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!