Because we are somewhere close to 45 degrees N (think Minneapolis, MN), the sun rises EARLY, even with daylight savings time.
Carol awakens before 6 AM and heads down to the hotel internet computer. Mike gets up at 7, after being disturbed at 6 by his wife. Breakfast consists one croiisant-like bread, three little cookies, and a small cup of coffee: very continental, no? We head out at 9 AM to the Gara de Nord to purchase our tickets to Bacau the next day (75.50 lei each - $23.25 - for a trip of about 4:45). Then we buy a SIM card at Vodaphone (20 lei of calls and 90 lei for the card) for all of our trip. We now have a phone.
We retrace our steps to the Caryatid and take some pictures, around 10 AM. We pass a man feeding the stray dogs. There are stray dogs all over town. The Lonely Planet Language book is seriously deficient in not providing a translation of "dog" into Romanian. It is "caine."
We take the METRO to Piata Unirii, the area that once held the old Jewish neighborhood. We see the gated Choral Synagogue, now closed for renovation. There is a moving tribute to holocaust victims in the front of the grounds. We are given directions to an active synagogue. Our path leads us past the Yiddish Theater. We see posters for past performances which have included Driving Miss Daisy and King Lear, all in Yiddish, of course.
But where is the synagogue? A guard at the theater takes us outdoors and points - totally engulfed by apartment blocks is the Great Synagogue. By now it is 11:40 AM. We have arrived in time for the Aleinu and a kiddush. Carol notes: great timing.
The interior is beautiful, painted in the stile of Romanian folk art and floral designs. The synagogue has an upper balcony for women, but they are not using it. They have put a mechitza with fairly sheer curtains down the middle of the main floor. About 20 men and a handful of women.
The women busy themselves with serving up the kiddush, the men with the blessings. What a heimish treat! First, we are served a plate with pickled cabbage/vegetable salad, with a scoop of chopped liver, which we assumed was the entire kiddush. Then a plate of old school cholent, beans, a hunk of meat, and a browned egg. Finally, there are plates of fresh cherries. And, of course, alcohol. Mike chats with several congregants and the visiting rabbi.
We leave about 12:30 PM. We visit a small old church we had passed, St. Nicholas-Udricani Church. There are lots of icons and painted renditions of biblical stories, both inside and out. Think back to the time when churches and synagogues shared a neighborhood.
Heading out, we pass a sign commemorating a church, demolished in 1987 by the "Comuniste din Romania." So much for living together in harmony.
We go into a fancy Greek pastry shop. They sell the familiar Turkish syrup-dipped mini donuts, tulumba, for 55 lei ($19) per kg. The Turks sell the full size version for 50c each in Turkey. Everything else is similarly pricy.
A dude with his arm around his girlfriend's shoulders wears a t-shirt that says: "F*** You Very Much." In the space of an hour or so, we have seen too many strange things. At this point, the camera battery starts to fail, and we do too, overcome by jet lag. So we take the METRO back to the hotel, arriving at 2 PM (7 AM home time). We find the fresh battery, charge the old one, and take a short nap.
At 3 PM, we are up and at 'em. But we are waylaid by the free internet at the hotel, and spend 1.5 hours answering e-mails.
Back to the Old Town. We get out at Universitatae, one METRO stop north of Piata Unirii, tourist central in Bucuresti. We are at the University. It is frat boy heaven. Lots of bars. Within, people are watching the woman's tennis match between Sharapova and Halep. Halep is Romanian and the clear local favorite. Every time she scores, you hear cheers out from each local bar.
We visit several old churches. One of them is lit strangely. A wedding couple is being photographed by a group of professional photographers. For some strange reason, the party, including the presumed mother-in-law and the bride, are all wearing black. Walking down the street, we pass a young photographer lying on the ground, painstakingly taking a picture of a fruit-laden mulberry tree.
Time to start looking for dinner. We had picked out a recommended restaurant. The menu was pricy for us, and the site too touristy, so we headed to the alternate, La Placinte, in Piata Romana, a place specializing in traditional Moldovan cuisine. Beautiful restaurant, beautiful prepared food. We ordered Solveanka (soup), a Placinte (main dish pie stuffed with savory pumpkin) and a fresh mixed berry drink. Outstanding food. Meal was over at 8 PM, and we quickly headed back to the Great Synagogue for mincha/maariv. Carol was the only female. The Shalosh Seudot featured arak, burekas, and fresh apricots. Havdalah featured a man holding a cup of wine absolutely full while juggling spices, etc. Carol went outside for a Kiddush Levana while Mike took photes within. It is now 10:30 PM.
Back to the hotel, some internet, and to bed.
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