A Brief Trip to Iasi, Romania

This map of SE Europe has plotted Thessaloniki – and the country to the north of us correctly named as FYROM as, here in Greece, Macedonia refers to the administrative area or county of which Thessaloniki is the capital city. Why am I showing you this? Well, just to let you get a handle on where Romania is in relation to us and to where Iasi lies: to the north of Bucharest, near the borders of Moldova and Ukraine. 

 Romania, with around 20 million inhabitants, is the 7^th most populated member of the European Union. A member since 2007, it still retains its currency of the leu. Interestingly enough, Adorra, Kosovo, Montenegro, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican are not EU members, but officially use the euro.

                      

 

                                                   

I recently flew from Bucharest to Iasi (pronounced 'yashee), which is the largest city in E Romania and known as the Moldavian capital. It is home to the oldest university in the country and boasts 5 public universities. With its museums, Opera House and cultural centres, it is referred to as Romania’s Cultural Capital.

                                                     

     

Here  you can see the inside of one of the state cultural centres – just look at that marble stair case and these doors which look as if they could be the entrances to great Greek or Egyptian royal tombs. Instead, part of the premises is used for the British Council for teaching purposes. Which is where I come in: I’m here on an assessment trip.                                           

            

 

Work over, I head for a restaurant in the same block as my hotel. The first picture shows the place was empty so I had complete choice of tables and … that a glass of wine was high on my list of priorities! With Romanian being a Romance language, it’s fairly easy to guess what some things mean. On this menu, however, something seemed to have  been added in translation. I read that carp in brine was crap in saramura – and was glad that I’m not heavily into fish, anyway! My schnitzel with a pepper mushroom sauce and the ubiquitos chip, was delicious! To keep me company, the staff put on some music: the accordion played at a frenzied pace, accompanied by a croaky male voice, redolent of Karakiozi shadow theatre or Punch and Judy shows.

                                                     

                                   

           

 This is my impressive hotel, the Grand Hotel Traian, which I never actually managed to see in daylight! Tired after a long day, I take a shot of my salubrious bed-chamber  …… and a quick selfie!

                 

 

 

It’s only on leaving Iasi that I see the sun rise and have an uneventful TAROM flight from Bucharest on which we were served snacks and free drinks – including alcoholic ones – doesn’t that just put British Airways’ cabin service to shame?

                                      

 Just before touch-down at our local Macedonia airport, I manage to take a shot of our house. Well, it’s there, somewhere south of Peristera – if you know where to look for it.

Home, sweet home!