Dear All,
For those of you in the UK who seem to be enjoying a dull, fairly wet July and August you may not want to hear that it is HOT here in Bucharest. Everyday for the past month it has been at least 90F and reached over 100F a couple of times.
So most of Bucharest gets out of the city in August. It's great. The streets only have 200 cars per square metre rather than the usual 1,000s. Due to the heat even the dogs only have enough energy to lift their heads slightly off the pavement and take a chunk out of your leg. Life is much more peaceful. But there is still the lure of the seaside and the mountains even for those who stay behind. Every Friday afternoon the roads up to Brasov in the mountains and Constanta at the Black Sea are bumper to bumper with cars, this procession repeated on the Sunday evening returning to Bucharest.
We decided we would go to the mountains last weekend. To avoid the Friday rush we left at 6.00am Saturday......that's right, a Saturday morning at six o'clock!!! Of course the road was clear which was a good job because most of the way I had my head resting on the back of the seat snoring.....and I was driving.
As we approached the mountains so the clear blue sky became increasingly dark until one almighty storm broke over our heads. There were blinding flashes of lightning, stomach rumbling crashes of thunder and rain pouring down like a curtain. I was driving Tibi's mum's car, a Tico, which is small and compact. Having the windscreen wipers on full speed, the fan on high to clear the condensation, the headlights on due to the darkness and the back windscreen heater on so I could see out of the back there was little power to keep the car moving forward. So even though we were struggling to get our speed up to double figures it was still good to be overtaking the Bucuresti - Brasov train and to see their sweating jealous faces looking out at our breath-taking speed...going downhill.....with a strong wind behind us.
The storm changed our plans. We had intended going on the 'telecabina' (cable car) to a cave high in the mountains, but the storm has closed it. So we went to Brasov deciding to stay there the night and go to the cave in the morning.
Thankfully the Sunday morning dawned clear and sunny. So we headed off to Busteni from where we got the cable car. Even though it was not yet 10am when we arrived the queue for the telecabina stretched to the outskirts of Paris. Since each cable car took 25 people we calculated that it would be a week next Thursday before we reached the Romanian border and it would be two weeks after Christmas before we arrived at the front of the queue. But having been defeated by the storm the day before we were not going to be put off so easily.
Having shaved five times, had a hair cut, bought new clothes because I had grown while waiting and spent two years in prison for killing the person in front of me who continually blew smoke in my face even though we were outside in the "fresh air", we reached the front of the queue. It was at this point that Tibi informed me of two things.
Firstly this was only the first of two cable car rides we would have to take to reach this cave. Secondly, this cable car system was from Ceausescu's communist era and by the looks of it the most attention it had received since his demise 20 years ago was the new nail polish on the hands of the lady who sold us the tickets.
So I, along with 24 others, was hauled hundreds of metres into the air on a piece of wire strung between two poles sometimes placed very far apart. The scenary was stunning, the height of the cable car and the steepness of the mountain sides breath-taking and the smell of the arm pits thrust into my face something unbelievable.
By sheer luck we made it to the top, where we changed cars and went for a shorter and less crowded ride to the famous cave. In fact the cave was a 15 minute walk from the telecabina station. But you knew you were getting near to it because you could hear the priests singing.
Being Romania, the Orthodox Church had somehow laid claim to the cave by building a church in its entrance. There was also a "hotel" where the Orthodox faithful could stay. All down the valley you could hear the monotone drone of the priests over the loudspeakers. Just as we reached the cave entrance you heard a gun shot, the priests' droning stopped abruptly and a huge cheer went up from along the valley.
Eventually we managed to enter the cave having passed the icons for sale, the prayer beads, the holy water coming out of a tap in the wall and the endless candle sellers. The cave was spectacular. It went on for quite a distance ino the mountain. Wooden ladders and steps had been made to help you on your way. Unfortunately due to the fact they seem to have been made by blind nuns with no ability at all in woodwork, it meant that they were unstable, the steps were at very strange angles at times and of course very slippery due to the constantly dripping water. Add to this the huge number of people visiting the cave and you have a rather perilous trek into the heart of the cave. But you need to add in one further factor. The Romanians have the patience of a hyperactive maniac on speed. So as you are carefully negotiating a particularly difficult and steep ladder with half the steps missing and the other half at impossible angles to keep your feet on, a sweating Romanian man is climbing over your shoulders to get in front of you while his son climbs between your legs and his wife simply bulldozers her way through.
Needless to say with a church at the entrance, the furthest accessible point of the cave is adorned by an altar to the Virgin Mary. I'm sure she's pleased to be stuck in a damp cool cave in pitch darkness. But the cave is extensive, spectacular and definitely worth a visit, even by two death defying cable cars, a wooden ladder system that makes Its a Knockout look like a stroll in the park and being trampled under foot by hoards of manic Romanians.
On our return it started raining, so when we reached the second cable car to take us back to Busteni most people had decided to return as well, meaning there was yet another enormous queue. This provided the Romanians with another opportunity to demonstrate their remarkable lack of awareness of personal space. Queuing on the stairs up to where the cabins arrived, this woman behind me was almost climbing into my ass. Really, she had her leg between mine so when you looked down it seemed I had three legs. She was pressed up against me, but one step below.....being fairly short her face was just above the level of my ass.....and I had eaten a lot of spinach the day before......lots of roughage and fibre.......producing lots of gases.......it was what she deserved. By the time she reached the front of the queue her hair was bleached, her t-shirt looked like it had been dyed and her nostrils had blisters on them.
Eventually we arrived on solid ground back in Busteni and the 3 hour drive back to Bucharest. However you have to wonder if it's not safer in a cable car up in the mountains than it is in Bucharest because two weeks ago we had another earthquake. This time it occurred mid morning while I was at work. I wondered why my computer monitor was shaking a lot and then realised what was happening. Like the last one it was not a major quake thankfully, again about 5.5 on the Richter scale. What was unusual about it was that it originated just of the coast by the Romanian Bulgarian border approximately 20 kms into the Black Sea. 95% of the quakes come from an area called Vranchea in the east of the country. So this was rare and caused a tsunami warning for the Black Sea coast.
Apart from that it's been a quiet summer! Hope you are having a good one even if the weather has not been exactly what was forecast.
Take care,
Andrew xx
Friday, 21 August 2009
Sunday, 28 June 2009
Lightening and breakfast
Hi Everyone,
Around seven o'clock on Thursday evening while watching television I suddenly realised that night had fallen. The slight problem involved the fact that at that time of the evening it should still be light, still sunny even. But the darkness was thick and all enveloping.
Then came that familiar distant rumble of thunder with the huge drops of rain following shortly after. An early summer storm is not usual at all, but we had little idea what was on the way. For the next three hours almost constant lightening lit up the sky. The thunder never stopped rolling, just peaks and troughs in the noise level but never quiet. If ever the phrase, the Heavens opened, meant something it was during those three hours. And finally the wind grew and grew until it sounded like the roof was coming off. Never have I seen such a storm.
By the end of the evening one person was dead, over 250 trees had fallen blocking many streets and roads and parts of the city had no electricity. For a time all the TV stations went down and the mobile network also crashed. And it was not just Bucharest that experienced this - Ploiesti had a huge hail storm, Timisoara was lashed by heavy rain and winds and Craiova was left with fallen trees. And in the countryside a field containing 200 sheep was hit by lightening killing all the sheep.
The weekend before we had gone to the "muddy volcanoes". These are unique in Europe. Small volcanoes of mud bubble up continuously about 200kms north east of Bucharest. The result is an eeire lunar landscape of cracked mud mounds and the occasional belch from a liquid mud mini volcano. Surprisingly the mud is quite cold - I thought it would be super heated from below like lava or water in geysers.
The following weekend was followed by a holiday Monday (June 1st). So we took the opportunity to get away from Bucharest again and went to Sibiu in Transylvania. In 2007 Sibiu was European Capital of Culture and it is a lovely place with beautiful old buildings, a great picturesque square and a relaxed atmosphere. The fact that it was beautifully hot weather also enhanced the place. Sibiu is in the mountains where the air is fresher and cooler than Bucharest. But that weekend it was still 32c (nearly 90F). Those of you who have been to hot climates will know that you are always warned to keep hydrated and not consume too much alcohol. Unfortunately no-one seems to have informed Tiberiu's relatives who we stayed with. We came down for breakfast to find a bucket of tuica waiting for me. Tuica is a strong clear alcoholic drink made from plums. Tibi does not drink alcohol at all so they only stopped trying to get him to have some after one hour of constant pressure. But they saw that glimmer of weakness in my eye and that was it. Tibi's uncle kicked the chair from under me, pinned me to the floor with his knee and his wife got the tube down my throat, fitted the funnel and emptied the bucket. I think I gained consciousness about 3 days later. Tibi's uncle makes his own tuica.....and wine.....so the second I could focus they poured a two litre coca cola bottle of red wine down my throat.
Actually it is not as bad as it sounds having your stomach pumped.
On the way back from Sibiu we reached the only complete motorway in Romania (from Pitesti to Bucharest). Just 2 minutes on that motorway there was a huge bang and the car began to shake wildly. Tibi did a great job keeping control of it and getting over to the hard shoulder. One of the rear tyres had literally exploded, there was an enormous hole in the side of it. Thankfully we were safe and eventually returned to Bucharest just a few hours later than planned.
For those of you in the UK I hope you cope with the heatwave they are forecasting this week.
Take care. All the best,
Andrew xx
Around seven o'clock on Thursday evening while watching television I suddenly realised that night had fallen. The slight problem involved the fact that at that time of the evening it should still be light, still sunny even. But the darkness was thick and all enveloping.
Then came that familiar distant rumble of thunder with the huge drops of rain following shortly after. An early summer storm is not usual at all, but we had little idea what was on the way. For the next three hours almost constant lightening lit up the sky. The thunder never stopped rolling, just peaks and troughs in the noise level but never quiet. If ever the phrase, the Heavens opened, meant something it was during those three hours. And finally the wind grew and grew until it sounded like the roof was coming off. Never have I seen such a storm.
By the end of the evening one person was dead, over 250 trees had fallen blocking many streets and roads and parts of the city had no electricity. For a time all the TV stations went down and the mobile network also crashed. And it was not just Bucharest that experienced this - Ploiesti had a huge hail storm, Timisoara was lashed by heavy rain and winds and Craiova was left with fallen trees. And in the countryside a field containing 200 sheep was hit by lightening killing all the sheep.
The weekend before we had gone to the "muddy volcanoes". These are unique in Europe. Small volcanoes of mud bubble up continuously about 200kms north east of Bucharest. The result is an eeire lunar landscape of cracked mud mounds and the occasional belch from a liquid mud mini volcano. Surprisingly the mud is quite cold - I thought it would be super heated from below like lava or water in geysers.
The following weekend was followed by a holiday Monday (June 1st). So we took the opportunity to get away from Bucharest again and went to Sibiu in Transylvania. In 2007 Sibiu was European Capital of Culture and it is a lovely place with beautiful old buildings, a great picturesque square and a relaxed atmosphere. The fact that it was beautifully hot weather also enhanced the place. Sibiu is in the mountains where the air is fresher and cooler than Bucharest. But that weekend it was still 32c (nearly 90F). Those of you who have been to hot climates will know that you are always warned to keep hydrated and not consume too much alcohol. Unfortunately no-one seems to have informed Tiberiu's relatives who we stayed with. We came down for breakfast to find a bucket of tuica waiting for me. Tuica is a strong clear alcoholic drink made from plums. Tibi does not drink alcohol at all so they only stopped trying to get him to have some after one hour of constant pressure. But they saw that glimmer of weakness in my eye and that was it. Tibi's uncle kicked the chair from under me, pinned me to the floor with his knee and his wife got the tube down my throat, fitted the funnel and emptied the bucket. I think I gained consciousness about 3 days later. Tibi's uncle makes his own tuica.....and wine.....so the second I could focus they poured a two litre coca cola bottle of red wine down my throat.
Actually it is not as bad as it sounds having your stomach pumped.
On the way back from Sibiu we reached the only complete motorway in Romania (from Pitesti to Bucharest). Just 2 minutes on that motorway there was a huge bang and the car began to shake wildly. Tibi did a great job keeping control of it and getting over to the hard shoulder. One of the rear tyres had literally exploded, there was an enormous hole in the side of it. Thankfully we were safe and eventually returned to Bucharest just a few hours later than planned.
For those of you in the UK I hope you cope with the heatwave they are forecasting this week.
Take care. All the best,
Andrew xx
Tuesday, 9 June 2009
Eurovision, parties and Royalty
Hi Everyone,
Where else could I live except in a country that is fanatical about Eurovision? Romania just loves it. In the UK the semi finals are shown on BBC3. Here they are on their main national station TVR1 live both evenings. They way they choose their entry song takes up a month of Saturday evenings. This country is serious about Eurovision.
And at the same time they are incredibly naive about it. They were astounded when I predicted, correctly of course, that Romania would give the Republic of Moldova 12 points and Moldova would give Romania 12 points. At the Eurovision party I went to in a friends house there was wailing, sack cloth and ashes, tears and curses being called down on countries that failed to give Romania any points. That meant a lot of countries are now cursed. In fact most of them! The Romanians were convinced that they stood a good chance of winning. Unfortuantely the only allies they had in their view were the inhabitants of the local deaf, blind and dumb institute. After a long evening they were disgusted that the great musical nation of Romania was 19th. And they would have been a lot lower if Moldova had not voted.
That evening was a hectic one. Earlier we went to the Athenaeum (a truely spectacular orante and beautiful concert hall) for a concert entitled Spring Flavours by the George Eminescu orchestra. This lovely two hour concert of various well known pieces was due to start at 6.30pm. Finishing at 8.30 was perfect to get to the start of Eurovision party at 9.00. However this is Romania. So the audience were allowed into the hall at 6.25pm, an indication that promptness and good timekeeping is not a Romanian virtue. And so we waited in our seats. Beautiful concert hall......really nice......oh look there's someone we know.......have a chat with them.....sit down again......mmm, lovely concert hall......oh there's so and so.....have a chat with them.....sit down once more.......concert hall is still very pretty.......WHEN WILL IT START??????? 50 minutes later was the answer! Being British, this sort of slap dash, whenever approach drives me up the wall.
In the end the concert finished at 9.40pm. So we had to do a Michael Schumacher across the city to arrive just in time for the start of Eurovision. But just before that, at the end of the concert there was the inevitable encore. The conductor came out to lead one more piece when one of the ladies in the orchestra walked to the front of the stage. She started speaking and we thought she was either introducing the last musical piece or paying tribute to the conductor. She said:
"I want to warn you all. This is a very dangerous time for Romania. We are all going to die. Everybody in Romania will die...."
The conductor just stood there smiling. But the first violinist interrupted her:
"We have heard this before from you" she said
"And you work for the KGB" said the strange woman before leaving the stage still shouting her warnings. Very bizzare.
The very second the performances finished on Eurovision we raced off to a friend's birthday party. During the party I kept being updated by messages to my mobile phone from 3 different friends on how the voting for Eurovision was going. Not that I am fanatical about Eurovision you understand.
In the middle of the following week I had a difficult decision. HRH Prince Charles was on a private visit to Romania - he owns a house and land in Transylvania which he visits about once a year. But the Embassy gets involved in all the arrangements, even though it is essentially a private visit. Prince Charles landed in Bucharest at 16.20, by 17.00 he was meeting the President of Romania at Cotroceni Palace, by 17.50 he was meeting the Prime Minister at Victoria Palace and then at 18.30 he was at the Ambassador's residence for tea with some guests. At 19.20 he flew by helicopter to Transylvania. And that was it. Apart from returning by helicopter to Bucharest and transferring straight to his British Airways flight 2 days later, that was our involvement. But it took a team of about 12 people weeks and weeks of planning, meetings, inspections, trial runs etc etc to prepare for this. I was involved in that and so the Ambassador promised that all those involved would have a chance to meet Prince Charles at the short garden party at the Residence. Unfortunately it coincided with the biggest celebrity party of the year in Romania, the annual VIVA! Party (organised by Tiberiu of course).
Well the choice was not very difficult really.....I went to the VIVA! Party.......but of course I told everyone that I had had to stand up Prince Charles to attend this! Well it's not often you can say that! Anyway, because Tibi was so busy with the party I arrived with a friend of ours, Marius Nedelcu, who was in a boy band called Akcent but is now following a solo career. Arriving with him in his sports car and walking down the red carpet with all the photographers shouting (things like "Get out the way old man let us see Marius") was better than shaking the hand of the man who has waited the longest in history to inherit the throne and ended up marrying a horse.
Well that's enough from me. Apart from to say that after 10 days of the temperature in Bucharest being above 28c they are forecasting 35c (94F) for the next couple of days. More about the weather in the next episode including the biggest storm Bucharest has seen for many years, a trip to Sibiu to visit some lovely people who insisted on force feeding me every minute of the day and the big event of the year for the Embassy - the Queen's Birthday Party.
All the best
Take care.
Andrew
Where else could I live except in a country that is fanatical about Eurovision? Romania just loves it. In the UK the semi finals are shown on BBC3. Here they are on their main national station TVR1 live both evenings. They way they choose their entry song takes up a month of Saturday evenings. This country is serious about Eurovision.
And at the same time they are incredibly naive about it. They were astounded when I predicted, correctly of course, that Romania would give the Republic of Moldova 12 points and Moldova would give Romania 12 points. At the Eurovision party I went to in a friends house there was wailing, sack cloth and ashes, tears and curses being called down on countries that failed to give Romania any points. That meant a lot of countries are now cursed. In fact most of them! The Romanians were convinced that they stood a good chance of winning. Unfortuantely the only allies they had in their view were the inhabitants of the local deaf, blind and dumb institute. After a long evening they were disgusted that the great musical nation of Romania was 19th. And they would have been a lot lower if Moldova had not voted.
That evening was a hectic one. Earlier we went to the Athenaeum (a truely spectacular orante and beautiful concert hall) for a concert entitled Spring Flavours by the George Eminescu orchestra. This lovely two hour concert of various well known pieces was due to start at 6.30pm. Finishing at 8.30 was perfect to get to the start of Eurovision party at 9.00. However this is Romania. So the audience were allowed into the hall at 6.25pm, an indication that promptness and good timekeeping is not a Romanian virtue. And so we waited in our seats. Beautiful concert hall......really nice......oh look there's someone we know.......have a chat with them.....sit down again......mmm, lovely concert hall......oh there's so and so.....have a chat with them.....sit down once more.......concert hall is still very pretty.......WHEN WILL IT START??????? 50 minutes later was the answer! Being British, this sort of slap dash, whenever approach drives me up the wall.
In the end the concert finished at 9.40pm. So we had to do a Michael Schumacher across the city to arrive just in time for the start of Eurovision. But just before that, at the end of the concert there was the inevitable encore. The conductor came out to lead one more piece when one of the ladies in the orchestra walked to the front of the stage. She started speaking and we thought she was either introducing the last musical piece or paying tribute to the conductor. She said:
"I want to warn you all. This is a very dangerous time for Romania. We are all going to die. Everybody in Romania will die...."
The conductor just stood there smiling. But the first violinist interrupted her:
"We have heard this before from you" she said
"And you work for the KGB" said the strange woman before leaving the stage still shouting her warnings. Very bizzare.
The very second the performances finished on Eurovision we raced off to a friend's birthday party. During the party I kept being updated by messages to my mobile phone from 3 different friends on how the voting for Eurovision was going. Not that I am fanatical about Eurovision you understand.
In the middle of the following week I had a difficult decision. HRH Prince Charles was on a private visit to Romania - he owns a house and land in Transylvania which he visits about once a year. But the Embassy gets involved in all the arrangements, even though it is essentially a private visit. Prince Charles landed in Bucharest at 16.20, by 17.00 he was meeting the President of Romania at Cotroceni Palace, by 17.50 he was meeting the Prime Minister at Victoria Palace and then at 18.30 he was at the Ambassador's residence for tea with some guests. At 19.20 he flew by helicopter to Transylvania. And that was it. Apart from returning by helicopter to Bucharest and transferring straight to his British Airways flight 2 days later, that was our involvement. But it took a team of about 12 people weeks and weeks of planning, meetings, inspections, trial runs etc etc to prepare for this. I was involved in that and so the Ambassador promised that all those involved would have a chance to meet Prince Charles at the short garden party at the Residence. Unfortunately it coincided with the biggest celebrity party of the year in Romania, the annual VIVA! Party (organised by Tiberiu of course).
Well the choice was not very difficult really.....I went to the VIVA! Party.......but of course I told everyone that I had had to stand up Prince Charles to attend this! Well it's not often you can say that! Anyway, because Tibi was so busy with the party I arrived with a friend of ours, Marius Nedelcu, who was in a boy band called Akcent but is now following a solo career. Arriving with him in his sports car and walking down the red carpet with all the photographers shouting (things like "Get out the way old man let us see Marius") was better than shaking the hand of the man who has waited the longest in history to inherit the throne and ended up marrying a horse.
Well that's enough from me. Apart from to say that after 10 days of the temperature in Bucharest being above 28c they are forecasting 35c (94F) for the next couple of days. More about the weather in the next episode including the biggest storm Bucharest has seen for many years, a trip to Sibiu to visit some lovely people who insisted on force feeding me every minute of the day and the big event of the year for the Embassy - the Queen's Birthday Party.
All the best
Take care.
Andrew
Thursday, 21 May 2009
Living in Romania
Hi Everyone,
One rather depressing aspect of modern life is the relentless onslaught of globalisation. Commercially for some time now the omnipresence of McDonalds, Starbucks, Ikea etc has been evident. But now television has become the domain of franchising - not just Oprah and shows like hers, but programmes with exactly the same format, just in the local language. So "Who wants to be a millionaire", "Pop Idol" and "The Weakest Link" can be seen in almost every country now. And the biggest surprise is the popularity of the dancing programmes. But that's where Romania comes into its own.
Every Friday night from 20.30 to at least 00.30 or 1 in the morning, is the show "Dansez Pentru Tine" (Dancing for You). I have mentioned this unbelievable show before. In one way the format is familiar - a famous person dances with an ordinary person and they have to do various types of dance over the weeks, with the public voting off one couple each week. But the Romanian twist is that the non famous dancing partner is actually dancing on behalf of someone else (hence the title Dancing for You). Inevitably that someone else is a close family member or friend who is in desparate need of medical help or some form of treatment. And their only hope is winning the competition so they get the prize money.
The presenter, a very slimey man called Stefan (who is adored by all the middle aged women) has no hesitation in really laying it on thick:
"So Raluca, you will now dance the Waltz with Ion. Just remember your son with lukeamia at home watching you tonight. You are dancing for him and his future."
And that is no exaggeration, believe me. It is jaw droppingly astoundingly bad taste.
On the final show, when just two couples are left, they bring on the two people who they are dancing for. So you have a child in a wheelchair on one side of the stage and a woman on a drip looking so pale and ill on the other side. And one of them will go home disappointed......and you decide who that is!!! Even the most bizarre and cruel Japanese shows can't match this spectacle. And it's a ratings winner in Romania, hugely popular.
And then the show is repeated on Saturday afternoon just in case you missed it or want to see all the crying and anguish over again. Just as the repeat was coming to an end last Saturday another aspect of life in Romania surprised us. I was in the kitchen making dinner when I thought the fridge was going to explode. It was making a huge amount of noise. When I looked at it, the whole fridge, which is over 2 metres high, was swaying. Then Tiberiu shouted to me from the other room:
"Andrew, are you OK?"
"Yes, I'm fine" I said as I began to realise what was happening.
"It's an earthquake" he shouted "but I think its stopped"
Sure enough a few minutes later the breaking news on TV was a 5.3 earthquake. Thankfully there was little damage and no loss of life. Only a month ago the British Embassy gave us all training on what to do in an earthquake, so that was timely!
The last really major quake was in 1977 and registered 7.3 on the Richter scale causing huge damage and killing a lot of people. Apparently the quakes go in 30 year cycles, so we are overdue for the next big one.
Well that's all from your man in Bucharest. Hope you are all OK. I'll write again soon. I think the next one will be about Eurovision, HRH the Prince of Wales, big parties and.....the weather.
All the best
Andrew x
One rather depressing aspect of modern life is the relentless onslaught of globalisation. Commercially for some time now the omnipresence of McDonalds, Starbucks, Ikea etc has been evident. But now television has become the domain of franchising - not just Oprah and shows like hers, but programmes with exactly the same format, just in the local language. So "Who wants to be a millionaire", "Pop Idol" and "The Weakest Link" can be seen in almost every country now. And the biggest surprise is the popularity of the dancing programmes. But that's where Romania comes into its own.
Every Friday night from 20.30 to at least 00.30 or 1 in the morning, is the show "Dansez Pentru Tine" (Dancing for You). I have mentioned this unbelievable show before. In one way the format is familiar - a famous person dances with an ordinary person and they have to do various types of dance over the weeks, with the public voting off one couple each week. But the Romanian twist is that the non famous dancing partner is actually dancing on behalf of someone else (hence the title Dancing for You). Inevitably that someone else is a close family member or friend who is in desparate need of medical help or some form of treatment. And their only hope is winning the competition so they get the prize money.
The presenter, a very slimey man called Stefan (who is adored by all the middle aged women) has no hesitation in really laying it on thick:
"So Raluca, you will now dance the Waltz with Ion. Just remember your son with lukeamia at home watching you tonight. You are dancing for him and his future."
And that is no exaggeration, believe me. It is jaw droppingly astoundingly bad taste.
On the final show, when just two couples are left, they bring on the two people who they are dancing for. So you have a child in a wheelchair on one side of the stage and a woman on a drip looking so pale and ill on the other side. And one of them will go home disappointed......and you decide who that is!!! Even the most bizarre and cruel Japanese shows can't match this spectacle. And it's a ratings winner in Romania, hugely popular.
And then the show is repeated on Saturday afternoon just in case you missed it or want to see all the crying and anguish over again. Just as the repeat was coming to an end last Saturday another aspect of life in Romania surprised us. I was in the kitchen making dinner when I thought the fridge was going to explode. It was making a huge amount of noise. When I looked at it, the whole fridge, which is over 2 metres high, was swaying. Then Tiberiu shouted to me from the other room:
"Andrew, are you OK?"
"Yes, I'm fine" I said as I began to realise what was happening.
"It's an earthquake" he shouted "but I think its stopped"
Sure enough a few minutes later the breaking news on TV was a 5.3 earthquake. Thankfully there was little damage and no loss of life. Only a month ago the British Embassy gave us all training on what to do in an earthquake, so that was timely!
The last really major quake was in 1977 and registered 7.3 on the Richter scale causing huge damage and killing a lot of people. Apparently the quakes go in 30 year cycles, so we are overdue for the next big one.
Well that's all from your man in Bucharest. Hope you are all OK. I'll write again soon. I think the next one will be about Eurovision, HRH the Prince of Wales, big parties and.....the weather.
All the best
Andrew x
Monday, 20 April 2009
Happy (Orthodox) Easter!
Hi Everyone,
At 2 minutes to midnight on Saturday an eerie silence engulfs Bucuresti. Earlier on in the evening all the restaurants and bars closed by 10.30. The streets are deserted. Even the omnipresent cars with their noisy claxons are conspicuous by their absence. These are unique moments in this crazy city.
In the still night air two distinct elements mix, the deep chanting of the priests and the heavy scent of incense. Across the city outside the many Orthodox churches crowds stand in silence. The insides are full to the brim. Then at midnight the priest appears at the door way holding the candle symbolising the light of Easter.
He declares "Hristos a înviat!" Christ is risen!
And the crowd roars back "Adevărat a înviat!" Truly Christ is risen!
Then the light from the priest's candle is passed from person to person.
And if you are not outside on the streets or in a church, then you can watch the events on television. Virtually every Romanian TV channel had live broadcasts of the midnight services from Bucuresti, Constanta (on the Black Sea), Iasi (by the Moldovan border) and Bistrita (in the northern region of Maremures near the Ukraine).
With Midnight Mass drawing to a close, and in some churches the service will go on until 3.00 in the morning, Easter celebrations can now begin. Down the streets candles wend their way back home. Waiting in the houses is cozanac, a sweet bread with nuts, pasca, a sweet cheese pie with raisins, and of course wine, brandy and plum tuica. The 40 day fast (called Post) is over at last. Finally meat, animal products, eggs, milk, cheese can be eaten. And in the next 24 hours huge amounts will be consumed.
Across the country for the last few days in the village market places lambs and sheep have been arriving. There they are slaughtered, hung up and sold, sometimes whole or cut up. This is the meat for Resurrection Sunday. But during Holy Week the ovens have been on continuously as the wives have been baking to ensure there is enough food to feed an African nation for a month. You think we eat a huge amount an Christmas? Come to Romania and watch the experts at Easter!
And so the biggest festival of the year is in full swing. All through Sunday as you meet people on the streets you are greeted with:
"Hristos a înviat!"
and you must answer:
"Adevărat a înviat!"
Red coloured hard boiled eggs are cracked together and then eaten once the red shell has been removed. On Easter Saturday Tibi and I spent a couple of hours boiling and then colouring the eggs - not just red ones for us but multi-coloured glitter eggs!
And everywhere you go the air is full of the aroma of cooking food: miel din cuptor (lamb in the oven), mici la gratar (Romanian skinless sausages on the grill) and delicious sweet cakes.
Like in the UK, the Monday after Easter Sunday is a holiday. I am convinced this is to allow everyone to:
For me, the strangest element is all this without the sight of one single chocolate egg. And thank goodness for that, just the sniff of a Cadbury's creme egg at this moment could have dire results for my already overloaded stomach!
All the best.
Andrew x
At 2 minutes to midnight on Saturday an eerie silence engulfs Bucuresti. Earlier on in the evening all the restaurants and bars closed by 10.30. The streets are deserted. Even the omnipresent cars with their noisy claxons are conspicuous by their absence. These are unique moments in this crazy city.
In the still night air two distinct elements mix, the deep chanting of the priests and the heavy scent of incense. Across the city outside the many Orthodox churches crowds stand in silence. The insides are full to the brim. Then at midnight the priest appears at the door way holding the candle symbolising the light of Easter.
He declares "Hristos a înviat!" Christ is risen!
And the crowd roars back "Adevărat a înviat!" Truly Christ is risen!
Then the light from the priest's candle is passed from person to person.
And if you are not outside on the streets or in a church, then you can watch the events on television. Virtually every Romanian TV channel had live broadcasts of the midnight services from Bucuresti, Constanta (on the Black Sea), Iasi (by the Moldovan border) and Bistrita (in the northern region of Maremures near the Ukraine).
With Midnight Mass drawing to a close, and in some churches the service will go on until 3.00 in the morning, Easter celebrations can now begin. Down the streets candles wend their way back home. Waiting in the houses is cozanac, a sweet bread with nuts, pasca, a sweet cheese pie with raisins, and of course wine, brandy and plum tuica. The 40 day fast (called Post) is over at last. Finally meat, animal products, eggs, milk, cheese can be eaten. And in the next 24 hours huge amounts will be consumed.
Across the country for the last few days in the village market places lambs and sheep have been arriving. There they are slaughtered, hung up and sold, sometimes whole or cut up. This is the meat for Resurrection Sunday. But during Holy Week the ovens have been on continuously as the wives have been baking to ensure there is enough food to feed an African nation for a month. You think we eat a huge amount an Christmas? Come to Romania and watch the experts at Easter!
And so the biggest festival of the year is in full swing. All through Sunday as you meet people on the streets you are greeted with:
"Hristos a înviat!"
and you must answer:
"Adevărat a înviat!"
Red coloured hard boiled eggs are cracked together and then eaten once the red shell has been removed. On Easter Saturday Tibi and I spent a couple of hours boiling and then colouring the eggs - not just red ones for us but multi-coloured glitter eggs!
And everywhere you go the air is full of the aroma of cooking food: miel din cuptor (lamb in the oven), mici la gratar (Romanian skinless sausages on the grill) and delicious sweet cakes.
Like in the UK, the Monday after Easter Sunday is a holiday. I am convinced this is to allow everyone to:
- sleep, as they have been celebrating for over 24 hours non stop,
- be sick, as they have been eating and drinking continuously,
- rest, as the hangovers combined with the upset stomachs have limited their relaxation.
For me, the strangest element is all this without the sight of one single chocolate egg. And thank goodness for that, just the sniff of a Cadbury's creme egg at this moment could have dire results for my already overloaded stomach!
All the best.
Andrew x
Tuesday, 7 April 2009
Flying High
Hi Everyone,
Sorry I've not been in touch recently.
Spring has definitely arrived here and with the clocks changing last week there is a much better atmosphere in the city. It is not that we have had a particularly bad winter, it's just that Bucharest improves immensely in warmer weather. The pavement cafes open up again (which means you can put away the breathing apparatus and escape the smoke filled rooms inside).
The Ambassador went to London for a week so I took the opportunity to have a few days off. I would like to have taken the whole week, but at the Embassy I have been given another role, that of looking after the Resident Twinning Advisers (remember that when I was here with the Customs project I was an RTA). In the middle of the Ambassador's week in London I had a Twinning Project Steering Committee meeting I had to go to. So I could only have a few days off. But I was able to get a cheap flight to Valencia so I decided to go to the house in Spain for 3 days. And what a memorable experience from beginning to end.
I went with Wizz Air from Bucharest. Like many of the low cost airlines they do not allocate seats, it's just like a bus, you get on and choose where to sit. Unfortunately this allows the Romanians to display some of their characteristics to the full. For example no Romanian is able to wait behind the other, whether they are queuing for something or driving their car. So it was an all out fight to get on the plane. One advantage we have over the average Romanian is that we have the ability to think.
So when I saw that there was a bus taking us from the terminal to the plane, I thought - if you are last on the bus, you will be first off and so first into the plane. So while watching the Romanians climbing over each other and pulling hair, gouging eyes and kneecapping the person in front I waited patiently. And of course I did walk onto the bus almost last and so was first off. When the bus doors opened it was like a dam of people bursting. The fighting started again, but this time the Wizz Air people were trying to stop people going on to allow those with small children on first. Two words.....fat chance.
Evenually, using a taser, electonic prod and machine gun they finally stopped us at the foot of the steps. One woman went past with a baby and the Romanians patience ran out. They all started scrabbling up the steps again, Wizz Air staff were shouting while collecting the eyes, bits of scalp and hair that were falling on the tarmac. Of course the whole situation resolved itself and we took off exactly on time by some miracle.
Those of you who have travelled to Romania will have experienced the ritual you go through when landing. As you touch down they all applaud, then they all switch on their mobile phones, then they all start getting their hand luggage from the overhead bins. All this before we have even reached the end of the runway and turned towards the terminal. The poor Wizz Air stewardess was shouting 3 times for everyone to please sit down.
Thankfully getting my hire car to drive down to La Marina was very straightforward. I had asked for a "compact" car (Ka or Clio). They told me I had been upgraded and indeed I had, about 7 up grades, so I drove a bendy bus out of Valencia airport! It was an enormous people carrier. But extremely comfortable and plush - I liked it.
I arrived at the house in Spain to find there was no electricity. The neighbours had it, but I didn't. A letter in the post box at the gate told me I had been cut off for non payment of bills. This was Saturday evening so there was nothing I could do until Monday morning.
When I went to the bank I asked:
"Can you give me a list of all the standing order/direct debits there is on the account?"
"Certainly" said the helpful Bank clerk.
"You have 4, one for water, one for the insurance of the house, one for SEMA and one for electricity."
"Pardon?" I asked "Did you say electricity?"
"Yes"
"So can you explain why I have been cut of for non payment of my electricity?"
"Oh" he said looking at the letter I had thrust under his nose.
After some squinting at the screen he finally said: "Ah, I see what's happened. The electricity company has two names and they have started using the other name with you for some reason. And of course the bank direct debit is set up for the first name so it didn't recognise it. Therefore your bills were not paid."
So through no fault of mine I had no electricity! Thankfully my friend Chris was able to offer me a shower and cooked food.....for the whole time I was there as the electricity never came back on. The consolation was that as I drove back to Valencia the car dashboard showed it was 28c. It had been a beautiful sunny few days.......and dry in every way!!
In the next two weeks I get two Easters, the Christian one this weekend and then the Orthodox one the following weekend. So Happy Easter, Paste Fericit, to you.
And I will try to be in touch again very soon.
Take care,
Andrew x
Sorry I've not been in touch recently.
Spring has definitely arrived here and with the clocks changing last week there is a much better atmosphere in the city. It is not that we have had a particularly bad winter, it's just that Bucharest improves immensely in warmer weather. The pavement cafes open up again (which means you can put away the breathing apparatus and escape the smoke filled rooms inside).
The Ambassador went to London for a week so I took the opportunity to have a few days off. I would like to have taken the whole week, but at the Embassy I have been given another role, that of looking after the Resident Twinning Advisers (remember that when I was here with the Customs project I was an RTA). In the middle of the Ambassador's week in London I had a Twinning Project Steering Committee meeting I had to go to. So I could only have a few days off. But I was able to get a cheap flight to Valencia so I decided to go to the house in Spain for 3 days. And what a memorable experience from beginning to end.
I went with Wizz Air from Bucharest. Like many of the low cost airlines they do not allocate seats, it's just like a bus, you get on and choose where to sit. Unfortunately this allows the Romanians to display some of their characteristics to the full. For example no Romanian is able to wait behind the other, whether they are queuing for something or driving their car. So it was an all out fight to get on the plane. One advantage we have over the average Romanian is that we have the ability to think.
So when I saw that there was a bus taking us from the terminal to the plane, I thought - if you are last on the bus, you will be first off and so first into the plane. So while watching the Romanians climbing over each other and pulling hair, gouging eyes and kneecapping the person in front I waited patiently. And of course I did walk onto the bus almost last and so was first off. When the bus doors opened it was like a dam of people bursting. The fighting started again, but this time the Wizz Air people were trying to stop people going on to allow those with small children on first. Two words.....fat chance.
Evenually, using a taser, electonic prod and machine gun they finally stopped us at the foot of the steps. One woman went past with a baby and the Romanians patience ran out. They all started scrabbling up the steps again, Wizz Air staff were shouting while collecting the eyes, bits of scalp and hair that were falling on the tarmac. Of course the whole situation resolved itself and we took off exactly on time by some miracle.
Those of you who have travelled to Romania will have experienced the ritual you go through when landing. As you touch down they all applaud, then they all switch on their mobile phones, then they all start getting their hand luggage from the overhead bins. All this before we have even reached the end of the runway and turned towards the terminal. The poor Wizz Air stewardess was shouting 3 times for everyone to please sit down.
Thankfully getting my hire car to drive down to La Marina was very straightforward. I had asked for a "compact" car (Ka or Clio). They told me I had been upgraded and indeed I had, about 7 up grades, so I drove a bendy bus out of Valencia airport! It was an enormous people carrier. But extremely comfortable and plush - I liked it.
I arrived at the house in Spain to find there was no electricity. The neighbours had it, but I didn't. A letter in the post box at the gate told me I had been cut off for non payment of bills. This was Saturday evening so there was nothing I could do until Monday morning.
When I went to the bank I asked:
"Can you give me a list of all the standing order/direct debits there is on the account?"
"Certainly" said the helpful Bank clerk.
"You have 4, one for water, one for the insurance of the house, one for SEMA and one for electricity."
"Pardon?" I asked "Did you say electricity?"
"Yes"
"So can you explain why I have been cut of for non payment of my electricity?"
"Oh" he said looking at the letter I had thrust under his nose.
After some squinting at the screen he finally said: "Ah, I see what's happened. The electricity company has two names and they have started using the other name with you for some reason. And of course the bank direct debit is set up for the first name so it didn't recognise it. Therefore your bills were not paid."
So through no fault of mine I had no electricity! Thankfully my friend Chris was able to offer me a shower and cooked food.....for the whole time I was there as the electricity never came back on. The consolation was that as I drove back to Valencia the car dashboard showed it was 28c. It had been a beautiful sunny few days.......and dry in every way!!
In the next two weeks I get two Easters, the Christian one this weekend and then the Orthodox one the following weekend. So Happy Easter, Paste Fericit, to you.
And I will try to be in touch again very soon.
Take care,
Andrew x
Sunday, 15 February 2009
Our Man in Bucharest
Hi Everyone,
Well you certainly have been having the snow in the UK haven't you. The worst winter for 20 years! And as often happens, Romania seems to get the exact opposite to you in Western Europe. It should be below freezing and a fair bit of snow. But while you've been shivering in England spring has almost arrived here. At one point last week it was 16c in Bucharest. And although I like the snow, I've got used to this warmer weather so please keep your winter and we'll hang on to Spring here!
The financial crisis might be hitting Romania but it's quite difficult to tell. There is such hysteria about it, you don't know if there is a real crisis or a media manufactured one here. The National Bank of Romania seems to review it's economic forecasts every day. Before Christmas growth in Romania in 2009 was going to be only about 4%. After Christmas the forecast was 2.8%. Mid January they said 1.6%. By the beginning of February the economy might shrink by 0.5%. Now they think it will be 0%. In other words, no-one really knows.
In all this uncertainty I must admit I'm pleased to have the job at the Embassy. It is a safe job and they seem to be very happy with my work. In fact so happy that they have expanded my work. I am still the PA to the Ambassador, but I am also the Justice and Home Affairs Attache. Sounds good doesn't it?! Now I really am "Your man in Bucharest". One of the first commitments I had as the Attache was to go to a "Justice Dinner" at the Ambassador's residence. There were 12 of us including the Romanian Minister of Justice, the Secretary of State for Justice, a couple of UK judges who were visiting to look at the Romanian Judicial system, a couple of state prosecutors and a few other hangers on like me.
Thankfully I did not manage to do anything monumentally embarrassing (which I know will disappoint most of you who love to hear my mega faux pas). The food was delicious - celeriac soup, followed by traditional roast lamb and all the trimmings and then a summer berry mousse. Wine was served with each course and the second your glass looked slightly not full they refilled it, so I made sure I kept a close eye on how much I was drinking.
Anyway when the Ambassador's wife managed to stop me dancing on the table and shouting to the Justice minister, "Come on, I've been a bad boy, bang me up" they decided I had consumed enough wine and sent me home. But I think they understood that I was just having a laugh. Does anyone know what "You are being deported" is in Romanian, as I've received a document from the Justice Minister and I think that's what it says!!
Doing both the PA and the Attache job is going to be difficult, but we will review it in a couple of months to check I'm not either so stressed out I can't breathe or I'm never leaving the office because I'm premanently working. Needless to say this extra work comes with no extra pay or anything like that. "It's good development for you Andrew" - mmmm.
Well that's all for now. A short one for a change (and much to your relief I'm sure!)
Hope you are all ok and keeping warm.
Take care.
Andrew xx
Well you certainly have been having the snow in the UK haven't you. The worst winter for 20 years! And as often happens, Romania seems to get the exact opposite to you in Western Europe. It should be below freezing and a fair bit of snow. But while you've been shivering in England spring has almost arrived here. At one point last week it was 16c in Bucharest. And although I like the snow, I've got used to this warmer weather so please keep your winter and we'll hang on to Spring here!
The financial crisis might be hitting Romania but it's quite difficult to tell. There is such hysteria about it, you don't know if there is a real crisis or a media manufactured one here. The National Bank of Romania seems to review it's economic forecasts every day. Before Christmas growth in Romania in 2009 was going to be only about 4%. After Christmas the forecast was 2.8%. Mid January they said 1.6%. By the beginning of February the economy might shrink by 0.5%. Now they think it will be 0%. In other words, no-one really knows.
In all this uncertainty I must admit I'm pleased to have the job at the Embassy. It is a safe job and they seem to be very happy with my work. In fact so happy that they have expanded my work. I am still the PA to the Ambassador, but I am also the Justice and Home Affairs Attache. Sounds good doesn't it?! Now I really am "Your man in Bucharest". One of the first commitments I had as the Attache was to go to a "Justice Dinner" at the Ambassador's residence. There were 12 of us including the Romanian Minister of Justice, the Secretary of State for Justice, a couple of UK judges who were visiting to look at the Romanian Judicial system, a couple of state prosecutors and a few other hangers on like me.
Thankfully I did not manage to do anything monumentally embarrassing (which I know will disappoint most of you who love to hear my mega faux pas). The food was delicious - celeriac soup, followed by traditional roast lamb and all the trimmings and then a summer berry mousse. Wine was served with each course and the second your glass looked slightly not full they refilled it, so I made sure I kept a close eye on how much I was drinking.
Anyway when the Ambassador's wife managed to stop me dancing on the table and shouting to the Justice minister, "Come on, I've been a bad boy, bang me up" they decided I had consumed enough wine and sent me home. But I think they understood that I was just having a laugh. Does anyone know what "You are being deported" is in Romanian, as I've received a document from the Justice Minister and I think that's what it says!!
Doing both the PA and the Attache job is going to be difficult, but we will review it in a couple of months to check I'm not either so stressed out I can't breathe or I'm never leaving the office because I'm premanently working. Needless to say this extra work comes with no extra pay or anything like that. "It's good development for you Andrew" - mmmm.
Well that's all for now. A short one for a change (and much to your relief I'm sure!)
Hope you are all ok and keeping warm.
Take care.
Andrew xx
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