Submitted by Olivia Smith on the 2016 spring semester program in Tuscany, Italy…
OFF TO ROMANIA! This morning, I woke up at 6:30 am to get a few last minute things packed and to meet the bus at 8:00 am. When we arrived at Colle di val d’elsa; the location where had to switch buses, we had time to walk to a bakery, to get donuts for only 1€ each. We then walked back to the bus station to get on the next bus. When the bus came, it took about an hour to get to Florence. Once in Florence, we had to rush (because the bus was a little late) to the train station that was right around the corner. We had 10 minutes to catch the train and we made it! The train took us to Bologna and from there we had to find a way to get to the airport. We asked a police officer and he said that we had two options. We could take a taxi (that would cost 17€) or the shuttle (that would cost 12€). So comparing the prices, we decided to take the shuttle. When we walked outside to the area of the shuttle, there were two machines. And guess who was standing next to both of the machines, gypsies. When we got to the machines, the women wouldn’t let us do it ourselves. So we told her that we needed 2 tickets, after she pressed a few buttons. The tickets came out and she took the change from the machine and gave it to us. When she gave us the change, and when she did, she automatically asked for money for helping. Mary being the nice person gave her 2€ and then she said “Are you going to give me money?” and I flat out said “No, we gave you enough, bye.” We were the last people on the bus because it was really packed. I had to stand at the front of the bus near the windshield, which I wasn’t comfortable with in the first place, but I had no place to go. Anyway, as we were driving, the driver decided to stop to pick up a big man on the side of the road. In my head, I said, “Oh no.” This man decided to get on in the opening where I was….he tried to squeeze in behind me. When he did this, that pushed me even closer to the windshield. As the bus started driving again, the bus was going about 50 mph, and suddenly stopped. This is when my life flashed before my eyes. As the bus stopped, the 300 pound man not holding onto anything fell straight on me and was about an inch away from the windshield. I have a bruise to prove this even happened…..really not fun. Finally, we got to the airport. After going through security, and getting our passport stamped (yay! another stamp), we went to the gate at which our plane was going to leave from. Around the gate there were only 2 places to eat, so we decided to go to the place that had sandwiches. The only problem about this was that there was a really long line, and as we got up to the front of the line the workers were very rude which wasn’t great. I got a sandwich and Mary got chips. When we boarded the plane, I found out that I had a window seat and I was able to get a few pictures. After 1 hour and 55 minutes, we arrived in Bucharest, Romania. Our passports were stamped again and outside in the lobby we met up with Mary’s friend, Cornelia. To get to her apartment, we had to take a bus, subway and another bus. When we walked through the door, she offered us slippers. I think it is part of the culture in Romania that when you take off your shoes, you then put on slippers. For dinner, we ordered Chinese food! I got seasoned rice and we all shared a few spring rolls. Everything was really good!
Today, Cornelia made bacon and gave us bread and yogurt. We walked around town and took the subway to the Parliament building in Romania. Inside, there were so many people, because there was a really long line to buy tickets. Romania gives student discounted tickets which practically cut the cost in half, which was really nice. For me to take pictures, I had to pay more, which I did, because I don’t think I will travel back to Romania. The tour took about an hour and out of the 1,000 or so rooms in this building we got to tour four of them. All of the rooms were perfectly decorated and looked expensive. In the middle of the building there was a huge bridal runway which was cool to see.
After the tour, we walked around more of Bucharest, and got to see the markets that they have on the side of the road and on the first floor of some buildings. Most of the stuff was antiques and handmade. During our walk, we stopped at a famous Romanian pretzel store. I got one raisin pretzel and one filled with chocolate and Nutella. They were both really good (chocolate and Nutella was just slightly better). For each pretzel it was .5 RON which is .13 cents in U.S. dollars which is really great! Looking at the store names and logos, one of the Romanian grocery stores called, “Mega Image” had the same exact lion logo as the “Food Lion” in Delaware. I thought this was interesting to see. For Linner (late lunch and dinner), Mary and Cornelia both ordered soup and I ordered potatoes with green beans. The seasoning and the flavor of this dish was really good! For dessert, we shared little apple and pumpkin pie rolls. I liked the apple one better because I’m not really a big fan of pumpkin and also the pumpkin that they used was fresh and shredded. I mostly like the really sugary pumpkin that comes from a can for pumpkin pie. When we finished eating, we took the subway and bus to the mall that they have. Let me tell you this mall is not call the “Mega Mall” for nothing. The place is REALLY MEGA. It has 5 floors with stores, bowling alley, casino, food court and a huge movie theater. We went to the movie How to be Single. It was a funny movie. The movie ended around 11:30 pm so when we exited the theater the mall had already closed so we just walked back to Cornelia’s apartment.
This morning, we got dressed and took the subway to a big park that they have. We picked a good day to go to the park because it was the day of the festival that they don’t have too often. It was a nice day so we walked around the park and looked at what the many venders were selling. They were selling traditional Romanian meat and different types of food. They were also selling handmade jewelry and clothes. Next to the park, there was a museum which was an area of land where old Romanian houses were displayed. It was really interesting to see how Romanian architecture is different from that in United States. Most of the houses were very small with one bedroom and in the same room was a little kitchen. Their bathrooms were outside in outhouses. Cornelia also explained that some of these types of houses are still in use in locations in Romania.
After walking through the outdoor museum, we passed by some food stands. Cornelia got roasted chestnuts (which I tried and I didn’t really like them), Mary got nachos, and I of course couldn’t pass up something sweet, so I bought cotton candy! I hadn’t had it since I a kid and it tasted really good with a Romanian touch to it.
We took the subway and a bus to the Mega Mall. First, we went to the grocery store to get water and candy for the movies. This grocery store is like a Walmart, but five times better. They have a fresh seafood section and they have American and Romanian brands. We then walked up to the floor with the huge food court. They had KFC and Dominoes. I settled for American food because once I get back to Italy my only food group will be pasta. I ordered a hamburger, chicken finger and French fries. It was so good. For dessert, Mary and I got frozen yogurt. I got vanilla, banana and chocolate. On top, I put a few candies, skittles, kiwi, strawberries, pomegranate, and one oreo. When we were done eating, we went to the bowling alley to bowl for an hour before the movie. Mary won the first game and I won the second!
The movie was called London has Fallen. This movie has A LOT of action so if you really like action movies you would probably like this movie. The movie also ended late so we just went back to Cornelia’s apartment.
Cornelia made pancakes for our last morning breakfast in Romania. She also had fruit and jams to put on top; along with bread and yogurt.
After Mary and I gathered and packed all of our things, we walked to the “Mega Mall” to see if we could find a shop that sold souvenirs. We found a few magnets which I bought. Then we went to H&M to shop a little bit. I purchased 3 dresses and 2 dress shirts which cost around 67 US dollars which is a pretty good deal. Afterwards, we walked back to the apartment to pick up our luggage. We brought the famous Romanian pretzels, took a taxi to the bus station and rode on a bus until we got the airport. At the airport, Mary and I said goodbye to Cornelia and thanked her for her hospitality. I bought a t-shirt, sticker and 2 postcards at the store by our gate. The flight was only an hour and 30 minutes. Right when you get off the plane, they stamp your passport again to show that you are entering back into Italy. We then took a taxi to the train station. We stopped and got off in Pisa and tried to find something for dinner. The only place open was a McDonald’s. I ordered a happy meal because I didn’t want to eat that much. When I got my order it was wrong, but I didn’t have time to change it. The McDonald’s was really crowded so we had to stand and eat. We then took a less than 5 minute taxi ride to the Pisa airport to meet the other people from the study abroad group coming back from their spring break locations. The private bus company that works with the campus drove us to campus.