ez, If your're talking about Nicolae Ceacescu, yes. Our local tour guide is a dentist, and he told us he was prosecuted on December 25, 1998, the best christmas present Romanians ever had.
Unfortunately, unemployment in Romania is very high, and tourists suffer from pickpockets and scams. An older couple (well traveled) in our group was approached by a well dressed man who offered to exchange some US currency for their local currency. During the exchange, the man said he'll count the money, and took the stack of US currencies of $10s and $100s from the man. After he gave them some local currency and returned the stack of US bills, they found all the $100 dollars missing from their stack of bills - they think about $600 worth. People never learn.
I remember very well that time period. It was one of the most courageous displays and expressions of freedom that I've seen in my lifetime.
We visited a resort area north of Constanta called Mamaia (locals jokingly call it Miami) with nice beaches on the Black Sea, and it seems it's thriving with tourists from Europe. We spent a few hours there, enough time for me to dip my hand into the Black Sea (just so's I can say I touched it), and sat at a outside bar to drink the local beer to watch the world pass by. Late September seems to be their slow season; only a few on the beach, on the boardwalks, the restaurants and stores, but there seems to be a currency exchange everywhere.
CI, bambino, glad to see you. Anxious to hear about your trip at length.
That odd looking building looks like a mix of a multistriped italian church facade and a post modern american design of a few years ago.
It's ok with me, fits in to the neighborhood in scale, has articulation, looks a little confused re what shaped windows they want (but so do many new US houses). Never mind that, I am glad to see Romania move along from the despond they were in.
