The trip from Istanbul to Bucharest, Romania was amazingly luxurious. By luxurious I mean incredibly sketchy, and I feared for my life. We booked our train ticket at the Istanbul station where the salesman informed us that we would need to bus to a smaller city about an hour away to catch the correct train. We waited an hour or two at the station before hopping on a large bus similar to the one we took from Thessaloniki to Istanbul. After the first half hour the sun had set and we were riding through the Turkish country side. About thirty minutes later we pulled off the main road onto a dirt road and drove through what looked like an old war zone. No signs of active civilization were in sight; only concrete remnants of old buildings were scattered amongst the shrubs. Where the hell were we!? Why were we on a dirt road? Did the 15 passengers on this bus buy tickets to be murdered in the middle of nowhere? The occasional stray dog would appear along the side of the road-I made eye contact with one, and I'm pretty sure he was fantasizing about what a great meal I would make. Finally, we came to a small train station. Our train pulled up, and we loaded on and set off for Romania. The rooms were ok. They were sleepers so we all had our own bed, but it was hot. Turkish arm pit hot. There was no AC in the cabins and if you opened your window your room would instantly become infested with pterodactyl mosquitoes. The bathroom was a closet with a hole in the ground. We were stopped about 5 times along the way for border patrols to check passports(why 5 you ask? who the hell knows?). It sounds rough(and it was), but I also saw some amazing views of mosques and small villages in the distance along the way. We shared our cabin with a nice, French couple for the first half of the trip. Twenty two hours later we arrived in Bucharest.
We stayed in Bucharest from August 3 through the 5th. It was......interesting. We arrived late on a Tuesday night, exhausted from the journey(about 22 hours of straight traveling). We couchsurfed with a local couple-Radu and Beatrice. Both are in their mid-twenties. They are very laid-back, care-free, and they are studying to be psychologists. They speak great English,and their apartment is about a 10 minute walk from the city center. We followed Radu's directions from the train station and walked in the door. Beatrice greeted us with a hug and took us to the bedroom to put our stuff down. Then we walked into the kitchen to meet Radu.....and the 5 other people that were crammed into the small space. He gave us a wave, offered us a beer, and told us to make ourselves at home.
In the spirit of backpacking(aka being open-minded and down for whatever) we fought off our tiredness and joined the party. As the cheap beer flowed, more and more people trickled into the apartment and made their way into the kitchen. At full strength, about 15 of us squeezed in the room. From chatting around, I found out that not everyone knew Radu and Beatrice. Apparently they just invite a few friends over about once a month when they host couchsurfers. Then their friends invite more people, and it has gotten to be a popular event.
After hanging out and getting to know everyone, I suggested that we play some drinking games. Radu immediately recommends a game that is apparently very popular in Romania because the locals got excited. It wasn't a drinking game, and I don't recall the name, but it was entertaining as hell. The rules are as follows: Three teams of three race to five points. A team earns points by completing either "soft-core" or "hard-core" challenges. A "soft-core" challenge is directed to all participating teams, and it's something simple like "2 members of your team must kiss." This becomes tricky when there are no girls on your team so strategy comes into play. If your team completes a "soft-core" challenge then your team earns a point. If you decline a challenge your team cannot earn a point. For "hard-core" challenges only 1 team can win, and they receive 3 points. "Hard-core" challenges are also normally more extreme. Challenges can be literally anything in the world. The rules are quite rediculous, and the game is basically an excuse to get people to do stupid stuff. For example: a "soft-core" challenge from our game was a push-up contest. Some "hard-core" challenges from our game were--"pick one member of your team to pull out as many nose hairs as they can in one minute," "whoever eats the most deodorant wins," "chug half a beer with a cigarette in it and then eat the cigarette"(both participants who agreed to the last one threw up). In the end I think my team lost, but no one really kept score. Afterwards, Cat and I introduced them to Circle of Death. They loved it....naturally. After the games, and a few dropped glasses, we all settled down and crashed for the night.
The next day I got up and went for a jog before heading to a local restaurant that Radu recommended for lunch with Cat. I had tripe soup and mici. I have no idea what kind of meat tripe is, and i'm not sure I ever want to know. It tasted alright though. Very garlicy. Mici translates to "little ones." They are small, fatty sausages served with fries. Decent. After lunch we went to the city center. Bucharest has some great architecture, and(I believe) it's known for it's theater and art, but I was not impressed with the city overall. It just seemed unkept. To be fair, we only saw whatever was within a mile or two radius from the city center. Maybe the suburbs are incredible? Anyways, we walked around for a bit and eventually made our way to the locally-hated parliament building. It's MASSIVE. They claim that it is the second biggest building in the world(I looked it up. It's the heaviest, but only 7th or 8th biggest--a boeing factory in the US ranks #1). The locals hate it because they think it is an architectural disgrace. I have to say I agree with them. It's just a huge, blockish building. Looks like a giant Lego creation. A dictator built it in the mid eighties and destroyed some churches and houses in the process. We missed the closing time by about 30 minutes so we couldn't go inside the behemoth so we snapped a few pics in the front yard.
From the parliament building we strolled around looking for something fun to see or do. I stopped a woman and asked her what interesting stuff there was to do in Bucharest. She didn't highly recommend anything, but she steered us towards the old part of town. It was fairly nice. Had the usual "old part of town" features: cobblestone streets, lots of cafes, etc. From there we headed back to the apartment.
Fun fact: beer and tap water cost the same in Romania, and the tap water is unsafe to drink.
After dinner that night at an Italian place, Cat, Radu, Beatrice, and I set off for Radu's favorite bar for a drink. When we drove by it looked empty so we just kept driving until we found a place that looked hoppin. We found one....it was a biker bar. I mean hardcore biker bar. Nothing but leather, harleys, and cock-eyed guys with pony tails. And it was a BLAST. Long story short, Cat won us four beers in an arm wrestling competition, and I made friends with some of the regulars at the bar. I have a new found love for bikes now. After the bar, Radu's sober friend gave us a driving tour of the city.
Fun fact: Transylvania is about an hour or 2 from Bucharest. Dracula was actually a great leader. He got the bad rep because he would put the heads of his enemies on stakes in his front yard, and he was a recluse.
The next day, Cat and I went to this old, historical village in the middle of the city where traditional Romanian houses, windmills, farms, etc. were set up on display. It was pretty interesting. After that we went to a German-looking, touristy place in old town for lunch(Radu's recommendation). We both had sarmale. It was incredible! It's basically cabbage rolls stuffed with ground beef, rice, and some other stuff. They topped it with sauerkraut and served butter grits on the side. Comfort food for sure. I loved it. After eating we went back to the apt, packed up, and left for the train station.
There are cigarettes in those beers.....
Radu, our host, pulling as many nose hairs out as he can in 1 minute....
push up contest
Tripe soup!
Parliament Building
a church in the middle of the old town
Beatrice
Anyone ever seen "Over the Top" starring Sly Stallone?
Arch de Triumph
My pillow in Romania........utterly amazing.........ah thank you
Village with real medieval Romanian houses
the amazing sarmale
The train to Belgrade, Serbia from Bucharest, Romania was much better than the train traveling from Turkey to Romania. There was much more space, working toilets, and even a shower! I lucked out and had a whole room to myself. We arrived in Belgrade on a Friday morning with no idea where we were going to stay. We messaged several couchsurfers, but we had not received a positive response yet. When we got off the train we found an internet cafe and started messaging more people, hoping that we wouldn't have to stay in a hostel or hotel. After about an hour and a half it started to pour and our spirits were down. It seemed as though we would have to bite the bullet and actually pay for a place to stay. As we were packing up to leave the cafe, Cat checked her computer one last time. Success! A 27-year-old guy named Vukasin responded saying that he had just gotten back into town and couldn't host us because he had to spend time with his girlfriend, BUT he wanted to help us out so we could at least stay at his place until around 8 that night. He came and picked us up, and we walked to his apartment.
Vukasin turned out to be a great guy. He has a great sense of humor, he's nice, and he is HUGE. Probably around six foot five. I soon found out that the average height in Serbia is about 7'8''.........and that's the women. I saw an infant dunk a basketball while I was there. Upon arrival to his place, Vukasin made us some quesadillas with ketchup, mayo, and yogurt in them...pretty good. After eating them we walked around the city a bit. Belgrade is beautiful. It's set on rolling, green hills, and everything is clean. It was perfect weather--around 80-85 degrees with a slight breeze. First he took us to a fresh market where I noticed how much cheaper all the food was than in the States. A box(about three or four handfuls) of blackberries was only 20 US cents. From the market we walked to the old part of town(cobblestone streets and all) where vendors were selling souvenirs and ice cream. A cone of ice cream was about 50 US cents. After a quick drink from the famous fountain in the middle of the town square(the water is finally safe to drink!) we headed to Belgrade's fortress, Kalmgdan. It's an old military fortress that sits in a beautiful park. We sat on a hillside that overlooked the city and the two rivers that pass through it while we chatted. Vukasin pointed out the large boat/rafts that line the river bank. Most of the clubs and bars in Belgrade are located on those boats. When people go out they just hop from boat to boat.
That night we went out to eat with Vukasin, his girlfriend, and Marco. Marco kindly agreed to let us crash at his place for the couple nights that we were spending in Serbia. The place we ate at had a really cool vibe, and the food was great. The portions were huge! I can see why everyone in the country is so damn big now. After the meal and some drinks we walked around and looked at Europe's biggest Orthodox church before heading to Marco's place for the night.
The next day Marco took us around the "bohemian" area of town. It was a very hip area with tons of outdoor cafes. We ate lunch at the oldest cafe in the city called "?"(literally the symbol ?). From there we went to the grocery store to gather some supplies.
That night Cat and I went to the boat clubs to experience the world famous Serbian nightlife. I'm lucky I made it out alive. By the way Serbian women are GORGEOUS. I had a great time! The first boat we walked on was smaller and blared loud dance music. Like fly's to a light bulb we were pulled in by the music's tractor beam. We quickly left though when we found out the only people in the place was a small crowd around a couple guys breakdancing.......not as cool as it might sound(and it doesn't even sound that cool). We made our way to the next boat which was much bigger and better. I wasn't too happy about the 500 dinar(about 6 or 7 bucks) that it cost to get in...............until I found out that the cover included unlimited drinks.............I love Serbia. It was tough to get a bartender's attention until Cat hit it off with one; from then on the vodka was raining down from the heavens. After an hour or two of free drinks we left to see what the other clubs had to offer. On our short trek we heard MC Hammer's "You Can't Touch This" blaring from one of the clubs. I immediately jumped up on a ledge and started dancing..........full fledged moonwalking, running man, hammer shuffling dancing. Cat followed suit. We must have look like IDIOTS, but it was a blast. I only stopped when a girl who I apparently met at the last club walked by and yelled "Hey John, let's go!". I said "Where?' while continuing to dance. She said "to that club over there!". So we jumped down and went. We ended up going to three or four more clubs before Cat headed home. Luckily she wrote down Marco's address on a piece of paper for me, so when I was ready to go home about an hour later, I just gave the paper to the taxi. It was a great night!
The next day we got massive, Serbian burgers for lunch with Marco. That night we had a final meal with Vukasin and Marco before paying 20 euros for our 10 hour bus ride to Montenegro. Overall, my experience in Serbia was amazing. Definitely one of my favorite spots on the trip.
Vukasin and Cat at a market in Belgrade
View of the Danube and Sava rivers from a park in the older area of Belgrade
"New" Belgrade in the distance
One of the largest orthodox churches in the world
Serbian beer at "?," the oldest bar in Belgrade
Russian Standard--the first choice in Mother Russia
It's wierd, but you fall in love with simple things that remind you of home when you're away for a while
One of the boat clubs
Pljeskavica (Serbian Burger)
Marco--we crashed at his place
We spent one afternoon at this beach on the river
Serbian Sarmale!
All the meals here are big and hearty
We chose to go to Herceg Novi, Montenegro because the little girl from the commercial we filmed in San Sebastian lives there with her parents, and they invited us to come visit. The ride through the country was beautiful. Montenegro has unbelievable landscapes. Clear rivers and streams wind between giant, green mountains that slope straight into the Mediterranean. I've never seen anything like it. The people of Montenegro are quite similar to Serbians; they are huge and friendly.
When we arrived we made our way to the "Black Mountain" hostel(there were no couchsurfers available) and dropped our stuff off before heading to the beach to have a look around. Unfortunately the beach is not as beautiful as the rest of the countryside. There is no sand anywhere so concrete slabs were made for people to lay on.....not the most comfortable choice of material, but it got the job done. After laying around, swimming, then walking about some we went back and cleaned up at the hostel before meeting our friends at a cafe by the water. We shared some stories from our trip and had a few drinks with them before they headed home for the night.
Based on Savo's(the girl's father--he played for the Denver Nuggets) recommendation, Cat and I ate dinner at a great burger stand. Just like in Serbia, the portions were epic and each burger only cost us about 2 bucks. We scarfed them down then walked along the crowded "beach" where I got ice cream and Cat got a freshly prepared, chocolate filled crepe.
The next day the family picked us up, and we drove about 30 minutes away to a beautiful, walled-in town called Kotor. We walked around for a bit and bought some souvenirs before heading back a few hours later. It was a nice, relaxing afternoon. We said our goodbyes, and they dropped us off.
view from our hostel
The next day we joined a couple from Holland in a taxi that took us about 45 minutes north to Dubrovnik, Croatia. It cost us 10 euros/person. The couple was quite friendly and offered to put us in contact with one of their friends in Amsterdam for a place to stay. That turned out to be an adventure for a later entry.....
Upon arrival in Dubrovnik we went to a tourist center and found an older lady who rented out a spare room in her house for the night(the 1 couchsurfer in Dubrovnik was unavailable). She was very talkative and friendly, and she even treated us to juice, coffee, and cookies for breakfast the next morning. That day we took a bus to the "olde town" which was beautiful as most "olde towns" are. We stopped for a meal before heading to the beach where we lounged and relaxed the rest of the day away. The next morning we began our journey to London on a ferry. The quest for the Queen took us over 40 hours of straight traveling via boat, bus, and plane, but we made it!
In Dubrovnik's olde town
The balcony from our host's home
Bank in Pula
All our Cat's possessions!
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