Yes, yes, we know- this is supposed to be about our Romanian adventures and all we can seem to talk about is Berlin. We had a fantastic time there, but have been back in Bucharest for a couple of weeks now.
As soon as we arrived back to Bucharest, we both felt ill and were down for the count for at least a week. During that time, aside from the most necessary of errands and work, like completing the final stages of my residency permit, B working at the archives and frequent trips to the grocery store for Sprite, soup, and Kleenex, we did as little as possible. After a week of hibernation, we were both feeling pretty stir crazy and took our friends up on their invitation for dinner at a Hungarian restaurant. The restaurant itself was quite nice and the service was good, but unfortunately the food was not very authentic. This, however, was easily made up for by the good company. Despite the fact that both of my ears were blocked for days on end, I was still able to enjoy the conversation and the opportunity to meet some new folks at a bar after the restaurant. Unfortunately, the smokiness of the bar set both of our recoveries back a bit, so we spent last Saturday resting and working on taxes (yuck) for most of the day. We made a quick dash out in the evening to check out a new Indian restaurant that had opened in a suburb north of the city. The menu at this restaurant was virtually identical to that of Taj. The restaurant was fair and pretty out of the way, so we are unlikely to return anytime soon. After we returned from there, we skyped with my folks and much later in the evening got a surprise skype call from our friends Sam and Erin. It was such a wonderful surprise!
As soon as we arrived back to Bucharest, we both felt ill and were down for the count for at least a week. During that time, aside from the most necessary of errands and work, like completing the final stages of my residency permit, B working at the archives and frequent trips to the grocery store for Sprite, soup, and Kleenex, we did as little as possible. After a week of hibernation, we were both feeling pretty stir crazy and took our friends up on their invitation for dinner at a Hungarian restaurant. The restaurant itself was quite nice and the service was good, but unfortunately the food was not very authentic. This, however, was easily made up for by the good company. Despite the fact that both of my ears were blocked for days on end, I was still able to enjoy the conversation and the opportunity to meet some new folks at a bar after the restaurant. Unfortunately, the smokiness of the bar set both of our recoveries back a bit, so we spent last Saturday resting and working on taxes (yuck) for most of the day. We made a quick dash out in the evening to check out a new Indian restaurant that had opened in a suburb north of the city. The menu at this restaurant was virtually identical to that of Taj. The restaurant was fair and pretty out of the way, so we are unlikely to return anytime soon. After we returned from there, we skyped with my folks and much later in the evening got a surprise skype call from our friends Sam and Erin. It was such a wonderful surprise!
On Sunday, we went for our usual brunch at a local cafe and then decided to take a walk around our neighborhood. It was a beautiful day and we quickly returned home to change out of our winter clothes into T-shirts! We explored more of our immediate neighborhood, discovering a Mexican Restaurant only a couple of blocks away from our place; it was closed on Sunday, but we noticed it has a delivery car. Later we walked pretty far down a major street in a direction we have never been. We found a very nice and pleasant park, as well as an interesting neighborhood. When we returned from our 3 hours walk we relaxed and had some leftover Indian food for dinner before skyping with B's folks and resting.
Aside from a nice outing on Tuesday to see a friend who was in town for only a few days, we had a pretty quiet week. On Wednesday, we gave El Perro, the restaurant we saw on Sunday, a try by ordering food for delivery. The food was fair and will do in a pinch, but we continue to prefer El Torito. B began working at a new archive, The Municipal Archives, which turn out to be in a part of town pretty far from here and took quite a long time for B to get to. Unfortunately, B had to return to the Municipal Archives a second day in order to finally get his permit due to some very rigid rules, but the second trip was a bit easier since taxis were available. On Friday, we met 3 of our friends for dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant, El Torito. The food was great as usual and at the end of the meal, a small tabby cat found his way into the restaurant and made great friends with B and our dining companions. Though the weather here in Bucharest has been lovely and the flowers all around are quite beautiful, the pollen has been making B feel pretty bad, so we have been limiting our outdoor time. That's one reason why we decided to explore the JW Marriott yesterday. We had heard that the Marriott has a mall within it and also that one of its restaurants is an American sports bar. We tried out Champions, The American Sports Bar, for lunch. B had a bacon cheeseburger with wasabe sauce and I had a quesadilla salad, almost identical to what I often get at Chili's at home. We also split an order of humus. All the food was delicious and B was even able to get some ginger ale- a real rarity in Bucharest. After a walk around the mall, which has mostly upscale shops like Louis Vuitton, I was finally able to find a salon that looked reliable and where I knew folks would speak English and had a nice visit with the esthetician! Afterward, we stopped for a cold drink in their cafe (iced coffee for me and another ginger ale for B) before heading back home for a relaxing evening.
Next week promises to be another busy one for B, as far as work is concerned, but will be followed by a 3 day weekend as all the archives will be closed on Easter Monday.
Below are some photos of our neighborhood and the park we saw on our long walk last weekend:
B enjoying the sunshine on park bench.
A very interesting house on our street.
Aside from a nice outing on Tuesday to see a friend who was in town for only a few days, we had a pretty quiet week. On Wednesday, we gave El Perro, the restaurant we saw on Sunday, a try by ordering food for delivery. The food was fair and will do in a pinch, but we continue to prefer El Torito. B began working at a new archive, The Municipal Archives, which turn out to be in a part of town pretty far from here and took quite a long time for B to get to. Unfortunately, B had to return to the Municipal Archives a second day in order to finally get his permit due to some very rigid rules, but the second trip was a bit easier since taxis were available. On Friday, we met 3 of our friends for dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant, El Torito. The food was great as usual and at the end of the meal, a small tabby cat found his way into the restaurant and made great friends with B and our dining companions. Though the weather here in Bucharest has been lovely and the flowers all around are quite beautiful, the pollen has been making B feel pretty bad, so we have been limiting our outdoor time. That's one reason why we decided to explore the JW Marriott yesterday. We had heard that the Marriott has a mall within it and also that one of its restaurants is an American sports bar. We tried out Champions, The American Sports Bar, for lunch. B had a bacon cheeseburger with wasabe sauce and I had a quesadilla salad, almost identical to what I often get at Chili's at home. We also split an order of humus. All the food was delicious and B was even able to get some ginger ale- a real rarity in Bucharest. After a walk around the mall, which has mostly upscale shops like Louis Vuitton, I was finally able to find a salon that looked reliable and where I knew folks would speak English and had a nice visit with the esthetician! Afterward, we stopped for a cold drink in their cafe (iced coffee for me and another ginger ale for B) before heading back home for a relaxing evening.
Next week promises to be another busy one for B, as far as work is concerned, but will be followed by a 3 day weekend as all the archives will be closed on Easter Monday.
Below are some photos of our neighborhood and the park we saw on our long walk last weekend:
B enjoying the sunshine on park bench.
A very interesting house on our street.
A very odd sculpture at the Metro Station at The University of Bucharest
A playground at the park we found
The first public library we have ever seen in Bucharest!
A very nice, restored home from 1930 a block away from our place.
The park we found
Beautiful flowers in the very nice park
S and B :)
No comments:
Post a Comment