Travel Space 4 U

I went to Romania in 1985, when there still Chaushesku was the dictator of the country. I saw the country in the period of stagnation. Nothing then changed, “perestroyka” was only beginning in the USSR. My first impression of Bucharest, and in fact shock, was on the first day of our arrival, on Sunday in the middle of September. Our group then just came by train from Russia. In the morning a group of tourists went by foot to a supermarket without our guide. I had a small bag in my hand, where half of my permitted sum of Romanian leus (then a Soviet citizen could have only a limited sum) was in a purse. It was my first trip abroad, and as it is known, only “nomenclature” could go abroad and with a special permition in the Soviet Union. Nobody had told me about the danger of robbery and pickpockets. In an instance I was robbed by a thief and I did not notice it. My companions saw a little boy of about five who opened my bag and took the purse very skillfully. I tried not to be disappointed. In the supermarket my college was almost robbed by a cashier, who did not want to give her change, a rather big sum. But she and I were persistent, and at last the woman gave in. Not everything was so bad.

On the next day we were taken to the country and visited a kind of museum: a typical peasant house  with a lot of objects made by craftsmen.. We went by bus about the country and watched wonderful views and nice small towns. We could even buy clothes, in the USSR that was a problem. We were in Romania only three days, our next country was Hungary.