In my quest to see the world, I chose Romania as one of the destinations to commemorate my 30th birthday. It was so off the beaten path, and since I had friends living there, it was the perfect place to visit. So now that I’ve given you a play by play of what we did during our stay, here are 5 reasons why I loved Romania:
1) I felt welcome.
When you think of a formerly communist country, you think of a cold and unwelcoming place, when Romania was the exact opposite. Although we were stared at most places we went, people were very friendly and seemed to want to know more about us. We were happy to tell them we were from the United States and represent for Black American women well.
Men waving to us from afar
2) It was a beautiful country.
I’m glad our friends arranged for us to get out of Bucharest for a day and see a more rural area, Busteni. The views were stunning!
3) I’m a city girl, and Bucharest was a bustling city.
If I wasn’t in Eastern Europe, I could have easily been in another major city. There were restaurants, bars, and nightclubs everywhere. Not to mention they have a good public transportation system, great places to shop and an expanding tourism industry.
4) The people were so fashionable.
Both women and men alike looked like they stepped out of the pages of Vogue. I was actually quite surprised to see how seriously they took fashion.
5) It was very affordable.
This is always an important factor when traveling. Eastern Europe tends to be cheaper to travel throughout than Western Europe. We were able to splurge a little more on nice dinners and drinks, and didn’t feel the need to guard our coins very heavily.
Romania has a new fan in me, can’t you tell? I look forward to visiting again, seeing more of the country and drinking more Palinca!
