Come to Romania, eat some pizza!

The headline of this entry is also my suggestion for a new national slogan - let me explain why! Romania is a "Latin" country - which in general means its people speak a language similar to the most popular latin-based languages: French, Spanish, and Italian. Culturally, I've also been told Romanians feel that there are similarities between them and the Italians. There is one area in particular though in which Romanians have far exceeded the Italians - their love of pizza! It is served in 99% of the restaurants I have been to - both fine dining and fast food. You can get almost anything on your pizza here, and should expect to see some unusual offerings. A couple of nights ago, I went to a local Romanian pub and ordered a vegetable pizza. I was thinking of course of something similar to the vegetable pizza you would get in the US (called here "Statele Unite") - maybe some spinach, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Well, to my surprise - there were potatoes, broccoli, peas, corn, and beans. Essentially, this was American style vegetable soup on a pizza. I ate it of course, and it wasn't half bad. I guess that captures the essence of the experience here so far - it's like having a pizza with strange toppings on it.