Summer in the city

I'm spending a few days in the glorious capital city of BUCHAREST, waiting to catch a flight OUT of the country. The capital of Romania may be the least interesting part of this country, unless you like concrete.

Like so many countries, the bitterness between the inhabitants of the capital city and those who are not inhabitants of the city is quite intense. People from outside of Bucharest say Bucharestians are too fast, too busy, not friendly. People from Bucharest abhor the peasantry from outside the city's borders.

Bucharest is in some ways cosmopolitan- a huge expat community means lots of luxury hotels, absurdly upscale 17 star restaurants, and a fair amount of foreign food. Designer clothing stores line the streets, advertising dresses that the street sweeper outside couldn't afford on ten month's of salary.

There's a definite Romanian-ness to it, as well. The middle aged and elderly generations look like they do anywhere in the country, wearing nylon, too-large, short sleeved button downs with dress slacks, or the impossibly mismatched East European look of the pink fuzzy cardigan over a cobalt blue skater t-shirt and the light brown cordoroy pants.

The weather is quite warm here now, probably close to 80 F. I can only shudder at the thought of Bucharest in the mid-summer, sweltering heat reflected off every concrete surface.

The prices in Bucharest are out of control. In Cluj, even a fancy restaurant will have a dish that's under 22 RON and coffees and beers for no more than 8 RON (ie, beer and coffee = same price). Today, I strolled by a coffee shop with a small latte advertised at 12 RON, actually MORE expensive than the typical Starbucks latte.

I think it's typical of developing/mid-level developing nations. A capital that is growing completely out of proportion with the rest of the country: rich investors driving up real estate astronomically, sleek locales and expensive entertainment for a lonely and bored ex-pat community, politicians and NGOs making plans based on fabricated numbers that won't help the outside world in any way.

I'll be glad to book it out of this city! Take me to the mountains!