Rain, the Beckhams and a tattoo.

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for your e-mails. Great to hear from you.

So it's been just two weeks already here in Bucharest. And what a change!! Remember me arriving in 35c heat and constant sunshine - no more! Last night Bucharest had sleet......yes SLEET!!! In one day last week the temperature dropped from 28c to 15c and it hasn't stopped raining. Of course everyone blames me. "The British man has brought his British weather" they keep saying. Oh how we all laugh, especially when it is the 100th time you've heard it.

Don't worry, I am not going to bore you in this e-mail with details of events I've been to.........

Except to mention for the launching of a shop in the fashionable area of Bucharest called Dorobanti. When we left we each received a bag full of various beauty products.........

And just to quickly mention going to the launch of a new perfume called Zen. When we left we each received a bag containing a face cream, body lotion and a bottle of the perfume..........

Oh and quickly slip in the fact we went to the launch of David and Victoria Beckhams perfumes Signature. This event was a bit different because they had put a lot of effort into the evening. Everyone was asked to dress like David or Victoria Beckham. So I went in a short black dress and a short bob wig - only kidding! The Beckhams have had so many styles and reinventions that you could wear anything and it would have been ok. As you entered you had your photograph taken, then you had another one taken inside the launch and a third when you left. You also had the option of having a tattoo, since David is covered in them. So I got one on my forearm. It is a heart surrounded by thorns. As a leaving present we each received a bag with two bottles of their perfume.

Tomorrow I'm opening up my own cosmetic and perfume shop selling all this stuff they've given me!

On Saturday I went to a wedding, luckily for them it was the last nice day we've had. For those of you who have been to Bucharest the ceremony was in the Basilica Stavropoleos, one of the oldest churches in the city, almost opposite the restaurant Caru cu Bere. In fact the reception was in Caru cu Bere. The service was traditional with all the usual ceremony and ritual, including the bride and groom wearing crowns and at one point the married couple, their God parents and the priests all dance around the altar swinging incense!

The 'reception' was also the usual affair of drinking and eating, but in their unique way. The wedding ceremony was at 7.00pm and the party began about 8.30pm. The food was traditional with a plate of cold appetisers first (you know the sort of thing, stuffed lambs lungs, shavings from the cows hoof, cheese with texture and taste of Palmolive). Then came the potatoes and crap (carp in Romanian is crap) - they always have a fish dish second. Then came the sarmale (minced meat in cabbage leaves) with polenta. Unfortunately after the sarmale we had to leave because it was 2.30am and we were cream crackered. Also the 6 hours it had taken for us to get through 3 courses meant that the guests had also been drinking huge amounts of alcohol for 6 hours. At my table no-one seemed interested in the wine, they all liked the whiskey, so I had the bottle to myself......and some of the next table's wine too!!

Finally let me demonstrate to you one of the differences between the UK and Romania. As some of you will know, I have had some facial warts which have made me look like some cursed old witch from a Ronald Dahl book.

In the UK I made an appointment to see my doctor and had to wait 10 days for the appointment. When I saw him he said they would have to be frozen off, but this could not be done at the local surgery. I had to go to one in Oldham. So he contacted them. They sent me a letter asking me to call them to arrange a date. This all took 2 weeks. I called them and took the next free date available, in 6 weeks time. Unfortunately due to work commitments
I had to cancel that appointment and wait another 4 weeks for the next. Eventually the warts were frozen, but the doctor said I would have to return in 2 months time for another session.

Yesterday afternoon Tiberiu rang up the dermatologist for an appointment for me. This morning at 8.00am I turned up at the clinic, she looked at the warts, froze them, gave me 2 prescriptions for things that will help prevent them returning and said she'd see me in 7 days time to check all was OK.

Time from making appointment to see doctor to treatment:
UK - 3,960 hours
Romania - 19 hours

Wish things in Romania were not so unprofessional, inefficient and third world-like.

All the best

Andrew
PS the tattoo was a henna one of course, lasting only a couple of weeks at most!

Here we go again

Dear Everyone,

Well here I am back in Romania. I will be here until at least Christmas - I hope.

I arrived last Thursday, but not through my usual route (Manchester to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Oslo, Oslo to Moscow, Moscow to Seoul, Seoul to Hydrabad, Hydrabad to Dubai and then Dubail Bucuresti) but this time I went direct from Luton. Yes Luton. And it was with Wizz Air, yes Wizz Air. Unfortunately the flight was at 7.55am so I had to stay overnight in Luton. Flying budget airline meant I was not going to spend a huge amount of money on a luxurious hotel, so I booked EasyHotel, yes EasyHotel. For 25 pounds I stayed in a windowless room with no wardrobes, cupboards or drawers and an orange pod in the corner of the room that was my shower/toilet/washbasin. Needless to say I could shower, shave and sh*t all at the same time! But it was exactly what I wanted for a few hours sleep and then be off on my travels.

Those of you who are familiar with my journals will know that I have a particular problem with Romanians travelling on airplanes. Nothing has changed. They still arrived with 23 pieces of hand baggage each - and were allowed on of course. That meant that security took 14 hours as each bag contained 20 litres of water, 1 tonne of creams and cosmetics and a kalashnikov. Each confiscation was greed with hysterical arguments, wailing and swearing. But eventually we got through to the departures gate.

Wizz Air operate a sit anywhere policy, so there is a mad rush to get to the front of the queue to board. I just happened to be by gate 20 when the Bucuresti flight was announced for gate 20! So I was second in the queue. Fantastic. Then they announced boarding would commence:
"People with mobility issues, families with small children and those who have paid for priority booking may now come forward to board".
Of course I was flattened in the stampede of able bodied, single Romanians with no priority boarding. The staff kept shouting that only those mentioned should come forward but the dam had broken. They were denied boarding, so guess what, they stayed where they stood i.e. IN FRONT OF ME!!! So I ended up boarding 396th and lying in one of the overhead luggage bins.

And my other pet dislike of the travelling Romanians, as soon as the plane touched down (after they had applauded), they are up out of their seats getting their luggage, switching their phones on and using them etc. Once again the cabin crew are screaming at them to sit down but evidently most Romanians have a severe hearing problem.

Finally I arrived in Bucuresti at about 14.00. Stepped outside into a wall of heat. As I will be here until Christmas I had brought winter clothes as well as lighter stuff, but of course being careful about the weight of my luggage (hold luggage was 22kgs and hand 14kgs so I was 6 kgs over but they didn't say anything) I was wearing a vest, T-shirt, shirt, jumper, fleece and coat, scarf and hat, thick trousers and books.......oh and a guttering system to take away the torrent of sweat.

By 18.00 I was standing in an air conditioned Perfumeria sipping Verve Clicquot champagne and eating blinis with red and black caviar on them. It was the opening of a new perfume house where the cheapest was 100 euros and it went up to 3,000 euros!! And guess what? The TV cameras were there and yes I've already appeared on TV when the news covered the opening of the boutique on their Sunday weekly round up. But that was not the end of it. By 20.00 that same day I was sipping Moet et Chandon champagne in the Throne Room of the Winter Palace at the launch of the Citroen C5 in Romanian. Just a normal day in Bucuresti!!

Things have calmed down and for Friday, Saturday and Sunday I just settled in and sorted things out. Although I did go to see Mamma Mia at the cinema at the weekend (they show all the films in their original language with Romanian subtitles) and enjoyed it immensely.

The weather here is abnormally warm. In fact I have not seen a cloud yet in the 5 days I have been here. Today is cooler at 34c (93f) - it was 37c (98f) yesterday!

Well that's about all for now. Hope you are all well.

Take care

Andrew x