Timisoara

After finding where I was supposed to be and who I was supposed to be staying with, Timisoara proved to be an excellent place to spend a weekend. Megan and Neil have the same apartment on different floors of a block on Victoriea Piata. This statue of Romulus and Remus takes center stage in the Piata. People-watching is perfect from their perch on the Piata as the weather is still balmy. This is particularly of note to me as we had snow last weekend. The roses are still in full bloom here. Most of the rose gardens here are planted in boxwood mazes.

Timisoara was originally a Magyar fortress. It is now a lovely, cosmopolitan city. Apparently, it was the first European city to have public water, the first to have electric street lights, and one of the first in the world to have horse-drawn trams. In keeping with that tradition, it is now home to the premier technical university in Romania. It even has an international airport.

This piata is where the Romanian revolution began. Most of the bullet holes have been plastered over, but these remain, on the building that houses McDonald’s, so that no one should forget. The square is called Victoriei Piata which I imagine is a result of the freedoms won as a result of the 1989 revolution. Maybe the Piata was chosen because of its name. In any event, it is hard to imagine Russian tanks rolling down the center of the square, pummeling the demonstrators with mortar rounds. It is not that I doubt it happened; it is simply that I cannot understand Ceausescu’s reasoning for giving the orders to open fire on innocent citizens – or the soldiers for carrying out the orders.

Megan rescued me from McDonald’s, and took me to a lovely little restaurant that served warm croissants around the corner. We stay for quite a while. It is nice to sit and talk to someone who actually understands what you say and you don’t have to explain what you mean. Then we went to find Neil, who had been, indeed, sleeping while I tried to find his apartment. He was up and about. Soon he had to go teach and so Megan and I made the rounds of the neighborhood. I found real tea! Books in English! Even one that is on the best seller list!

Later in the day, Neil and I found a lovely restaurant that makes the best desert I have had since I got here. It was a crepe with a vanilla filling, smothered with a sweet poppy sauce. It had whipped cream to top it off. Simply scrumptious. There was not a bit left over. I considered licking the plate.

Walking through Piata Unirii, we found an interesting cobblestone. Apparently it is an early map of Timisoara, showing the defense towers and the original streets carved out of the stone. Note that the north/south axis is even marked. Although there is no “X marks the spot,” it is easy to see where we are. An early blueprint?

The buildings in this square are fabulous. They are gigantic monoliths to a time gone by. I am sure they were costly to build, but I think even The Donald would be hard put to finance one of these today. The intricacy of the carvings and the sheer mass of stone and marble is astounding. These were built as houses and the bigger the house, the more money and social status you had. This certainly gives new meaning to “keeping up with the Jones’.”

Dinner at The Irish Public House where they have food I can recognize! Neil had ribs that were delicious. We sat on a rickety balcony overlooking the rest of the pub. We could hardly hear ourselves talking but it was wonderful. Another American from Kansas sat next to us.

This little café has everything – warm croissants and ice cream. On the way home, we stopped for ice cream. Delicious ice cream, socolata and whipped cream for less than three American dollars.
I know that I am carrying on about the food but it is fabulous in Timisoara. I have had nothing but traditional Romanian food since I arrived. As I am not Romanian, I am reveling in the food that I know and enjoy. I have managed to lose 22 pounds since I arrived. That is three pounds a week. I read somewhere that two to three pounds a week of weight loss will stay off. This year in Romania is certainly more fun than Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig.