~Arrival~

Thursday, 11 October 2012

To be precise, our project seminar officially started on Saturday, 13 October but most of my school colleagues (including me) have booked an earlier flight to discover and enjoy the capital city of Romania:

 Bucharest lies in the southeast of the country on the Dambovita River. With a population of roughly 2.5 million and an urban area of only 226 square kilometers, Bucharest has the dubious distinction of being the densest city per capita in the EU. Easily the largest city in Romania, Bucharest is actually the 6th largest city in the EU by population. (bucharest-life.com)

We all took an evening (non-stop) flight from Zurich to the airport Otopeni and arrived after about 2 hours in Romania. We took the taxi from the airport to Bucharest and since nobody of us have been to Romania before, we were ripped off by a impolite taxi driver. We paid 140 Lei, which is about 35 Swiss francs. The receptionist told us that it would normally cost 60 – 80 Lei for the transfer from the hotel to the airport…!

It was already dark when we arrived at the Hotel NH Bucharest (BTW, it was the same hotel during my stay in Dusseldorf), so we just had one, two drinks and a small snack in a café. We have planed our next days with shopping and sightseeing tours around Bucharest.

Here are my tips you should now before leaving for Romania:

• Romania belongs to the European Union but they don’t use the euro yet. The local currency is Lei or Ron.
• The time difference between Switzerland and Romania is one hour. When it is 5 a.m. in Switzerland, it is 6 a.m. in Romania.
• Good day = bună ziua / Thank you = Multumesc / Yes = da / No = nu / Cheers! = noroc!
• Don’t say “Prost” (it means Cheers in German) because it means stupid in Romanian.
• The toilet doors have often no lock, that’s why make sure that you knock on the door before you enter lavatory! If it is occupied, the person inside will knock back.

Streetart..? Nightlife Everyone looks so tired *lol* at the hotel