Day 144 - Romania đˇđ´
Sometimes described as the Wild West of Eastern Europe, or the only Latin country in a sea of Slavic countries, today we visit Romania. I donât know very much about Romania, however, everything I do know about Romania is very interesting. Well, interesting to me at least.
Everything is fascinating, whether itâs the mountainous, castle filled region of Transylvania, or simply palincÄ, a lethal moonshine that gave me a horrendous hangover after my office Christmas party a few years ago.
Iâm also particularly transfixed by Romaniaâs Communist past. Outside of the Soviet Union and in the barbarous hands of Nicolae CeauČescu Romania arguably had a harder time than any other country in Eastern Europe.
By the 1980s, CeauČescu had all but bankrupted Romania. The situation was so bad that coffee wasnât even available. Instead, people were encouraged to drink nechezol, a substance made from a tiny amount of coffee, barley, oats, chickpeas and chestnuts. Not the ideal way to get your caffeine fix. Nechezol literally translates to âneighâ, because it was only fit for consumption by horses.
While regular Romanianâs were drinking nechezol and largely going about their daily lives on horse and carriages, CeauČescu was spending vast sums of money on vanity infrastructure projects. The most notable of these are CeauČescu's folly, otherwise known as the TransfÄgÄrÄČean highway and the gargantuan Palace of the Parliament.
The Palace of the Parliament is the worldâs heaviest building and is still not completed despite construction starting in 1984. When construction started, residents living on the site were giving less than a dayâs notice to vacate their homes before they were razed. 40,000 people were displaced from their homes to make way for this monstrosity.
Iâll leave you with a few, slightly more positive facts about Romania. For example, Romania has an underground glacier. I had no idea such things existed, it has seven wonders, and finally, Romania is home of Dacia, the tiny, underdog car maker which has had a phenomenal rise in the past 15 years.
Romania, youâve made it near the top of my list of places Iâd love to visit!