You see, my friend, we are in Romania

I'll start by saying I'm sorry that its been almost a month since I wrote anything. To make a long story short, the first month or so in Bucharest has been busy with a lot of exciting things going on at the new job, and a bit of a challenge in a few areas.

First, after spending a week here, I decided to move from my company provided apartment. The list of reasons why is pretty long but at the heart of it was that it was a tiny two bedroom apartment that I was sharing with a colleague, and my bed was too small (I'm 6'4" - the bed, with bannisters on three sides, was 6'5"). After a week of going in circles attempting to move into an apartment I liked, the deal fell through at the last minute when the owner just dissappeared completely. I should have known something was strange about that guy by the way he explained every oddity of the proposed deal with "You see, my friend, we are not in America. We are in Romania." As a side note, this phrase is often used here when a less-than-honest person is about to cause you to part with some of your money, and you are questioning the reasons why.

I finally found a place in a charming area known as The Lipscani, or "historic district" (a nice way to say "the run-down part of town"). The Lipscani is an area of pre-Communist buildings, most built between the end of the 19th century, and the 1930s. The architecture is quite stunning - but the buildings are falling apart. Millions of euros are reportedly earmarked by the government and private investors to restore the area. For now, it is a less-than-gentrified home to a lot of interesting cafes, restaurants, art galleries, antique shops, and about 60,000 squatters. It also seems to be a popular location for shooting movies and television shows, as I've seen this happening twice now. It has the potential to be a serious high end district that could compete with any city in Europe. For now, I'd say it is somewhere at the point Soho was in 1970's New York.

Despite the "interesting" neighborhood, the apartment is pretty much okay for a short term rental. Its the size of a large studio, but has two distinct rooms, in addition to the kitchen and bathroom, as well as nice fixtures, and a small balcony with decent views. If you don't look too hard, you can almost gaze out over the rooftops and imagine being in Paris.... Maybe.

Shortly after the apartment issue was settled, a death in my family required me to fly home to the USA for a week. I just returned a few days ago, after making a stop in Amsterdam for some much needed R & R along the way. More on that later!