Last week my oldest son and I went on a short weekend getaway to Craiova, Romania. It was the first time my son ever left the country, and he was so excited about being able to go on the plane, and to see what a new country is like. His excitement was palpable as we counted down the days until the trip, packed our bags, and prepared for the trip. We were there from Friday noon until Monday early morning, which was a whirlwind of a trip and didn’t leave so much time to do so many things, but I do think that was the perfect amount of time for Craiova itself, and the perfect length of time for a mother son bonding trip too.
We had planned on going to a free tour of Craiova, as well as to some gorgeous parks, but the weather really didn’t cooperate with us. Friday was sweltering hot. Saturday and Sunday had on and off rain storms. And the tour guide simply never showed up to the meeting spot for the tour. So Lee and I had no guided tour, but we just wandered around the city on our own and discovered it for ourselves.
The first thing we discovered about Craiova is that transportation is really cheap! We took a bus from the airport to the city center, and paid 2.9 RON, or 73 cents. There were no transfers, but at 10 years old, I was told that Lee is free on public transportation there. We ended up taking a taxi one day after walking far to the grocery store, and then getting on a bus trying to head back with our groceries, and getting lost and going the wrong direction. The taxi back from there was only 4 RON or $1, making it really worthwhile to take a taxi!
On the first day in Romania, I didn’t have a cell phone to use right away since I didn’t get a phone plan from my home country. I managed with the directions and maps I’d downloaded before getting there, and with the Google Translate app to which I’d downloaded Romanian before heading out. Once I made it to a kiosk that sold SIM cards and plans (not easy, many stores had signs that they carried them, but didn’t actually have), I got a free SIM card and a prepaid phone card to use with that for 5 Euros (yes, it was sold in Euros, not dollars) which works out to $5.85. I have no clue actually how many minutes or how much data was on it, but I used the data pretty indiscriminately and didn’t run out for the few days that I was there. 5 Euros was the smallest configuration they had for the prepaid cards, and I’m glad I went with that and not the 10 I was considering getting, because what I got ended up being more than enough.
We ended up seeing and discovering some interesting things in Romania, such as this vending machine that sells toiletries. They were all over Craiova, and they puzzled my son.
One of the things that really stood out to me in Craiova was the amount of free and even wasted food everywhere. Every single place I looked, it seemed, had edible wild plants growing. Purslane was growing everywhere.
And I mean everywhere! Big beautiful plants, so tempting to eat.
I picked lambsquarters and purslane to supplement the groceries that I bought.
Also foraged some Asiatic dayflowers.
But in addition to the wild plants that I knew how to identify, I saw so many fruit trees in yards and parks…
The sidewalk in most places were caked in rotten fallen fruit…
The most common we saw were plums in various colors and sizes…
We took a walk around the city center together.
Lee dubbed this one the “steampunk fountain” and pointed out how ridiculous the chain around it was.
There were also fountains in the divider between busier roads.
If I’d actually taken a tour of Craiova with a guide, I’d probably know who this statue was supposed to be of. But I don’t.
But the thing is…
With all the fountains…
Like pretending to converse with this gentleman while feeding the pigeons. (The statue had a bag for feeding pigeons, and Lee did actually feed the thousands of pigeons that were there.)
Got a paper from this paperboy…
Just another naked statue at a roundabout. And me wondering about an “intense bank of Sao Paulo”..(we had fun trying to figure out what words and signs in Romanian said, guessing from what they seem like to our English reading eyes.)
Speaking of roundabouts…
We cracked up at the Craiovian definition of a roundabout. Yes, this “roundabout” shows up on Google Maps as a roundabout. Go figure.
Another thing we noticed… So many fancy women’s wear shops…
Bridal gown shops…
And even more!!
We saw maybe one fancy men’s wear shop, but nearly every other clothing store we saw was fancy wedding type gowns….
We also saw a lot of weddings taking place, saw lots of wedding photography shoots, including some interesting ones with the couple holding white pigeons wearing bow ties. Apparently it is wedding season now in Romania, but that still didn’t explain why there were so many shops… unless this center of town specifically is bridal gown shopping district.
We found this giant plant I couldn’t identify… But Lee was pretending that he was a little gnome hiding under a tiny plant.
We saw two giant murals…
Some beautiful churches…
Stained glass covered walkways…
And another old building, and a statue, of course…
There were garbage cans all over Craiova, but I thought it was amusing how small they were, and that they weren’t on the ground.
There was an event in the center of town, sponsored by Bergenbier…
They had this ice room on a truck where you went in to a place that was chilled to below freezing temperatures, wearing a winter coat that you get from a portable igloo, and sit there and “chill” with a free beer. Of course, Lee is too young for a beer, and I’m gluten intolerant, so that wasn’t an option for us, but I thought it was cool.
We enjoyed the concert, even if we had no idea what they were saying, since it was all in Romanian. Unfortunately the concert got rained out in the middle and needed to stop. I found the singer online and here’s one of the songs he sings, and its quite possible he sang this song there
On Sunday, after wandering around the city on Friday and Saturday, we were looking for something to do indoors, out of the rain, and, having seen tens of signs around the city for “Craiova Water Park” (yes, written in English), we decided to look into going there. It is open year round, and to get there we took a cheap taxi for only 12 RON or $3. The entrance fee was 86 RON or or $21.40 for the both of us.
There was a huge outdoor part that unfortunately was closed due to the weather…
We had to walk on a path through the gorgeous forest to get to the entrance to the park from the parking lot…
And posed a bit…
But when we got there, we saw that there was a really nice and large indoor part of the park…
It had an Olympic sized pool with lanes, and two “rivers” of various sizes for inner tubes…
We had a blast and stayed there for hours and hours and hours. At first we kept on flipping over in the inner tube when we came out of the slides (they took over 30 seconds to reach the bottom of the slide), but the more we did it, the more we practiced, we stopped flipping over (at least not too much).
The water was slightly deep for Lee, he could stand but not comfortably, so I was able to teach him how to swim, something that is hard for me to do at the beach because of the waves. I taught him some basic strokes as well as how to tread water.
Wow I am so impressed. Where do you get such cheap air fair. I live in Canada and because of the low value of our dollar every where is expensive to fly. We are now out of debt. Next year we are going to Israel however it will be very costly. After that I want to go other places less expensive. I am amazed at your forging abilities. I am thinking of taking a herb course. I wonder how many eattible plants we have here in Canada. Beautiful pictures by the way. Glad you had a great time. Great learning experience for a kid your sons age too. I learn so much from your posts. Thank you for sharing your life with me.
Wow I am so impressed. Where do you get such cheap air fair. I live in Canada and because of the low value of our dollar every where is expensive to fly. We are now out of debt. Next year we are going to Israel however it will be very costly. After that I want to go other places less expensive. I am amazed at your forging abilities. I am thinking of taking a herb course. I wonder how many eattible plants we have here in Canada. Beautiful pictures by the way. Glad you had a great time. Great learning experience for a kid your sons age too. I learn so much from your posts. Thank you for sharing your life with me.
Oh my goodness, what an amazing trip! This is something your son will remember his entire life. I'm amazed that you were able to travel so inexpensively as well. Thank you so much for sharing your adventure with us!
Oh my goodness, what an amazing trip! This is something your son will remember his entire life. I'm amazed that you were able to travel so inexpensively as well. Thank you so much for sharing your adventure with us!
Your son looks so mature! I had in mind a younger boy. He seems to be quite the ham and enjoyed being in pictures. It was a very nice trip for both of you.
Your son looks so mature! I had in mind a younger boy. He seems to be quite the ham and enjoyed being in pictures. It was a very nice trip for both of you.
Thank you! I really hope so! And I'm glad we were able to inexpensively travel, which makes it possible more often, even on a tight budget.
Thank you! I really hope so! And I'm glad we were able to inexpensively travel, which makes it possible more often, even on a tight budget.
He is very mature, definitely! He's almost 11, in September he'll be 11! Yes, he really enjoys pictures, and posing, and deciding what type of pictures to take. Most of the poses etc were his idea.
He is very mature, definitely! He's almost 11, in September he'll be 11! Yes, he really enjoys pictures, and posing, and deciding what type of pictures to take. Most of the poses etc were his idea.
I get cheap airfare by going to skyscanner, choosing the airports near me, and not picking particular places or dates but just saying anywhere and the cheapest month and go there. This time was actually different, since I was looking specifically in the summer which is a more expensive time to travel, so I compared both months and found that the cheapest summer trip was in July on the dates I chose. Additionally, I could find slightly cheaper to Poland or Cyprus, but I didn't want to go to Cyprus and I've already been to Poland, and wanted to experience something new, hence Romania. There are so many ways to cheaply travel, there are websites like CheapoAir and budget airlines where you can travel much more inexpensively if you travel without extra luggage.
I get cheap airfare by going to skyscanner, choosing the airports near me, and not picking particular places or dates but just saying anywhere and the cheapest month and go there. This time was actually different, since I was looking specifically in the summer which is a more expensive time to travel, so I compared both months and found that the cheapest summer trip was in July on the dates I chose. Additionally, I could find slightly cheaper to Poland or Cyprus, but I didn't want to go to Cyprus and I've already been to Poland, and wanted to experience something new, hence Romania. There are so many ways to cheaply travel, there are websites like CheapoAir and budget airlines where you can travel much more inexpensively if you travel without extra luggage.
Thank you so much for this report on the trip. I've been looking forward to it. Did you and Lee decide to buy a sourvenier at the start and keep an eye out for the perfect thing? Or, did you see the mug and decide to get it? I like to choose something I can use daily to remind me of trips. Usually a tea towel or a mug.
Thank you so much for this report on the trip. I've been looking forward to it. Did you and Lee decide to buy a sourvenier at the start and keep an eye out for the perfect thing? Or, did you see the mug and decide to get it? I like to choose something I can use daily to remind me of trips. Usually a tea towel or a mug.
I've actually decided to start a mug collection, getting a mug from each trip. So far I have one from Poland, Belgium, and now Romania.
I've actually decided to start a mug collection, getting a mug from each trip. So far I have one from Poland, Belgium, and now Romania.
Looks like you had a blast! My all time favorite song to ever come out of Romania is this Eurovision gem from last year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlDzaRK8fSM I can't get enough of this song!
awesome and you son is great!!!
awesome and you son is great!!!
Excellent! I think taking kids to other countries is critical for their sense of the world. We just took our two daughters, 8 and 10, to Mexico City for a week and it was very enjoyable. I often pick travel based on cheap flights too, and we've gone to Turkey, Greece, Iceland, Germany, all based on the cheap flight scenario. Have you heard of WOW airlines? If they fly anywhere near you, sign up for their travel email, they often have ridiculously cheap sales.
Excellent! I think taking kids to other countries is critical for their sense of the world. We just took our two daughters, 8 and 10, to Mexico City for a week and it was very enjoyable. I often pick travel based on cheap flights too, and we've gone to Turkey, Greece, Iceland, Germany, all based on the cheap flight scenario. Have you heard of WOW airlines? If they fly anywhere near you, sign up for their travel email, they often have ridiculously cheap sales.
What did Lee get to pick as a souvenir? Or did you just get something for yourself? I am sure you would have gotten him something as well?
What did Lee get to pick as a souvenir? Or did you just get something for yourself? I am sure you would have gotten him something as well?
So he's actually happy with the mugs as well, its a family collection and they're used regularly, not just on a shelf. But yes, I did also get him a T shirt. Not with anything special from Romania, all the tourist stores were closed. I bought him a t shirt with sequins that change direction and therefore color.
So he's actually happy with the mugs as well, its a family collection and they're used regularly, not just on a shelf. But yes, I did also get him a T shirt. Not with anything special from Romania, all the tourist stores were closed. I bought him a t shirt with sequins that change direction and therefore color.
I'm not sure about Romania and other European countries, but unfortunately here in Holland, foraging is illegal. Just sayin'… so be carefull with that (the worst thing that could happen is a pretty high fine, though).
I'm not sure about Romania and other European countries, but unfortunately here in Holland, foraging is illegal. Just sayin'… so be carefull with that (the worst thing that could happen is a pretty high fine, though).
Really? That strikes me as extremely odd. In case you happen to know – why?
Really? That strikes me as extremely odd. In case you happen to know – why?
What a great experience for both of you!! I took each of mine on solo trips too, but always to the same place – to see my parents in Victoria, in Canada. Luckily, Victoria is an eclectic, beautiful and interesting city with wonderful nature all around, so there is lots to explore. Lee looks like he had a great time. What a fabulous experience for him!
What a great experience for both of you!! I took each of mine on solo trips too, but always to the same place – to see my parents in Victoria, in Canada. Luckily, Victoria is an eclectic, beautiful and interesting city with wonderful nature all around, so there is lots to explore. Lee looks like he had a great time. What a fabulous experience for him!