City Tour in Bucharest

After eight hours of sleep, I was refreshed and looking forward to the city tour. Before I went out, I met a British guy coming from Bulgaria when we were having breakfast together. He went to Bucharest for the football match which Liverpool was played in Bucharest. That was so interesting that people really loved football and even went to another country to watch it live. He was nice that telling me if I want to go to Bulgaria later on, I can ask him about any information. Afterwards, I managed to get to Piata Universitatii where Anda and I will meet by city bus. Anda took me to have a look around important attractions in Bucharest. At the same time, it is so fortune that the weather became a lot better with the sun since it was very cloudy in the morning.

Romanian Athenaeum was the first place that we had visited, which was probably the most beautiful building in Bucharest. It was a concert hall where people played Philharmonic. Then we went to Piata Revolutiei, where the 1989 revolution took place. This was also one of the landmarks in Bucharest, since it marked the end of the communist regime. At the opposite of the square, there was a huge building which was the Royal Palace before, and now turned into National Museum of Art. There was also a little church named Kretzulescu Church, where was tiny yet beautiful. Walking along the Victoriei Calea, both old buildings and modern buildings can be seen in the two sides of the street. A spectacular building which was comprised of old archiecture and modern archiecture was the Novotel Hotel. Another part of Bucharest that cannot be missed was the Old City Center. This was a tiny Church called Stavropoleos Monastery. It was a great place that retains the traditional culture among the city centre, which was sarced and silent.

Right to the monastery was a local restaurant called Caru’cu bere, which was very famous for its beer. The food there is good with a really local taste. I have tried Mici, which is the grilled meat such as the sausages. With the student discount, the set is not expensive at all. The inner city of Bucharest still possesses the ruins of traditional monarchy. Moreover, Anda took me to the Palace Parlimant, which was huge and gigantic. This was built by Ceauşescu, who was the dictator ruling Romania during 1980s. It can be seen from far far away though it is not very beautiful. As it was nearly closed when we reached there, I decided to go there tomorrow.

After that, I bought something like pasta that I can cook in the hostel and then going back after shooting a few pictures at night.

Right before I went to bed, another trainee who is called Maria had arrived, accompanied with AIESECers from AIESEC Bucharest. She is from Ukraine and going to participate in a project next Monday. I was so glad that I can get in touch with other trainee and also AIESECers here.

To be continued.

Romanian Athenaeum

Revolution Square

Kretzulescu Church

Novotel Hotel

Old City Center

Stavropoleos Monastery

Beer

Nice food!

Palace Parliament

Night view with moonlight

Royal Palace

First day @ Bucharest

Finally, I arrived in Bucharest after 14 hours of flight + 6 hours of transit.
The first thing is that there is no people waiting for me when I take the luggage out at the airport. I am getting nervous because if no people is going to pick me up, how can I survive? Fortunately, I stay clam and first to take out local currency at ATM there and afterwards buy an orange sim card as I was told before. As I got the phone no. of who will be picking me up as well as Laura, who is the reception team leader in Cluj, I can sit down and ask for help. At the same time, Anda, who was a bit late because of the bus delay, found me and catered me afterwards. She was nice and experienced, who also helped me to reserve a place in a hostel in Bucharest. Therefore I was a bit relieved and looking forward to the stay in Bucharest. The weather is a bit cold, but not very chilly I think. Even it is raining, I can still keep my body warm.
Quite tired at all, just upload some photos there with description.


Funny figures in Amsterdam


Foggy weather with my plane


Night @ Bucharest

First meal in Bucharest- McDonald
A bit more expensive!

Tomorrow I will be having a brief city tour by Anda. Stay tuned people!

Last day in Hong Kong before the departure to Bucharest

Let's write down what I have experienced within a week before my departure. It is quite unpredictable and astonishing for me.
For the EPs who will go to exchange in the coming future, beware of this situation and always be flexible and optimistic. =)
My DTTN is hosted in Romania, which is a national project related to sustainability and CSR. Originally, the project will start in the first week of March till the end of April. So, I have already planned to do travel stuff after the internship, like buying the rail pass and looking for conference opportunities. However, I was told that the national project was delayed to April due to the low realization of EPs on 18th Feb.
So, I was quite angry about that at the first place because it informs me so late and it totally disrupts my plan. They asked me to change the flight so that I can still join the project. Yet, if I do so, I don't know whether I can claim the fee of changing the flight and I will get another month doing nothing in Hong Kong, which is quite desperate. Therefore, I decided to go on the same date although there may not be accommodation provided. I rather try travelling on my own and experience more countries instead of doing nothing in Hong Kong. Also, I rushed to fill in the faci application form in the midnight, hoping that I can be one of the facis in Slovenia, at the same time, travelling in quite beautiful country that I have ever been to before.
At the mean time, I was gathering more contacts from different friends, which can help me to travel or pick me up at a different countries. Exploring the myaiesec.net to see whether there are conference or CEED position even for a short stay. Not to mention to contact with the LC in Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca.
Although my faci application is turned down due to large amount of applicants, I am now hoping to go for Vienna and Prague after staying in Budapest and Bucharest. So, stay tuned of this blog and wish me more luck.
One more thing, I was originally taking the flight from Lufthansa, which turned out to have labour union strike that have cancelled my flight to Munch. I am now taking KLM, from Holland, to Bucharest. This is very unlucky for me. LOL

And I will write down my exchange goals that all of you can keep track of my learning.
1. To know more about different cultures in CEE, so that enhancing my cultural sensitivity.
2. To know more CSR and related issue knowledge in a different country.
3. To shape a new worldwide after exchange.
4. To contribute the growth of the local organization or local committee.

I will continuously write on the blog once I get the internet access. Please feel free to write down your thought or comment on any posts.
P.S. For people who want to go to CEE this summer, I may help you to match there. Please send me your country preference, organization preference, CV and EP form to me via email.

ByeBye Hong Kong!