Berlin (where we spent some of our holiday) is a wonderful city, but the brilliance of its public transport is, alas, something of a myth. While the U-Bahn is excellent, the S-Bahn has been riddled with problems of late and was in large part out of order for much of our stay. As for the city’s bus system, this is crowded – a result of large gaps between busses – and slow. What’s more, the drivers of the busses laid on to replace closed S-Bahn services appeared to be jobbing immigrants not all of who knew where they where meant to be going: twice a driver on our bus took the wrong route.
Indeed, the best way to get around the vast city is by bike: not an option though when you have a three year old in tow, or by car: traffic is not a problem except at the busiest peak hour times, and only then in a very few places.
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You have to question any city that makes getting to it that little bit more difficult, and a city which closes city-centre airports has to be included in that category.
Until last October Berlin possessed two city-centre airports: the legendary Tempelhof (the world’s first real, modern airport) and the only slightly less convenient and wonderfully designed Tegel. Tempelhof was closed last winter, however, and Tegel will close before the end of 2010. East Berlin’s airport, Schonefeld, a long, long way from the city, is currently being extended and will become Berlin-Brandeburg International and the city’s only airport.
Tempelhof’s closure was predictable: its short runways made it unable to take the vast majority of modern airliners. Tegel’s is less easily explained. Just minutes from the city centre its simple yet brilliant design makes checking in and getting on board easier than any other (major) airport we’ve ever traveled to. As you approach the airport a huge digital display tells you which gate your flight leaves from, your taxi driver slows down to check, and then drops you off at the gate. You check in and pass through security there and then. Taxi to plane in five minutes.
Try doing that at Schonefeld.
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Berlin is a brilliant city for children. Few in the world can match it. Almost every restaurant actively welcomes children, there are hundreds of great places to take kids (from Legoland on Potsdamer Platz to the brilliant FEZ in old East Berlin), but, alas, few hotels in which you can stay with them without paying extra.
This problem became apparent when booking a hotel. Almost everywhere we tried charged a lot more for a room if children were to be brought along (even when staying in the same room). As such we stayed at the Novotel am Tiergarten, not for its great location but for the fact that it allows two children to stay free in their parents room, and offers them free breakfast. As the rooms are big and take two double beds, the place was unsurprisingly packed with families taking up this enlightened offer.
Indeed, it was packed, full stop, as in house full. All this while other hotels of a similar standard wonder what to do with all their empty rooms…
Be nice to children and their parents’ wallets will follow.
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Long-time fans of Germany and everything German (especially sausages and asparagus), we nevertheless have a few gripes about the place:
1. Dogs are positively welcomed in all German shops, even the smartest department stores. It’s unfathomable.
2. Visa and MasterCard are positively not welcomed at an incredibly large number of German shops, museums, restaurants, bars and attractions. The local plastic, EC, appears to have some kind of monopoly.
3. You have to pay to use the loo, even in restaurants already charging top dollar for food.
4. Shops are closed on Sunday. All of them. Even chemists. Everything. Shut.
You really do have a problem with dogs, don’t you? Over the past few years in Bucharest, I’ve had no problems; they’re pretty good natured by and large having been or descended from household pets (in fact Romanians I know have adopted street dogs and they’ve fitted in), and most of the time they’re regarded as communal pets.
Admittedly, dogs tend to like me, and I understand that it can be disconcerting with kids, but still, a little balance would be good.
Now, Greece is a different matter entirely.
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Funny, I’ve had the opposite experience with the public transportation system in Berlin. I found it to be working perfectly, to the second. Not to mention travelling w/o a ticket once in a while – during my vacation there last year (just for fun, I don’t do that in general).
Definitely a great city, full of possibilities.
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Today I drank a few glasses and I had to take a cab. Just my luck, I found a driver who was either more drunk than I was or the booze was such a custom for him that he seemed drunk and smelling like alcohol even when he didn’t drink. And he started to tell me some stories:
“Back in 1990 Iliescu gave order so that in groceries stores alcohol wasn’t sold anymore; the World Cup was on and he said people were gonna drink and make scandal on the streets.
And back then I had a job as an unqualified worker for pharmaceutical company that produced pills and other medicine. And I had a combination with some women so that they stole alcohol that could be found in the company’s depots and sold the alcohol to me.
And also I knew a hag in Berceni who was selling alcohol to all neighborhood. And I took a bottle of alcohol which I had from work, mixed it in a 20 litres butt with water and added some almond essence which smells exactly like plums so that people would think they drink tuica made of plums. And I went to her to sell the mixture. I took the alcohol with 40 lei a bottle and sold the mixture to her with 70 lei a litre.
And she was asking me – is it tuica made of plums? oh yes it is! like hell it was made of plums, she didn’t know that often I added water from a spring which was near her house.
In a few months I bought a Dacia car which was 120.000 lei back then. I remember that I even sold 400 litres in a single evening. The whole neighborhood was waiting in line to buy “tuica” so they can watch the footbal games”
=))
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Parmalat:
It has not been my experience at all that Romanian women like foreigners or Americans. It seems to me that they are always making fun of me. I now just stare back at them and tell them in english to STOP staring at me!
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Parmalat Reply:
August 11th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
Hey, consider yourself lucky, if they stare at you it means that you look good! I need to put the keys of my car on the table together with my cell phone and sometimes the bracelet that I wear in order to attract any interest from the local fauna
)
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I don’t know if Romanians are aware, but Romania has a VERY BAD REPUTATION IN THE WEST! Everyone I know in Western Europe and the US has very bad ideas about Romania. Invariably, travel plans usually end at Budpapest for Central/East Europe. Romanians gain this fall sense of confidence because no one actually visits the country. If you want to function at international standards you have to play a totally different game. Over the years, Romania is the only place where I have had cameras stolen from me, the only place where I have been ripped off by taxi drivers, the only place where I have been attacked by dogs, the only place where women have laughed at me. ROMANIA IS A BACKWARD DISFUNCTIONAL COUNTRY, STILL CONTROLLED BY CEAUSESCU BEYOND HIS GRAVE. Iliesescu killed students. Hello! In a any other ‘democracy’ he would be in jail.
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Parmalat Reply:
August 11th, 2009 at 2:58 am
Everything that you said I can understand, except one thing: what do you mean when you say that women laughed at you? Personally I can’t find a reason for a woman to laugh at you no matter how whore she is! How did it happen? Maybe you misinterpreted the situation…? You know, sometimes I have the impression that women laught at me too, for example when we sit at nearby tables in a cafe and two girls from the other table whisper to each other by looking at me and then suddenly they start to laugh, giving me the feeling that they actually laugh at me. But in fact all they want to do is draw my attention, for them it’s a way of flirting with me.
). You can just give them those looks back until they stare at another direction.
Yes, they are whores, big whores but they’re really not rude, maybe you misinterpreted the situation, can you tell me what was it like?
I have tens of examples when friends of mine or even myself were totally drunk and found ourselves in really embarassing situations with girls and still the girls would be very cooperative and understanding, it’s very hard for me to understand why they would laugh at you.
Oh and you said something earlier about girls in cafes giving you those looks, I think they’re either curious (it’s easy for them to realize that you’re a foreigner) or they try to flirt with you. After all, catching a foreigner is a Romanian whore’s dream
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Geronimo Reply:
August 11th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
I would laugh as well if I saw I frustrated young American wandering around Bucharest, shouting at taxi drivers, terrified he was going to get robbed, jumping at the sight of every dog and telling everyone they were idiots who were still ruled by Ceausescu. The pitzis are right – you are funny.
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Davin Ellicson Reply:
August 11th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
Geronimo,
But I have had thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment stolen here and don’t appreciate getting ripped off by taxi drivers. I also have been bitten by a dog. Anyone not accustomed to Romania would be pretty shocked to come to Bucharest and have dogs chasing and barking at you. As I said, Romania is an insular place. Locals don’t have too much of a problem because they know the system. They grew up here as Ceausescu bulldozed Bucharest and gradually acclimated to the increase in the number of dogs.
Parmalat Reply:
August 11th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
Yesterday around 2 o’clock in the morning I went out at a nearby non-stop store to get something to drink and two local dogs were out to play and since I came into their road they didn’t mind playing between my legs as I was walking. And I was thinking “what if one of them confuses my legs with his play mate? :-s” luckily it didn’t happen. I was never bitten by any dog although some of them tried but I had quick reflexes
)
Geronimo Reply:
August 12th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Admittedly the dogs are pretty awful. But I’ve been burgled and robbed more in London than Bucharest. By and large it’s a pretty safe place.
As for the taxi drivers, once you’ve been there a while you know which ones are legit and you know to ask them to put the clock on. I know you shouldn’t have to but there you go. I’ve been in a number of London taxis that take you round the house to bump up fairs. I certainly wouldn’t swear at them at the end of the journey.
As for the girls – if they laugh, just go over and take them to bed
Craig Turp Reply:
August 12th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Being safer than almost any city I could care to mention is one of the genuinely excellent things about Bucharest. Violent crime is almost unheard of.
Davin Ellicson Reply:
August 14th, 2009 at 11:44 pm
Craig,
I am indeed well aware of this. Why is their no violent crime though? I would imagine it is a hold over from Communism when everyone feared the Securitate? Am I right?
One other aspect of Romania I want to address is the obvious brain drain. I mean does Basescu and other officials address ways of making Romania attractive to the country’s best and brightest?! It seems to me that many of the most ambitious Romanians have left to work and study abroad. A very real consequence of such a dire form of Communism as Ceausescu’s is that culturally Romania will suffer for a long time to come. There is so much that could easily be done and I feel I could easily advise the government. Romania will stay the way it is as long as there are former Communists running the government. Romania feels very insular, as if it only functioning, albeit in a broken way, for local Romanians who are used to the corruption etc. To actually attract foreign visitors and to have a real international cultural and artistic scene Bucharest would need to become much more visitor friendly. Just as Ceausescu was out of touch, I think Basescu must have no idea what it is like for average Romanians. Does he know what disaster of a European capital Bucharest is? If he did I would think he would be embarrassed and ashamed. I know I would be if I were president of Romania.
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Parmalat Reply:
August 10th, 2009 at 5:05 am
Yes, exactly, Romania is only functioning for locals who are used to the way things are going. But even so, it is functioning and the country managed to grow for 8 years in a row even with former Communist leaders in power.
Actually Communist leaders are much better because they definetly know what to do. Back then only the elite would have university studies, if someone wanted to get a university diploma he needed to study hard and a university diploma was the only way someone could get noticed in this country. The competition was tough and all these leaders are very good professionals, beginning with Adrian Nastase.
Right now the schools produce nothing of a real value. Thank God we still have the former Communist leaders to run the country because if we’d allow the youngsters to take over, in 6 months a disaster would happen. Romania’s youth are very stupid, very lazy, very pervert, very uneducated, they’re gonna run the country when it will snow in Sahara.
Don’t blame the leaders, they have the experience to offer an acceptable situation for most Romanians considering the given conditions. After all, that’s their job – to keep the country afloat with all it’s people.
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Davin Ellicson Reply:
August 10th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
Parmalat,
Ok. My point though is that Bucharest is the most backward European capital there is. I swore in English at a taxi driver today who charged me twice what route from my apartment to Unirii should have been and he threw a bottle at me and then circled the block and came back along side me and threw a full cup of red colored juice at me. Why was he mad at me?! He got twice the correct taxi fare! I am the one to be angered at him since he robbed me. Romanians deserve what they get. They deserve to stay poor and backward. This is the stupidest place I have ever been.
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Parmalat Reply:
August 11th, 2009 at 2:40 am
You know, smart people don’t want stupid people to get smart. Smart people want stupid people to stay stupid so they can take advantage of them.
)
Yes, Bucharest is one of the most backward places in Europe and personally I prefer it to remain this way.
Because for example I can forge a few papers and sell UK registered cars to people for 100% profit.
I think you’re looking at this city from the wrong angle, just change your approach a little and you’re gonna see what marvelous things Bucharest has to offer
I’m sorry about that incident with the taxi driver, taxi drivers are not the most educated persons around this city! No matter what company they work for… you shouldn’t swear them, you should go to the Bucharest mayorship and file a complaint, they’re gonna feel it for sure as the taxi company will not allow them to work until the complaint is settled! No work no money.
Parmalat,
I have been to many funerals up in Maramures and I always marvel at how well the villagers manage the ropes with the coffins, but it is an accident waiting to happen as the Youtube suggests.
I guess many Bucharestians are on holiday, but Bucharest just seems so dead compared to the cities I was just in in Western Europe. There is so much energy in Italian cities and in London. Bucharest is the 6th largest EU capital, I am just wondering where everyone is all of the time?! I guess in a poorer country with a non-existent middle class there are just fewer people able to go out to cafes etc.?! I walked through Lipscani and they really need to finish the renovation. Most other European capitals would never put up with the sort of chaos that the Old Town is in. In many respects Bucharest looks as if a bomb hit it. I don’t understand how people put up with the local government here. It is all very bizarre and this is why I have such a hard time understanding who Romanians really are and what they believe when they don’t even have the self respect to live decently and monitor corruption etc.
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Parmalat Reply:
August 9th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
As the traffic suggests, they may be out of the city during this period. These days I managed to drive throughout the city from my home in Berceni to Pantelimon and to IKEA and back without waiting in line very much, except the Baneasa passage area where they dug a hole in the middle of the road.
Otherwise noted, on Friday and Saturday evening you would have a hard time finding a table at your favourite middle-class restaurant.
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Davin Ellicson Reply:
August 9th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Parmalat,
But I what mean is that Bucharest doesn’t resemble Western European cities in the fact that culturally Bucharest seems asleep. I see very few tourists here if any and very few things going on to speak of. Florence and London were simply buzzing with activity.
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Parmalat Reply:
August 10th, 2009 at 4:52 am
I think that we have so many problems right now that cultural activity is the last of them. For years, during the transition period, Bucharest was culturally dead – nobody was going to the theatre, nobody was going to the movies, nothing notable was organized etc… everyone stayed home and watched tv because they had no money.
People started to go out after 2000 when the PSD came to power and made the country grow by at least 6% each year. The climax was reached during the times of PNL (2005-2008) and the real-estate boom when everyone spent money like there was no tomorrow.
I think during times of economic recession, cultural activity is the last thing going on in peoples’ minds. We have a lot of problems right now: -8% economic growth projected for this year, talks about 300.000 people that are to be laid off by the State, presidential elections in November, a political crisis in the coalition running the country, the Euro about to hit new highs etc…
The end of the world is quite close for many people, I don’t think they care about much else right now…
Hi
Although I am an atheist I rather like the idea of things being shut on Sunday. I remember when it used to be that most shops were shut on Sunday in the UK where I live and I liked having a comparatively peaceful day.
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Parmalat Reply:
August 9th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Actually I believe that closing your shop on Sunday means disrespect towards the client. You did good business during the week but on Sunday you close the shop and you don’t care that your clients would like to be served on Sunday too.
Especially when in comes to consumers’ goods shops must be open on Sunday, at night and during legal holidays so as to serve the client better.
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Craig,
I just came back from 10 days in Florence and London and I have to say that it was a shock to arrive in Bucharest. You sort of get used to Romania’s oddities while you are here, but go away to the West and you realize just how backward Romania really is. At Baneasa the other night, the border guard could not figure out where to stamp my passport and gave it back to me, only to track me down 5 minutes later outside and to take it away again saying he had made a mistake. In Timisoara 10 days earlier the border guard also asked me where to stamp my passport. I wanted to tell them that I am not trained as a police officer and they should know themselves. All the taxi drivers at Baneasa were trying to rip me off and driving along side me and then back at the apartment when I went out to get some water down the street, ferocious dogs attacked me while two young women of the fitze crowd looked on amused. Yes, I am sure back in Romania! Italy and London are but a distant dream. I really enjoyed being able to go to an Enoteca in Florence, order a 20 Euro bottle of wine and have it be nothing. In Romania, a place selling such stuff would attract all sorts of mafiosos with many girls in tow and they all would have been staring over giving me those looks. In Italy, the vibe was normal–the middle class Western vibe of people out on vacation.
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Parmalat Reply:
August 8th, 2009 at 3:48 am
Watch this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKSyZP2cWxA
=))
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