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Romania and Bulgaria have an interesting place in Eastern Europe. I wondered about how other Europeans see these countries, and what specific unique role these 2 countries have in this continental region.
I was pleasantly surprised in my visits to Romania and Bulgaria and believe they have plenty of positive redeeming features about them, even if I also have mixed opinions simultaneously.
I visited Bucharest, most of the sea coastline cities towns: Constanta/Mamaia, Eforie Sud, Costinesti, Tuzla, Vama Veche, Carpathian mountains, Sinaia, Brasov, Timisoara, and Cluj-Napoca. In Bulgaria, I visited Dobrich, Varna provinces, Northeastern Bulgaria sea coastline towns: Varna, Burgas, Kavarna, Tyelnovo.
I have unexpected surprising connections to some regions of Romania because of original family heritage. However, while I appreciate this country, even know the language when people speak/write in Romanian, and get along well with most family members in Romania, I don’t feel as if I am originally from this region of the world in heritage, and I continue to feel very surprised. I probably seem very Western European: France, Netherlands, Denmark or even Asian in heritage. lol
Please try to say anything positive before saying anything negative for Romania and Bulgaria.
Last edited by Thepastpresentandfuture; 09-10-2013 at 12:36 PM..
Well, depends on the region they're living in. I live in France. I don't hate the country, but most of us do. Same thing with the Brits. I've seen some good photos of Le Petit Paris, and it's really beautiful, I must say. There are a lot of Gypsies there, though.
I don't know my views about Romania, my dad's family immigrated from there to the us back in the late 1800s, they were Jews and I'm not really sure the specific reason they left but they moved to chicago and started a life there and never really talked about life there, I am 3rd generation American. What I do know is that my aunt claims they had a lot of land in bukovina that was stolen so they fled to the uk and then the us.
In regards to my current views about Romania, I've seen pictures, it looks beautiful in terms of nature, but I literally have no clue about the culture or the people, I've heard good things and I've heard bad things from friends, family, etc.
What I do know is that Romanian people I've talked to in the us generally do not accept me as a Romanian or my family, but heck I was born in the US so I consider my self American.
Romania = horrible capital city, horrible airport staff, horrible street beggers, horrible roads.
Very nice people, ( english spoken by 95% of under 30s ) very nice food, very nice trains, very nice smaller cities/towns, very nice old castles/buildings, very nice + easy to find accomodation, very nice countryside.
Bulgaria = horrible/unfriendly/unhelpfull people, ( probably fed up with tourists ) horrible trains/network, horrible street signs, ( if there are any at all ) horribly difficult to read alphabet + language, still has horrible communist laws on books. ( such as apartment/hotel stays for tourists )
Horrible gangster/mafia presence on streets after dark.
Very nice old roman ruins, very nice old towns, very nice old forts, very nice flea market in sofia, very cheap taxis, very nice cheap/clean + modern buses, ( long distance ) very nice + cheap restaurants.
Both countries are well worth a vist, but they are not Germany, France, Holland, etc. Just use a bit of caution, don't expect western style customer service. I would also recommend using a tour guide, especially in Bulgaria.
Well, depends on the region they're living in. I live in France. I don't hate the country, but most of us do. Same thing with the Brits. I've seen some good photos of Le Petit Paris, and it's really beautiful, I must say. There are a lot of Gypsies there, though.
I noticed the more someone gets to know more about a country such as Romania, the more they get to appreciate, and like the place, and most people visiting Romania, including from foreign countries, are usually pleasantly surprised for their travel experience in Romania and surrounding countries.
I expected most people in France just to have neutral or apathetic views about Romania. Wow, some French people actually hate Romania without even knowing much about this country? Most French people I met never showed any overly negative opinions for Romania, and some even appreciate that area of Eastern Europe.
If I live in France in the future, or visit again, I guess I just won’t openly tell anyone my ethic heritage is technically Romanian, and my American nationality. lol Some French people might even believe I am French before they find out about my nationality and ethnic heritage.
There is some underrated architecture in Romania, including in Bucharest, underrated scenery, culture, beach cities/towns, beach nightlife club entertainment, and an interesting country to visit for plenty of reasons.
There isn’t too many gypsies over there, and they are a tiny minority in almost the entire country of Romania. This is always good to get rid of the ignorant, negative false stereotypes.
I don't know my views about Romania, my dad's family immigrated from there to the us back in the late 1800s, they were Jews and I'm not really sure the specific reason they left but they moved to chicago and started a life there and never really talked about life there, I am 3rd generation American. What I do know is that my aunt claims they had a lot of land in bukovina that was stolen so they fled to the uk and then the us.
In regards to my current views about Romania, I've seen pictures, it looks beautiful in terms of nature, but I literally have no clue about the culture or the people, I've heard good things and I've heard bad things from friends, family, etc.
What I do know is that Romanian people I've talked to in the us generally do not accept me as a Romanian or my family, but heck I was born in the US so I consider my self American.
Well, there is plenty of noticeable differences between 1st to 2nd generation more recent immigrants compared to 3rd to 5th+ generation a very long time ago and you said your parents moved from Romania to USA more than 100 years ago. My parents immigrated from Romania to USA 25 years ago and I am technically a 2nd generation immigrant, and my sibling is 1.5 generation. I view myself more a Global citizen compared to American nationality or Romanian heritage.
My parents frequently talked about life in Romania over there and lived there up to around 40 years old. They technically lived in Romania longer than in USA. lol They feel close to both countries simultaneously. My parents considered retirement in Romania mostly because they have plenty of family members continuing to live there, and they feel very Romanian in ethnic heritage.
My sibling and I have another view compared to our parents. We have much more mixed opinions of Romania, and at least appreciating some characteristics, and qualities about Romania, and enjoy traveling there. We don’t feel Romanian in ethnic heritage, don't appear at all we are from there, especially me, and at least my sibling was born there, so she is considered Romanian much more compared to myself. I wonder how much I should feel connected or detached from that area of the world.
There isn’t too many gypsies over there, and they are a tiny minority in almost the entire country of Romania. This is always good to get rid of the ignorant, negative false stereotypes.
Most reasons people in the West have a negative opinion about Romania has to do with gypsies and orphanages. It is two-fold. Many gypsies own Romanian passports or are Romanian citizens who move to Western countries illegally. There they live their lifestyle which is incompatible with Western values. Many of them end up involved in street crime. They give Romania a bad name because many people equal gypsies coming from Romania with native Romanians. Two different peoples but who has the time to learn that?
The second reason is that many Romanians feel that gypsies in Romania are better off than native Romanians. A lot of Western TV shows have been produced to show the plight of the gypsy. On the other hand, the average Romania citizen can tell you a much different story - one that says gypsies are involved in street crime, gangs etc., you cannot leave anything in your yard for fear of it being stolen and you cannot complain to the police because it is politically incorrect to do so and nobody wants to touch that.
I don't live in Romania, never have but have Romanian friends and this is what they tell me. I don't have any gypsy friends to ask for their side of the story so take everything with a grain of salt. I am not trying to paint any minority as cause of any problem - just relaying what I hear from Romanians I know.
Romania and Bulgaria have an interesting place in Eastern Europe. I wondered about how other Europeans see these countries, and what specific unique role these 2 countries have in this continental region.
I was pleasantly surprised in my visits to Romania and Bulgaria and believe they have plenty of positive redeeming features about them, even if I also have mixed opinions simultaneously.
I visited Bucharest, most of the sea coastline cities towns: Constanta/Mamaia, Eforie Sud, Costinesti, Tuzla, Vama Veche, Carpathian mountains, Sinaia, Brasov, Timisoara, and Cluj-Napoca. In Bulgaria, I visited Dobrich, Varna provinces, Northeastern Bulgaria sea coastline towns: Varna, Burgas, Kavarna, Tyelnovo.
I have unexpected surprising connections to some regions of Romania because of original family heritage. However, while I appreciate this country, even know the language when people speak/write in Romanian, and get along well with most family members in Romania, I don’t feel as if I am originally from this region of the world in heritage, and I continue to feel very surprised. I probably seem very Western European: France, Netherlands, Denmark or even Asian in heritage. lol
Please try to say anything positive before saying anything negative for Romania and Bulgaria.
I like these countries and they are similar to my native Russia. in many respects. I can see people are not happy because of the bad economic situation, but they are still wellcoming. In Romania I had a hard time communicating because noone understands Russia, in Bulgaria most people can speak Russian. However in Romania I was pleasantly surprised many people speak French.
These are traditional countries, especially on the countryside, in the villages life hasn't changed much for centuries, as in Russia. They are cheap, and there's plenty to visit, with some nice cities and mountains. They have nice wine and the food is generally ok. There are very few foreigners and few tourists, except on the coast and some parts of Transsylvania. The culture is eastern european rather than Western, with the exception of Transsylvania which has a German touch to it. Not much crime (altough Romanians and Bulgarians have a very bad reputation in Belgium, altough most crime is committed by gypsies). The gypsies live in very bad conditions and suffer from racism, but I think many are now coming to Western Europe, "where there's more to steal", as some Romanian friend told me.
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lol Some French people might even believe I am French
before they find out about my nationality and ethnic heritage.
