Archive for the ‘Bucharest’ Category

Whether you are British or not, you must surely enjoy a cup of aromatic tea –with the smell of cinnamon and apple, honey or pepper tickling your nostrils. The sensation is enhanced once the tea is accompanied by a good book and chill music ‘whispering’ in the background.

If so, I could recommend the perfect place for such an experiment, namely the Act Teahouse. Placed in an old-style house on Victoriei Street, it is an oasis of silence, contrasting with the noisily combustion in the street. (http://www.teatrulact.ro/index.php?pag=contact). An old-style elevator takes you to the 2^nd floor, where you can easily recognize the entrance by the many posters promoting cultural events.

Seated on one of the red couches, your wondering eyes lay upon many shelves of books, beautifully crafted decorative items, flowers and paintings. There is even an oriental room, where you can sit on pillows, in a diffuse light.

The prices are acceptable (10 lei/ tea) and there are more than 20 types of tea to order, together with delicious cookies, brown sugar and honey. Also, the teahouse organizes many cultural events, such as piano concerts, art exhibitions or theatre plays. You just have to follow their blog. (http://www.teatrulact.ro/index.php?pag=sala&cat=program)

I hope I have raised your interest. If so, I wish you a lovely time at the Act Teahouse!

For those of you who have seen What Dreams May Come (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120889/), you surely remember the scene when Robbie Williams plunges into a heaven made of different hues of colorful paint. A turquoise bird, orange clouds or a purple tree – all brushed in vivid colors with exquisite paintbrushes.

Coming back to reality, a lovely place where you can stop by and recreate that colorful atmosphere is the Hanul cu Tei bazaar. You should look for an antique street in the old centre of Bucharest, crowded with art stores and antiquity galleries. Once you step into these stores, you are surely taken aback by the multitude of pencils, the ‘explosion’ of colors, the diversity of paintbrushes or the quality of drawing paper. (http://www.bucharest-driver.com/images/hanul_cu_tei.jpg)

Also, do not overlook the antique galleries. Your inquisitive spirit will surely get lost among tables teeming with different antiquities - from old watches and decorative items, to vessels and coins. In other words, it is the perfect way to stroll among different periods in history.

So, if you have an artistic inclination, if you want to wander in the old centre of Bucharest or if you simply liked the movie scene, Hanul cu Tei bazaar is a must destination. For the exact direction, here you have a link with the detailed map. (http://www.sapteseri.ro/ro/detalii-loc/galeria-hanul-cu-tei-ceramica-7/bucuresti/)

A lovely day!

Flower shop

Here are the Top Five shops in Bucharest regarding popularity or rather level of extension (in my opinion – please leave a comment with your own personal Top Five list or continue mine until the Top Ten):

Mini Market

5. Mom-and-Pop grocery stores
4. Pharmacies
3. Flower shops
2. Amanet (pawnshop)

And the winner is:

1. Fornetti
- our all beloved puff pastry producer.

I argue that what is the bocadillo for Spain, the sandwich for GB, the Wurstsemmel for Austria and the onigiri for Japan, that’s puff pastry and strudel for Romania! The little, cheap, very tasty and highly caloric snack for in between the meals.

Big Three: Fornetti, Amanet, Pharmacy

You can find all these different kinds of shops in amazing quantities all over the city.

The last picture is supposed to underline the above said.

Chinese Grocery Store

Are you looking for a place where to buy Chinese/Japanese foodstuff in Bucharest and have so far only found dried layers of seaweed (nori), Japanese horseradish (wasabi) and soy sauce in the shelves of the big supermarket chains? If the answer is yes, I have good news for you (if the answer is no, please have a look at the last sentence of this post!):

I discovered a decent little Chinese grocery store (no Japanese products though) in Colentina. If you head north-east from Obor on Şoseaua Colentina, it’s after Strada Sportului on the right side, directly on Şoseaua Colentina. If you take tramway nr. 21, get off at “Sportului”. The shop is right in front of the tramway station, you can’t miss it! It’s open from 8:30 to 12:00 and 13:00 to 18:00 from Mondays to Fridays, on Saturdays they close already at 15:00.

I know, it’s quite a ride out there, but maybe you want to combine it with a visit to the famous Chinese market “Dragonul Roşu” (I will write more about it in one of my next posts).

By the way, if you know any shops selling Japanese products or Tofu in Bucharest, I would be grateful for a comment!

Bus sign

If you are taking a bus on Piaţa Dorobanţilor going to the city center, make sure you are waiting at an actual bus stop! The other day I walked by a lady waiting on the sidewalk near the sign “BUS” painted on the street… unfortunately it’s not a bus stop any more.

Abandoned bus stop

After a few seconds of consideration I decided to walk back and inform her about the changed circuit of the public transportation in this area. She was quite grateful for the information I gave her. After giving her directions where the bus is halting now, I decided to take pictures of the scenery. Just a few minutes later others were waiting at the same place in hope for a bus to arrive. I have to admit that I decided not to continue my volunteer job and rather put some info on this site.
Before, the buses made a half circle to the right at Piaţa Dorobanţilor and stopped at the rightmost point of this circuit. Now they just keep going straight on Calea Dorobanţilor and stop right in the middle of the piaţa, in front of the mini-park.

A wonderful recommendation from CityCompass Friend Natalie S.:

If you are looking for a cute, little, friendly place in the centre to stop off for Breakfast or Lunch, I would more than recommend “Violetta’s Vintage Kitchen”.

Located near the Intercontinental Hotel (on the corner of Strada Batiste, the road that runs along the back of Intercontinental, and Strada J L Calderon), it is easy to get to and has such a good Karma that you leave feeling ready to tackle the rest of the day and all the dramas that it may entail!

The dishes are completely authentic, home-cooked food, with a different menu for every day. It reminds me of going to my Grandmother’s and in fact Violetta told me that many of her recipes were passed down to her from several generations back. Wonderful!

With its cozy indoor space, lovely, private outdoor terrace through the back and the speedy service, carried out with a smile, it is sure to become one of my regular places to eat.

http://www.violetas.ro/

If you are looking for one of the true oasis’ in this town: This is the place to go: Green Tea House! And it is exactly that: To start with: It is a wonderfully  g r e e n  oasis.The garden is beautiful with big old trees, lush rosebushes with blossoms bigger than babies heads in wonderful colours.

Green Teahouse

Second: it is all about the  t e a  (you can also buy some there in the cutest little “store”[more of a room].)

Third: They didn’t forget about the  h o u s e: it is three storeys of beautiful little corners, niches and places. All done in a different design.

Where Serendipity (see below) tends a little more to asian style, the Green Tea House is more like the english version: White cast iron chairs and tables in the garden, lanterns, green lawn and beautiful flowers. When it comes to the house apparently they couldn’t decide so there would be one floor more asian, next more indian and last, but not least, third more grannylike/frenchish. There is a fire place, a piano and in wintertimes even a xmas tree.

Enjoy any kind of tea you can have in mind, with some wonderful cake, quiche or sandwich (I said, it is kinda english). They care for the veggie and even have tofu sandwiches. It is a cigarette-free environment but not entirely smoke-free: If you have the time, enjoy a shisha with your tea, sit back and relax and await the stars in the sky. You will feel so remote, romantic and comfortable, if you like, you can forget about Bucharest or you realize you’re right there a part of it.

It is close to Universitate, on Dr. Burghelea. Walk on Carol headed east, turn right on Sf. Stefan and cross the playground. Say hi to the securityguys at the Croatian embassy (blocked road on one side, which makes the Green Tea even more peaceful) and then just follow the street. Or look it up on a map.)) Make a reservation on weekends and order your shisha before eleven.

Nina Catherine

For the moment I am spending more time in Vienna than in Bucharest.
But each time I come back to Bucharest, there is something special to do or to discover.

Today I would like to share with you a wonderful tea place I visited on my last visit in Bucharest.

If you come from Piata Romana on Bd. Dacia you can have a nice walk if you take Str. Aurel Vlaicu to the right. You can have a wonderful green break first, taking Intrarea Ioanid which takes you to Parcul Ioanid. This beautiful park dates from the 19th centuries and is surrounded by old feudal houses. It is perfect to relax here on a warm spring afternoon and enjoy the quite and peaceful atmosphere of this neighbourhood.

If you take the opposit exit, it will take you to Piata Cantacuzino from where you should continue on Str. Dumbrava Rosie.There is a small entrance between majestic embassy buildings at house number 12. It will lead you to Serendipity tea house. They offer a large range of teas and service is really nice and friendly. In summer you can have a seat in the garden. The interior rooms have small separees, seperated by bamboo mats. The atmosphere is calm and relaxing. They have a strict non-smoking policy.

For sure, when I will be back to Bucharest I will take the chance again to enjoy a relaxed evening at Serendipity.

Christian Pauls

Bucharest Angel

One of my clients is a Romanian-born Swedish guy who is in the business of software development. We helped him set up a Romanian branch of his Swedish company. Of course, he was astonished of how long and complicated the procedure is (probably because he doesn’t know how it used to be couple of years ago ). He told me that in Sweden one can set up a company simply by filling in some forms over the Internet. He also shown me the registration certificate of his company. What struck me was that it was mentioned not only the date of incorporation, but also the hour - 21:23.

I then realised how much freedom such a system gives you. You have an entreprenorial idea - you can go for it right away, no matter if it is night or day, Monday or Saturday. You do not have to spend much energy and time (a week if you are a Romanian) or money (for a lawyer) to pass the formalities. You can concentrate on creating value through your enterprise.

The Romanian authorities announced three years ago that they will pass a law which will allow the online creation of companies. Couple of month ago they announced that one company managed to be set up via online. This should not be a surprise as the authorities currently are unable even to interconnect the databases of different ministries. This is why the same company taxes have to be declared at 4-5 state institutions.

So my guess is that it will take at least 5 years until the norm will be to use modern means to set up a company in Romania. Until then, I strongly advise you to save time, energy and money by using the knowledge of someone familiar with the system (as opposed to trying to figure out by yourself all the small but important details which can prolong the process for couple of months - no joking!).

Cristian Bizau

Bucharest Angel

I’ve heard a number of crazy stories involving the trains in Romania, but only recently after five months of train travel between Bucharest and Sibiu did I have one myself. I don’t typically meet people on the train; it is usually a pretty quiet affair with everyone minding their own business, and my last trip to Bucharest was equally uneventful, just one lady and myself in the cabin. We each read, ate our lunches at the same time (as to not annoy each other with crunching while the other read), and never spoke a word until we disembarked, even then only politely smiling and saying the customary “La Revedere”.

But the ride back was distinctly different.  To our mutual surprise, the same lady and I would be sharing a cabin again, alone, until the door slammed open and a very drunk, very disgruntled man in his fifties burst in a sidled up next to me, ignoring the three other open seats at the other end of the cabin. For the next three hours (until Brasov) we got to hear the mad yelling drunken man tell us we were communists, and that he was not a communist, and, “LOOK! Out the window! There! Do you know what that is? ROMANIA!” He then produced a small electronic stuffed dog with flashing green eyes that barked and jumped around on the floor hysterically while he gave it various commands, which the dog of course ignored and was punished for.

At some point he left with his two liter bottle of Ciuc to talk to people in the aisle outside the cabin, and the woman asked me in English where I was from. Thus began a very interesting discussion. I asked what the man was on about and she said, “He is furious…about everything. Yes, of course he is crazy, but we have to appreciate his right to say what he wants.”

While I agreed in principle, I had had enough of the shouting in my ear and stale beer belching, and was happy when he fell asleep just outside of Brasov but was wary of the next three hours to Sibiu, should he reawaken.

Luckily, our cabin caught fire as we approached Brasov. Apparently, something under the train was burning and we were advised to move to another cabin. We gathered our things and left the now passed-out social objector in the cabin alone. I felt bad about not waking him up, but to my simultaneous relief and irritation, he started shouting through the window something about how the burning train was a communist and how no one was going to make HIM move.

Fortunately, he did not join us in our new cabin. We continued our conversation. At some point a Romanian about my age interrupted asking a political question. He spoke perfect British English and took over the entire conversation from there. We all spoke about religion and politics and philosophy for the remainder of the trip. We exchanged information said goodbye, and parted company.

On the way home from the train station as I sat in the back of the cigarette-smoke-filled taxi whose driver had removed the window cranks, and was blaring Manele, I realized that this was the most normal part of my trip and started laughing. The driver looked at me over his shoulder and also started laughing saying something I didn’t catch, turned up the volume on the radio and began to sing.

Mateo Urquijo

Communications Angel