From Corfu to Wien: Eastern Europe by car. 4th part: Romania

Well, I have no intention to give very many details on how to drive from Corfu Island to Vienna, crossing Northern Greece from West to East, Bulgaria from South to North, Romania from South to West, and Hungary from East to West. However, I feel that it might be interesting to underline some peculiar features of driving this way, which shows common Eastern features, and might be useful particularly for Western European travelers. Also, Greek, Romanians, Bulgarians, and Hungarians may see what they have in common and what makes the little, but important differences. In the end of the series, I will underline a couple of nice Eastern futures, which provide to be better off than in the West.


Please note that the following include only my personal, non-systematic observations, and should be treated as such, not as a scientific truth. At their best, the beneath comments are an “educated guess”. (Remember that I am a sociologist :)!)


Part 4: Romania

Romania is a country with virtually no highways. There is this guy, a politician, former captain in the commercial navy, who was and is influential in the Romanian Ministry of Transportation. It seems that EU granted money for building highways in the mid-1990s, but Romanians did not managed to build almost nothing. In the same time, using same kind of financing, Hungarians and Greeks managed to set up a nice road infrastructure. For his efficient management, the former minister of transportation was elected president of the country. Now he has a second term. Recently, he advised some foreign potential investors, to visit the country by helicopter, not by car.

Since regular people cannot afford a helicopter, let get back to our road driving. Romanians love to have the road crossing their localities, and insist that their villages and even small towns are splat in two different, not communicating parts, due to the national road which makes the separation. The only highways that you find on your way to West is 100 kilometer long. This makes 1/8 of your driving through Romania. The rest is national road, crossing localities, as I have mentioned.

There are three exceptions: Bucharest is the first, but here the ring is a nightmare, where you have to survive in the dust, permanent traffic jams, and the gases of the trucks intensively using the only available lane. Very new rings are available around Piteşti and Sibiu. (the only older ring seems to be around Ploieşti, once the main European oil field, intensively exploited by British and Americans, and later on by Germans, during WW2; however, your road does not goes through Ploieşti anyway :() More, if finding the way around Sofia is difficult, finding the way around Bucharest is a sort of nightmare. I would say that it is easier to get though the city, which is also time consuming.

This permanent crossing trough locality has the advantage that let you admire beautiful girls, women and men, probably the best richness of the country. The asphalt is, somehow surprisingly, of better quality than in Bulgaria or in Greece, but if you dare to get out of the main road, the impression might change.

There are definitely fewer prostitutes than in Bulgaria, but they still represent a reality, particularly on Valea Oltului and West of Sibiu, in Transylvania. In the Southern part of the country, the toilets are of better quality than in Greece or Bulgaria. Most of the oil stations belonging to Petrom, OMV, Rompetrol, Mol, Lukoil, Agip etc. are of good quality, but I would advise to avoid no name brands. On the other hand, I would suggest refueling in Sibiu. Later on, the Western you drive, the lower the quality.

Horse-powered carts are to be found on the road, like in Bulgaria. However, this time they share the road with a quite heavy traffic, and you should expect to experience several kilometers-long traffic jams. Expect, for instance, from Piteşti to Râmnicu Vâlcea, to be part of a 50 kilometer long column heading North with some constant 50-60 kilometer per hour. The same may repeat between Sibiu and Sebeş, for the same distance.

Older and newer Mercedes and BMW cars populate the roads. Avoid them! As in Bulgaria, they are a good sign of aggressive driving.

Like Greeks, Romanians have an interesting announcement on the electric road signs (however, do not imagine that there are very many such signs!). This time it warns to “Fasten your seat belt”. Another country, another bad habit to combat!

Previous post in the series: Crossing Danube. Next one: Hungary.
The whole series (6 posts) is available here.

From Corfu to Wien: Eastern Europe by car. 3rd part: across Danube

Well, I have no intention to give very many details on how to drive from Corfu Island to Vienna, crossing Northern Greece from West to East, Bulgaria from South to North, Romania from South to West, and Hungary from East to West. However, I feel that it might be interesting to underline some peculiar features of driving this way, which shows common Eastern features, and might be useful particularly for Western European travelers. Also, Greek, Romanians, Bulgarians, and Hungarians may see what they have in common and what makes the little, but important differences. In the end of the series, I will underline a couple of nice Eastern futures, which provide to be better off than in the West.


Please note that the following include only my personal, non-systematic observations, and should be treated as such, not as a scientific truth. At their best, the beneath comments are an “educated guess”. (Remember that I am a sociologist :)!)

Part 3. Crossing Danube

Crossing Danube is an experience in itself. The two neighboring countries, Romania and Bulgaria, are separated by the large river, with only some 100 kilometers land border, in the East, near the Black sea. Over time, there was a bridge over Danube in the West, built by the Romans which where conquering Dacia (North of Danube, in nowadays Romania), around the year 100 AD. The bridge was intentionally damaged when the Romans retreat in 256 AD. Then, a new permanent bridge was raise up in 1950s. The communist regimes in the two countries named it the Friendship Bridge. It connects Rousse to Giurgiu, at 60 kilometers southern Bucharest.

The EU gave money to build a second bridge in the mid 1990s, but the two countries have not reached an agreement of where to build it until recently. So, the Friendship Bridge is the main connection between the two countries. There are two lanes for the cars: one comes from Romania to Bulgaria, the other goes the opposite direction.

Currently they have ongoing maintenance works. Coming from Bulgaria, we had to wait some 90 minutes to cross the bridge. It was nice: a long queue, several kilometers long. We were among the first ones in the queue. Some SUVs made by BMW, as well as regular BMWs, with Romanian number were coming on the other way, And sneak in the front of the queue. Romanian and Bulgarian border police contemplated this condescentely: "they had expensive cars, so they are entitled to do it".


Previous post in the series: Romania. Next one: Better that in the West!
The whole series (6 posts) is available here.

From Corfu to Wien: Eastern Europe by car. 2nd part: Bulgaria

Well, I have no intention to give very many details on how to drive from Corfu Island to Vienna, crossing Northern Greece from West to East, Bulgaria from South to North, Romania from South to West, and Hungary from East to West. However, I feel that it might be interesting to underline some peculiar features of driving this way, which shows common Eastern features, and might be useful particularly for Western European travelers. Also, Greek, Romanians, Bulgarians, and Hungarians may see what they have in common and what makes the little, but important differences. In the end of the series, I will underline a couple of nice Eastern futures, which provide to be better off than in the West.


Please note that the following include only my personal, non-systematic observations, and should be treated as such, not as a scientific truth. At their best, the beneath comments are an “educated guess”. (Remember that I am a sociologist :)!)

Part 2. Bulgaria

If you got out of Greece, the toilet nightmare gets to an end. Look for gas stations which are part of international chains: Shell, Rompetrol, OMV. Do not risk your pee safety in other gas stations, otherwise you will continue to experience the Greek style again.

On the other hand, if the partially built highway which connects Thessaloniki to Bulgaria disappointed you, you are in a very bad situation: in Bulgaria, the road crosses very many villages and towns until it finally transforms in a short highway. The 50 kilometer per hour limit is present in every single village, but also sometimes on the national road, and even on highways. It looks like the speed limit is not design to protect traffic and people, but to put money in the policeman pocket. Therefore, you should have been prepared: put a 10 Euro bill, or better a twenty inside your passport. It will be useful to clean your good driver name when the policeman will unexpectedly stopped you. Remember this strategy in Hungary, too. It will prove very useful in similar situations.

However, there is a long way to go until Hungary. You are still in Bulgaria, the peeing man is everywhere, the more Northern you go, the more prostitutes you find exposing themselves along the road. The landscape is greener, the villages - a little more frequent than in Greece. Around Sofia, on the highway, there are interesting tunnels, very dark, and not particularly well lightened, probably built many years ago. Use a GPS, otherwise you have all chances to get lost when trying to find the way around Sofia.

When driving, no matter if national road or highway, you may also notice that there is easy to say where the speed limitation starts, but often it is impossible to understand when it ends. This also happens in Greece, but Bulgaria is the headmaster in this kind of guessing sport. I have no tip to share, other than listen to your instincts!

Pagoda Palace in Zlatna Panega

There are several thinks to see along the way. If you are Western, I would suggest to miss not Melnik, and the nearby monastery, for a jump back with hundred years in the past (it is true that I have visited the place some 15 year ago, but I doubt that it changed much). If looking for bizarre houses, do not miss the one in Zlatna Panega, probably a gypsy palace, with a pagoda at the entrance, and some golden signs on the iron fence (unfortunately the picture that we took shows only very few of the grotesque kitsch of the "dwelling").

The Bulgarians have their own peculiar road sign, which I do not remember seeing anywhere else. My guess is that that black point in the red triangle is a warning that a hole in the road will follow. So, drive carefully, there are very many such signs!

When driving Northern, the landscape becomes arid again, even if not as dry as in the Greece. The highway ends, and the road gets through villages and small towns. However, most of the time, it goes not through the locality center. It is just a warm up for the very demanding driving that you will have to face in Romania!

The absence of highways is somehow logical: the traffic is not heavy at all, and many times you are alone on the road. When crossing localities, you still may have the rare opportunity admire trucks and police cars built in the 1960s Soviet Union, and still working. They are not as many as a few years ago, but are still present in the Northern Bulgaria. Horse-powered carts are also quite frequent, and represent a good opportunity to teach your kids a practical history lesson. However, if you missed the chance, do not worry, you have plenty of them after crossing Danube, in Romania. They drive along the way with SUVs, Mercedes and BMW cars, symbols for the nouveau riches status and barely legal activities. 

Previous post in the series: Greece. Next one: Crossing Danube.
The whole series (6 posts) is available here.

From Corfu to Wien: Eastern Europe by car. 1st part: Greece

Well, I have no intention to give very many details on how to drive from Corfu Island to Vienna, crossing Northern Greece from West to East, Bulgaria from South to North, Romania from South to West, and Hungary from East to West. However, I feel that it might be interesting to underline some peculiar features of driving this way, which shows common Eastern features, and might be useful particularly for Western European travelers. Also, Greek, Romanians, Bulgarians, and Hungarians may see what they have in common and what makes the little, but important differences. In the end of the series, I will underline a couple of nice Eastern futures, which provide to be better off than in the West.


Please note that the following include only my personal, non-systematic observations, and should be treated as such, not as a scientific truth. At their best, the beneath comments are an “educated guess”. (Remember that I am a sociologist :)!)

Part 1. Greece

In Corfu, you should notice the tiny roads, the rather poor houses, the incredible very cheap food, and the very dirty toilets in the gas stations. This is one of the main ‘features’ of the entire area: you have to carefully choose the where to refuel, in order to be able to enjoy a decent peeing. However, Greece is a perfect country from this point of view. In the summer of 2011 the cost of the 98 essence was 1.9+ Euro per litter (!!). Probably this is why all toilets in the gas stations looked anything but clean. You get taxed for experiencing a sort of peeing deprivation. It was quite bad as a men, but you can imagine how this looked through the eyes of my wife and my daughter.,

Well, taking the ferry from Corfu to Ignalitsa, on the continent, made us forgot about the toilets. If lucky, the boat traveller might encounter the three dolphins jumping freely over the blue seawater.

Back on land, the new Egnatia Odos highway is a good example of best practices in using EU money. The road is a nice engineering outcome, reproducing the Roman Via Egnatia, which connects the Adriatic shore to the nowadays Thessaloniki, heading to Istanbul, as it did some two millennia ago! The tunnels and the bridges reminded me of Switzerland. The highway itself was a kind of strange: rare gas stations, a couple of bizarre speed limitations (probably preparing us for what had to come in Bulgaria!), and, most of all, the profile of the peeing man, dominating the arid environment, and who would become an emblematic figure of the Balkans.

The peeing man? Simple, he is a man peeing on near his car, parked on the sideway of the highway. You will find him all over the Egnatia Odos, and the car will be registered in Greece. One may also often find him in Bulgaria, and the car’s number will be Bulgarian. Some few years ago, he was a common figure in Southern Romania, but nowadays it is an endangered species there: almost nobody sees him, and they do have more and cleaner toilets in the oil stations around the road. Well, this is the problem with the Northern countries :p

Metsovo

On the way to Thessaloniki, there are very many things to see. If one needs variation, and feel the mood to visit something else than ancient Greek or byzantine remains, one has to immediately visit Metsono, just on the highway. The 1700 meter above see the Vlach’s village is an impressive example of intensive rural- tourism and richness. The legend says that the Vlachs over here are the descendants of Roman soldiers guarding the valley, who preserved their privileges during Ottoman rule, in exchange of a small tax…

Ouzou Melathron

Then, stop in Thessaloniki, and eat in Ouzou Melathron Taverna, where Alexia kindly sent us. The menu is not necessary Greek, but you may get nice foods with strange names (like Maria’s Tits, or Lovehorn Plate – the last one I fully recommend, along with the feta stuffed squid), served with a Retsina, in the outdoor terrace.

On the highway, note the funny announcements: a road sign alerts you to reduce speed when the road is icy (wtf, this is Greece, it is always hot!!! – yes , I know, that we were in the mountains, but it is still funny). Another electric screen warns you not to use the mobile phone when driving. Well, this actually is a very serious one, it is definitively crisis-related: they are so poor that they cannot afford an headset :(

Next post in the series: Bulgaria.
The whole series (6 posts) is available here.

Tenis cu pensionari

Pe la finalul anului trecut a apărut zvonul, iar mai apoi guvernul l-a pus în practică, penalizând „pensiile nesimţite”. Am verificat ce înseamnă chestia în viziunea guvernanţilor şi am rămas terifiaţi de prostiile debitate: era clar că există pensii nemeritate, apărute în urma unor legi date cu dedicaţie pentru o persoană sau alta. Pe de altă parte, costurile pentru eliminarea acestor inegalităţi erau destul de mari şi era mai simplu să le elimini treptat. Altfel, aplicând proceduri automate de corectare, riscai să nedreptăţeşti suplimentar grupuri destul de importante de pensionari. Reamintesc faptul că, în ciuda opiniilor unor oficiali, pensionarii nu sunt tocmai nişte indivizi asistaţi, ci nişte indivizi care au contribuit la fondul de pensii, iar acum societatea nu face altceva decât să le întoarcă prestaţia, realizată ca parte a unui larg contract social.

În fine, am trecut peste chestiune. În plus, primul ministru se bătea cu pumnul în piept că nu vor exista nedreptăţiţi.

La un moment dat socru-meu s-a trezit cu pensia redusă. Motivul era simplu: avea cam 45 de ani de muncă salarială. Parte fusese în Ministerul Apărării, parte în afara acestuia. Pentru că îndeplinea numărul minim de ani lucraţi în armată, optase pentru o pensie militară. La recalcularea pensiilor însă cei de la casa de pensii se treziseră că îi lipseau câteva luni de lucru în armată. Mai exact, undeva prin anii 1960, nu existau dovezi că lucrase la armată. Simplu: până prin februarie figura în acte, apoi reapărea prin septembrie. Între timp, nu apărea pe nicăieri cu o contribuţie. Prin urmare, s-a trezit cu o pensie redusă, motivul fiind cel al contribuţiei insuficiente.

Omul a început să producă cereri, să solicite audienţe, să argumenteze simplu: în anii 1960 nu plecai din armată şi te reîntorceai când aveai chef. Cum în arhive nu există alte dovezi că ar fi fost transferat, mutat, dat afară etc., rămâneau doar două posibilităţi: fusese în continuare în armată şi din eroare nu figura în scripte, sau dezertase, caz în care era la zdup.

În fine, argumentul nu a fost socotit iniţial prea logic, dar după îndelungi lupte cu birocraţia, după 9 luni a primit o rezoluţie favorabilă: are dreptate şi trebuie să primească retroactiv diferenţele cu pricina. Aşa că va primi banii respectivi … la anul.

Ce dacă până „la anul” înseamnă minim 4 luni, iar la 82 de ani ai nevoie de varii medicamente a căror subvenţionare s-a redus din nou în urmă cu câteva săptămâni. Ce dacă de fapt nu e vina ta că aparatul birocratic e alimentat cu reglementări prost gândite. La urma urmei, să zic mersi că nu plăteşti dobânzi pentru banii tăi pe care casa de pensii îi utilizează acum în folosul altora. La noi contează să ne batem cu pumnul în piept că facem dreptate. Vorba lui Toma Caragiu: „C-aşa-i în tenis!”

Diferenţe

În Germania, comanzi de pe Amazon. Plăteşti. Cam 45 de Euro. Primul pachet de cărţi vine după cel mult două zile. Primeşti oricum mesaj cu ora aproximativă când vin. Dacă nu le au pe toate, trimit repede ceea ce au şi restul un pic mai târziu, fără să te taxeze suplimentar. Te ţin mereu la curent, prin e-mail, cu starea comenzii tale. La sfârşit te întreabă dacă a fost ceva în neregulă.

***

În România, comanzi de la divizia de vânzare online de la Nemira. Două cărţi sunt în „precomandă”. Asta înseamnă că nu au apărut încă, dar ei zic că vor apărea într-o săptămână. Le pui la un loc cu alte câteva, aflate în stoc. Plăteşti. Cam 45 de Euro. Accepţi să îţi fie livrate toate odată: şi cele în stoc şi cele în precomandă. Altfel ar trebui să plăteşti în plus.

O lună mai târziu constați că acele cărţi din „precomandă” vor apărea peste încă trei săptămâni. Afli asta fiindcă ai intrat pe site să vezi ce s-a ales de banii tăi. Două luni mai târziu, după ce ai constatat că au mai apărut numeroase alte amânări, laşi un comentariu pe site. O lună mai târziu este aprobat şi apare comentariul online. Evident, nu te anunţă nimeni despre asta. Din comentariile care au apărut între timp, afli că „precomanda” era planificată să apară iniţial prin noiembrie 2010. Acum e iunie 2011 şi data „precomenzii” s-a modificat din nou. Cărţile vor apărea în iulie.

După încă o lună, data de apariţie a precomenzii este noiembrie 2011. Trimiţi un e-mail şi soliciţi returnarea banilor. Le explici politicos că orice ofertă publică e parte integrantă a contractului, iar ei nu şi-au îndeplinit partea din contract nici pe departe. Nu te bagă nimeni în seamă. Câteva zile mai târziu, revii, forwardezi mesajul iniţial, şi mai adaugi câţiva şefi în lista de adresanţi. Le spui că mai încerci odată, apoi te vei adresa autorităţilor.

De astă dată ţi se răspunde. Ţi se explică punctul lor de vedere: e doar o lipsă de comunicare, nimic grav, să spui matale ce cărţi vrei să primeşti în schimbul ălora din precomandă, care vor apărea probabil pe la începutul anului viitor, adică în 2012. Evident să aibă "valoare aproximativă". Îi răspunzi civilizat, ignorând replica impertinentă, pe banii tăi, dar ai grijă să fii ferm, menţinând cererea iniţială. Reproduc mesajul întocmai, poate o fi util altora aflaţi în situaţii asemănătoare:

„Buna ziua,
Nu vad ce a fost neclar în mesajul meu: din moment ce nu ati fost în stare sa va respectati contractul pana acum, iar lipsa dumneavoastra de comuincare ma face sa ma indoiesc de capacitatea de a indeplini contractulin orice alta forma, doresc returnarea banilor.
Toate cele bune,”

După câteva zile primeşti un mesaj în care eşti rugat să comunici contul tău bancar. Te abţii să le răspunzi: „ăla din care v-am trimis banii mei, pe care i-aţi folosit ca nişte bovine timp de 6 luni şi acum mă puneţi tot pe mine la muncă pentru incompetenţa şi indolenţa voastră”. Nu le scrii însă aşa pentru simplu motiv că nu ar pricepe nimic. Nu au cum. Le trimiţi un mesaj sec, cu numărul de cont. După alte câteva zile primeşti banii în cont.

***

Numărul de cuvinte şi de paragrafe de care am avut nevoie pentru a descrie fiecare dintre cele două acţiuni de a cumpăra cărţi având aceeaşi valoare în EURO, vorbeşte de la sine despre diferenţe. Rezumatul ar putea fi exprimat în trei cuvinte: Auf Wiedersehen Nemira!

Români prin Köln – 2011 (5)

Iată o nouă postare cu avioane, curse low-cost, dar de astă dată însă e august. Mălina şi Irina zboară la Köln, cu plecare de la Băneasa. Le conduc la aeroport. Acesta este în acelaşi hal aceeaşi stare pe care o ştiţi. O atmosferă de vis, într-o ţară europeană.


Între călători câţiva aflaţi în uniforma de lucru. Tocuri înalte, sâni iţiţi ostentativ înainte, ciorapi de mătase purtaţi cu stoicism la cele 36 de grade la umbră anunţate de INMH, rochii scurte, în culori ţipătoare, cu strasuri. Ruj abundent, machiaj pe măsură, păr de un blond lucitor. Între ele, perla coroanei, cu vocea sa groasă şi mâinile mari, nesupuse chirurgiei estetice, precum restul corpului: un transexual (sau poate doar un travestit cu forme mai feminine?).

Zboară la Köln cu toţii, unde este clar ce fel de meserii au. Oraşul este cunoscut drept între cele mai liberale din Germania, şi are, dacă reţin bine, o a doua comunitate LGBT ca mărime după Hamburg (St.Pauli). Prin urmare este loc pentru toată lumea. Singura mea întrebare este unde erau peştii???