#  >  > Non Asia Travel Forums >  >  > Travel the World Travellers Tales Forum >  >  Romania 2009

## Timber

Here's a look at whats been keeping me busy for the last 6 weeks or so. It was decided some time ago that it was time for me to meet the future in-laws and gain their approval and such which required me to go to Romania, to the parents flat in Bucharest, which served as our home base for the duration of the adventure. 

Before going I had the impression this country would be a drag, you don't really hear about Romania being on the list of top vacation destinations. In my mind I had an idea of being in a gloomy post communist country deprived of culture and being fed nothing but boiled potatoes and cabbage and people that never smile.  I'm glad to say I was very wrong. 

In fact what I found was a country that has everything to offer. In Romania you'll find some of the most beautiful mountains, deep forest, rolling plains, deltas, coastline, amazing vineyards, wonderful produce and genuinely hospitable people. Throughout the course of my stay we were able to venture to all corners of the country (except the coast, it was vacation season and it was incredibly overcrowded) and also a trip into the heart of Bulgaria to catch up with an old friend. 

This was quite a good trip and we've got a ridiculous amount of photos to sort through so I'll try to post the best ones but may add to it later. At the moment I'm in the middle of a 9hr layover in Dubai on my way back to LOS nearing the end of a nice bottle of duty free wine. So without further babble, I'll let the pictures do the talking.

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## CharleyFarley

I helped out a couple of Romanian lads in the early nineties when they fled their country. Quite ingenious how they got to UK and survived for a while before being caught for stealing from Texas and then being deported but still managed to escape again from Schiphol airport and returning to the UK.
Things must have picked up since then.

Look forward to the pics Timber.

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## Cujo

> I'll let the pictures do the talking.


We're listening.

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## taxexile

Q: What's big, black, noisy, makes a lot of smoke and cuts carrots in five? 
A: The Romanian machine for cutting carrots in four.

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## Timber

Ms. Timber arrived about a month before me to finish up some schooling so upon my arrival a break was desperately needed. We started off with a short trip to the Fagaras range, part of the Carpathians, with some friends. 



This is Vidraru dam about 200km NW of Bucharest at the beginning of the mountains.





A bit deeper into the hills now.



Stopped here to cook some lunch.



Some kebabs and sausages. 

We also saw a bit of wildlife on this trip although for the most part there isn't much wildlife left in Romania but hopefully some new conservation efforts will fix that. 









Was kinda surprised by this old girl showing her face off the side of the road. Unfortunately alot of the people in Romania aren't very up to date on the ethics of preserving wildlife in their natural habits and habitats so she had become accustomed to raiding the bins at various spots along the way. 

We also found some not so wild life but nice none the less. 



Settle down now.... :cmn: 




Now allegedly these next guys are semi wild. After the communist era the economy crashed and those that couldn't afford to feed their livestock were forced to just let them roam, resulting in these 1st and 2nd generation wild horse packs...or herds...not sure, beautiful though.





Here are some pleasant mountain shots.







Thats right...SNOW!!! I actually got to wear a jacket.

There's too much to finish this thread before the internet goes away again but I'll get to work on another leg....to be continued.

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## Loy Toy

Great stuff Timber and I'll see you this Monday evening. 

Hey great..............NR's going away and Timber's welcome back rolled into one!   :Smile:

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## Cujo

Looks great, that mountain road......what kind of car were you driving?

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## Timber

A few years back I managed a restaurant in Alaska and met alot of great people from Eastern Europe including the future Mrs.Timber. Since I was in the neighborhood I had to meet up with one of my best cooks from Bulgaria. 

Todor invited us down to spend a few days with the Taschev family so he could show us the beautiful town of Plovdiv and the surrounding area including his parents future retirement villa which his father built from the ground up. I had no idea Bulgaria was such a beautiful country. 



We hopped on a train and headed for Bulgaria.



A tributary of the Danube at the Romanian/Bulgarian border.



They love the sunflower seeds in this part of the world. So many immense fields of them, I think they supply the entire world. Seriously there is not a public sitting place in either of the countries that the ground doesn't have a carpet of spent seeds. 



Upon arrival we were greeted by Todor the Champion and his parents.



And a nice Bulgarian snack.



We were taken around Plovdiv. It's one of the oldest cities in Bulgaria. Many of the sites and buildings date back up to 5 centuries. 



Here's Ms.Timber researching Bulgarian "culture." Actually just underneath this was a grotto that this mall was built on dating back about 400yrs. 





Here's an amazing Bulgarian breakfast. Its an omelet cooked in terracotta with whatever is freshest in the garden.



Then it was off to the mountains to Villa de Todor. 





Todor's dad has been working on this place for the last few years. Its about 60km south of Plovdiv nestled in between the mountains and the hills. He's just putting on the finishing touches. 





Gotta love the 1 & 2 ltr beers in this part of the world. Beer is cheaper than bottled water and pepsi....the way it should be.

The next day we went back to Plovdiv for dinner with Todor's grandparents. Granny Taschev put together some classical Bulgarian cuisine for us. 



This beautiful bread is constructed like American cinnamon rolls minus the sweet stuff and cinnamon. 



Bulgarian cabbage rolls. Every region in this part of the world has their take on it. These were nice and smaller than others that I saw, very labor intensive but worth it. 



Bulgarian death tripe soup. Another dish that is very common in both Romania and Bulgaria but with different regional styles. I found that the Bulgarians don't care to clean the tripe very well which led to my referring to it as death soup in regards to the smell. Kinda like durian though, just gotta get past the smell. 





Dessert. Sorry about the pick quality on the last few. I was too busy scarfing it down to bother focusing. 

Bulgaria was a really amazing place to experience. Loved the people, the food, the land and am looking forward to my next visit.

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## nedwalk

fuck the car .. id love to be on a bike on that road!!! good to see ya back timba, sorry i missed ya this trip, maybe next year

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## Timber

> Looks great, that mountain road......what kind of car were you driving?


The first time we went through there we rode with Ms.Timbers friends. We were in  a little Mercedes coupe hatchback of some sorts, not really familiar with them but a nice ride.  The second time we visited I drove the same route on the way back from a trip I'll elaborate on later. Took it in a Toyota Yaris diesel, great little car with a surprising amount of power. Both times it was a blast.

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## Timber

^^^Looking forward to it LT. Can't wait to catch up with everyone. 

^^Likewise Ned, we'll catch up soon I'm sure, guess I'll have to carry Scamp home by myself this time  :Smile:  I looked at renting a bike for some of the trips but they wouldn't take a Thai motorcy license. Could of got a nice one for about $100 a day. I was cursing every bastard that passed me on their bikes.

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## Cujo

That really looks like an interesting trip.
And the food. Cheese and bread and omelets and cabbage rolls.
I've had it up to here with Chinese 'cuisine'

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## Wayne Kerr

Cool ... way cool man  :Smile:

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## Timber

Thanks guys. The food was amazing. I got the chance to work a few days with a Romanian chef at one of the oldest establishments in Bucharest. He's been in the biz 40 years. Taught me quite a bit about the food. I'll get to work on that part and try to get it up before I gotta go.

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## wefearourdespot

Nice pics Timber.
When I retired to Thailand, I considered spending winter in Thai and summer in Romania , but gave up because of the disappointing and expensive sex scene there :Sad:

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## Timber

One of the most interesting parts of this trip for me was exploring the cuisine. Before the trip I had a rather negative view the food from Romania. Turns out my girlfriend just has bland taste, in all reality the cuisine was full of variety and flavor. I took it upon myself to study the regional diets and I got an incredible opportunity to do so with Chef Octavian. He's the master at Casa Universitarilor, a place where all the famous Romanian poets and artists have been gathering for ages. It was originally built for this purpose during the communist era but continues to operate now as an icon in the Bucharest food & social scene.  

This guy has been cooking Romanian food almost twice as long as I've been alive. A true chef to the core. One thing I learned from his style is its definitely not about the flash, its about the taste. He's far from haute as you'll see from the pics but I can guarantee you that his dishes lack nothing in the taste and wholesome departments. 

Working with Chef Octavian was great. This guys was drinking 1/2 ltr Holstens nonstop from 9am til after midnight,  smokes 3 packs of Marlboro 100's a day and never misses a beat. His kitchen ran like a highly accomplished and synchronized symphony. Everybody laughing and having a good time while they worked, all the while classical Romanian tunes blasting from the boombox. He cranks out 150+ dinners on a daily basis and often does 2 or 3 huge weddings on Saturdays. All of this with a staff of 5. I got to help him on one of those Saturdays. He never broke a sweat, a 63yr old badass.

 
Here's the master at work with Mammia Maria on some polenta.



She's pretty hard too. This crew works 14hr days 4 days a week. 





Rolling some cabbage rolls....



600 of them for this batch.

The key to Octavians famous cabbage rolls is pickling the cabbage first and a huge chunk of smoked pork belly in the middle of the pot as they cook. Then you pull it off and cool it and cook it again before you're ready to serve. 



This stove is 60yrs old. Can be worked from 360 degrees. 





Crunch time.






It really was an honor to learn from this guy and I'm looking forward to cooking it up with him in my future trips to Romania.

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## jandajoy

Great stuff Timber. I made a couple of trips to Romania back in the 80s. Believe it or not we were delivering second hand artificial limbs to hospitals there. Amazing country but I didn't rate the food much at the time. We must have visited the wrong places. I remember one place where the menu was "meat or not meat".

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## Timber

I can believe it about the food. It is simple but the quality of the products makes it along with alot of tradition. Not everyone there eats great, but its the momma homestyle food and traditional stuff that is to die for. Unfortunately they're having a fast food invasion these days and Mc'ds and the like is polluting the streets. But if you look in the right places there is definitely some good stuff to be found. 

Well thats it for now but I'll continue this thread when I get back in LOS, still lots of scenery to cover.

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## CharleyFarley

One waiter with  eight dinnerplates...WoW

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## Propagator

Great thread Timber - looking forward to more

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## peterpan

Your right up there with Wanyekerr on the travel threads mate, very interesting and a bit of an eye opener for me as I have not been over that way for 3 decades.

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## Jet Gorgon

Great pics and info. Love it.



> One waiter with eight dinnerplates...WoW


That used to be the norm when I waitressed. Now, you're lucky if the chick can bring one at a time.

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## ArabTRWrist

Timber...
The pictures of you and Todor nearly made me cry. I'm wondering what his nickname is for you. I'll most certainly be coming on the next trip.
See you soon!

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## operator1

Great photo's Timber,
and thanks for sharing your your trip with us.

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## Timber

Thanks for the comments everyone. I'm back in LOS after my 9hr layover turned into 2 days, don't fly Emirates. I'll add a few tonight and a some more when I get the pics sorted.

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## Timber

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the wines in Romania. Ironically enough I never really had any good Romanian wine until coming to Thailand. Here I found a few bottles at great value which I'm sure some of you guys have tried with me before. 

The most common varietal in Romania originates from Moldova, both the region (NE Romania) and the country. It is referred to as Feteasca which can be both red and white. I found the white to taste very similar to a pinot gris, being generally bright, herbaceous and dry without being overly acidic. In the red variety it is a deep ruby, the fruit tones are heavy but it is also tannic enough for someone who prefers dry reds. They often fortify and harvest late for sweeter versions of it, although I stayed away from this as I like mine on the dry side. 

The following photos were taken at Bucium Winery near the town of Iasi in North Eastern Romania near the Moldovian border in the region of Moldova. It was a vertical tasting of Feteasca Alba, Feteasca Regalla and Riesling. We also did a tasting of their sparkling and some of the brandy and cognac style liquors. We were lucky to get the opportunity to be given a private tour by the director of the vineyard who happened to be a friend of an uncle. It was quite an afternoon and I slept very well that night. 



Last years harvest getting some love from the barrel before bottling. 



Some pretty big barrels, almost enough to last me all year  :Smile: 



The best of the best, this is their stash of late 80's Feteasca Alba and Reisling...which to my delight we got to sample later on. 





The tasting room.



First up we tasted from the 06' vintage, some feteasca alba. 



Then its corresponding varietal from the 86' vintage. We proceeded to do this for several whites. 







And then the bubbly.



Then the hard stuff. The one of the left is from apples but taste like cognac. The one on the right is from grapes and is similar to grappa but with less diesel fuel. 



Overall it was a pretty tough day but we made it somehow.

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## Fabian

Great thread, Timber. With all that enthusiasm I just hope you don't open a romanian restaurant in Bangkok.

From where were you flying to Dubai? The connection is not always that bad, I have only three hours in Dubai.

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## Fabian

> Great stuff Timber. I made a couple of trips to Romania back in the 80s. Believe it or not we were delivering second hand artificial limbs to hospitals there. Amazing country but I didn't rate the food much at the time. We must have visited the wrong places. I remember one place where the menu was "meat or not meat".


I don't think you have been to the wrong places, there probably changed a lot.
I remember there wasn't much available in Yugoslavia outside tourism areas about 1980 or in Poland a few years later.

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## alphagirl

Looks like it was a fantastical trip my friend  :Smile:

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## Timber

> Great thread, Timber. With all that enthusiasm I just hope you don't open a romanian restaurant in Bangkok.
> 
> From where were you flying to Dubai? The connection is not always that bad, I have only three hours in Dubai.


I think Romanian food is better left in the home although some of the cabbage and minced meat dishes would probably work for Thais...as long as I put some sugar and chili on the table. 

We flew from Istanbul to Dubai, could have got a shorter layover but ended up getting really cheap tickets this way, get what you pay for I suppose.

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## bsnub

> Originally Posted by Fabian
> 
> 
> Great thread, Timber. With all that enthusiasm I just hope you don't open a romanian restaurant in Bangkok.
> 
> From where were you flying to Dubai? The connection is not always that bad, I have only three hours in Dubai.
> 
> 
> I think Romanian food is better left in the home although some of the cabbage and minced meat dishes would probably work for Thais...as long as I put some sugar and chili on the table. 
> ...


Dude love reading this thread and looking at the pics. I feel like I am watching Anthony Bourdain or something. Have you seen the show No Reservations? If not you should check this link out;

YouTube - ArcApex's Channel

I think they are all there..

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## chassamui

Excellent thread, just brilliant. really enjoyed it, thanks.

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## Timber

> Have you seen the show No Reservations?


Anthony Bourdain is my hero, can't get enough of his books, shows etc. 

Thanks for all the positive feedback everyone. I got some more pics sorted so will add to this thread asap.

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## Mid

> One waiter with  eight dinnerplates...WoW


fwiw , nine for mine  :Smile: 

top thread timber

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