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Fortunately, I got to know Romania before it joined the EU, so these C-D threads are the first I've heard that Romanians are considered to be thieves. How sad. People are really missing out by not visiting Romania.
You said it (bolded)! Romania is great for mountain hiking, skiing, visiting castles, visiting medieval painted churches, traditional folk festivals like nowhere else in Europe, and meeting great people for great conversations.
Believe me when I say that it is, indeed, very frustrating when you hear so many bad opinions from people who really have no clue what they are talking about.
The main problem for Romania now is that the romanian gypsies have spread all over Europe and they are really creating havoc; the ones in Romania do the same, it has nothing to do with being in a foreign country; they just don't want to listen to any kind of autorithy. They really are impossible to live with.
Of course I have some already formed ideas about other countries, too; like how horrible I find the fact that every few months I hear news about another shooting happening in an american school, or how, even on this board, it amazes me the lack of basic knoledge about Europe some americans have; but that will never stop me from visiting their country. A tourist is just someone who gets the best from a part of the world and Eastern Europe really is different - a little bit stuck in the past, but all the more interesting because of this.
I have mentioned a few places in Eastern Europe on the forums. In fact, I've mentioned being interested in traveling to a few places in Eastern Europe.
Believe me when I say that it is, indeed, very frustrating when you hear so many bad opinions from people who really have no clue what they are talking about.
The main problem for Romania now is that the romanian gypsies have spread all over Europe and they are really creating havoc; the ones in Romania do the same, it has nothing to do with being in a foreign country; they just don't want to listen to any kind of autorithy. They really are impossible to live with.
Of course I have some already formed ideas about other countries, too; like how horrible I find the fact that every few months I hear news about another shooting happening in an american school, or how, even on this board, it amazes me the lack of basic knoledge about Europe some americans have; but that will never stop me from visiting their country. A tourist is just someone who gets the best from a part of the world and Eastern Europe really is different - a little bit stuck in the past, but all the more interesting because of this.
This is how I see it. The media can shape how people think about other nations. I will admit, it has made me question alot of things. For instance, one place I have wanted to travel to is Russia. I have heard some interesting things through reading books. Alot has sparked my interest. This is why at age 13, I learned the Russian alphabet. I wanted to know what those signs were in Russian. I wanted to see place like the Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Basil's Cathedral, Murmansk, Volgograd, many of the Siberian cities like Irkutsk, Vladivostok, and Novosibirsk. Alot of the good and interesting things I heard came from watching travel documentaries, such as Great Railway Journeys(the episode I watched had Natalia Makarova in it), Globe Trekker, Full Circle with Michael Palin, Pole to Pole with Michael Palin, and a documentary about the Trans-Siberian Railroad. These documentaries made me want to go there.
However, when I got older, I started hearing things in the news about Neo-Nazis attacking Blacks, Asians, and people from the Caucasus. I also heard it was escalating and that the police haven't done much about it. I also heard that there were people getting killed from these attacks. This scared me alot, as I am Black.
So, it left me undecided. I don't have the money to travel. However, I still want to travel to Russia, and see it for myself.
As for the situation with Romania and gypsies, I can tell the difference between Romanians and gypsies. Romania has also struck me as an interesting place, as far as what I've seen on travel documentaries about it. Large forests, Sighisoara(home of Dracula), Constanta(coastal city), Bucuresti(Little Paris of Eastern Europe), I've tried Romanian food(quite good), the music, the Danube delta, Moldoveanu(highest point in Romania), the Carpathian Mountains, and I haven't even been to Romania yet. This is some of what I know from my interactions with Romanians, and reading about Romania.
I want to see Eastern Europe for myself, and see it as more than a tourist.
Let's talk Romania, just for the hell of it:
- not enough information
- no direct flights
- not on the Euro
- Romance language, but nobody knows it ... and people don't know what their English proficiency is
- corruption has, up to recently, been part and parcel of the way they run
- lack of tourist infrastructure, unlike France and Italy
If I have to raise all these questions about just one country, why would I be interested in going to Romania and adjacent countries?
Since today seems to be Romania Day on this thread, I'll add a link. Check it out, Mariner: it's a Bavarian-style castle that the royals lived in until they got booted out. Actually, King Mihai finally managed to get it returned to him (last I checked, he's still alive), and he sometimes uses the smaller house. The main castle is a museum. It's in Sinaia, in the general area of Brasov and Sighisoara. Sinaia's a beautiful little alpine town that's a big draw in winter ski season, but is nice to visit in the summer, too.
And for the OP, we just had two dedicated threads for the Baltic States. Here on C-D, E Europe is discussed fairly often. If most of the rest of North America doesn't talk about it, it's their loss.
There have been quite a few threads on Eastern Europe or Eastern European nations.
Yeah, but if I've got 2 or 3 weeks earmarked for Europe and I schlep over to Eastern Europe to be broad-minded for 4 or 5 days and don't like it, I can't get those 4 or 5 days back.
That's how I felt about 3 days I erroneously spent in Munich and Bavaria. I also spent between 1 and 2 weeks in Greece in 2002, and liked it enough, but don't feel at all compelled to go back.
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