi’s cousin and his son kindly picked us up from the train station and took us to Bran, home of the famous castle. He could only see us today as he was travelling to Canada the following day. Bran Castle is best known for its association with Dracula, which draws in throngs of tourists....
Suceava
26-7 We took the train from Iaşi, which is roughly 2 hours; a very quick journey indeed. Once we’d checked in to our hotel, we walked to the first restaurant that we came across and found that the staff were busy serving food to a funeral group. We had ordered, but had to wait 45 mins to be served....
Iaşi
23-6 After our pleasant taxi ride from Piatra Neamt, we checked in to the Hotel Unirea, bang in the middle of the town centre. We had already had lunch in the cab and now made our way to the famous University (1860) where Dumitra had studied a few years back (92-96 to be precise). We enjoyed the mar...
Piatra Neamt
21-7 We arrived at 9ish after what can only be described as a hellish train ride; the air con was non-existent, there were no windows to open and this diesel run train was so slow the term ‘snail pace’ would be too kind. We were happy to check in to Central plaza, the best located hotel in town. We...
Bucharest
The blog begins in Bucharest on the evening of our arrival (the 19th). After a bus ride from the airport that took a little longer than expected due to traffic, we checked in at the Concorde hotel in old Bucharest. As soon as humanly possible we found ourself at a traditional Romanian restaurant, a...