Random Observations about Romania

Hardly profound, just observations from our time in Romania!

Noticed very few pregnant women the 10 days and 4 cities we spent in Romania..

Far more of a police presence in Bucharest and not just because it's a big city and the capital.

Huge number of travel agencies all over Romania. I wonder where there they all go to and where they would like to go to.

Bike lanes galore on all the sidewalks in Bucharest but hardly any people on bikes unlike other cities this trip.

Dental care must be a big problem in Romania based on the number of even young people having poor dental hygiene and missing teeth.

Haven’t noticed a single second hand store in Bucharest compared to so many in every other city we’ve been in this trip. Steven, God love him, has stood patiently by many of them while I looked for a black cardigan and a lightweight fleece jacket. Darlene: as you well know, I just MAY have a few fleece jackets to choose from at home but I didn't think I'd need one, thinking and hoping the weather would be warmer than it's been.

The Romanian cities we've been in have had a huge number of stray dogs, similar to what it was like in the Siberian cities we visited last trip. None we've seen however have shown any signs of agression, appearing remarkably docile in face of so many people.

Unlike the US with its (our?) horrendous obesity epidemic, we've seen very few 'larger sized' people this trip. Even living in the fittest state in the union, obesity is a serious issue, so NOT seeing huge numbers of obese people everywhere you go was very striking.

Very little in the way of overt begging in Romania as in the other countries we've been to this trip. Whether that's a holdover from the Communist way of life or whether there are better social services or another reason altogether, I have no idea.

Steven and I've both remarked that we certainly feel for the first time that we've really left Western Europe behind and entered a nation decades behind its neighbors in so many ways. That was not apparent to nearly the same degree in the other former Iron Curtain countries of Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia or even Hungary.