Now that we’re into FEBRUARY, and this trip was in OCTOBER, I think it’s time to just blast through the rest of this or else my sentimental tendencies will just keep prolonging the inevitable.

I was finally feeling like mostly myself again so I was stoked when we accidentally walked by a famous bakery that I’ve been following on Instragram for years! We were actually starting to walk the opposite direction but there was YET ANOTHER “Fast Car” cover playing near the entrance and when I walked closer to Shazam it for Chooch (we hate “Fast Car,” all versions), I was like, “OH WAIT, it’s the bakery!”

Honestly, I wanted everything. But we specifically needed to get Prajitura cu Prune, which is like a cake-y dumpling thing with a whole plum inside. That’s what they’re famous for and there was ONLY ONE LEFT AND WE GOT IT. We were the only people in there at first, but as we were ordering, it started to fill up FAST and then a tour group came in too and I heard the guide telling them about the prune things and that sadly they were all out! I felt bad but also, we bought one, not dozens so not our fault!

We also got two pies – one was apple and one was cherry (I think??). I thought I was way more ready to pig out but once we took everything back to the room, I could only tolerate a small bite of each.

Honestly, it’s finny now being so many months on the other side of it, but those last few days there were wild for me. I can’t remember if I mentioned this, but I was having a really weird period too, where it was like, “Here I am, just kidding, no really, hello I’m here” for two days before ACTUALLY arriving in a deluge (sorry to any male / non-menstruating readers out there lol), then I got that stomach thing at the same time, so I was in some type of hell. At one point, we had passed some sketchy looking tattoo shop in an alley, so I motioned toward it and said, “Maybe I should try to add a staph infection to my growing ailments while we’re here.”

This area was so cute and quirky!

The rest of Saturday was spent shopping (I was on a mad search for something cool for Chooch) and looking for a post office / mailbox to mail the last three post cards I had. I think this was a 30,000+ step day because I was frantic to SEE EVERYTHING and NOT WASTE A SINGLE SECOND.

Henry was annoyed for the people who live here and have their windows blocked by a gigantic banner ad.

We finally stopped at an Eyfel to get some diffusers to bring home as gifts. I asked the girl working there which one is the most popular and she goes, in a VERY ANNOYED, CANNOT BE BOTHERED huff, “There is not just one.” Then she came out from behind the counter and silently pulled forward the 4 top scents and retreated without a word, LOL.

We ended up getting 4, one for both of our moms, Sue, and Margie. I instantly regretted not getting any for us. This stuff was EVERYWHERE in Romania and smelled so good. Our guest rooms had them, restaurant bathrooms, etc. Of course, then I came home and saw that you can buy it on Amazon, so….cool. Sigh.

We walked by a sidewalk flea market type thing happening and I was like, “Let’s just take a look…” It was mostly old jewelry and clothes, but there was one vendor selling KPOP PHOTO CARDS and I was so tempted to buy one (they had a bunch of Enhypen) but then I got distracted by the next vendor who had several racks of original streetwear-ish t-shirts. A Tyler the Creator shirt was in the front so that caught my eye and inspired me to start digging through the rack and that’s when I found THE GIFT for Chooch:

He loves Frank Ocean. You can’t tell, but the face is actually puffy, like it was sewn on separately. Plus, it was MADE IN ROMANIA and that was the most important thing. This picture was from a week after we came home and went to see him in Philly. <3 I would love to take Chooch to Romania someday! I’m glad that Henry and I took this trip as a duo because you know, we gotta learn to spread our wings and fly (lol) and we did have such a great time traveling together….but, I really missed Chooch.

Even though now we know he’s the catalyst, since Henry and I actually managed to get along 90% of the time in Romania. A MIRACLE.

More Bucharest facades.

View from our guest room. We stopped back to drop off our bags, eat our baked goods, and sit for a minute. I am happy to report that there was no more puking on the agenda for me.

 

Shared mirror in the hallway. My smile was a real smile and not a grimace for the first time in 2 days.

We went back in the evening, on the prowl for fries. Fries are a big deal in Romania and there are several really popular fast food chain options.

<3’d all the cats we saw along the way!

We settled on Cartofisserie (cartof means potato in Romanian, don’t say you didn’t learn anything from my wildly unpopular Romanian blog series) and it did not disappoint.

This is how I knew I was feeling better – I practically fought Henry to the death over the last fries in the box. I could have easily beasted the whole thing on my own, honestly. But yeah, hot and salty carbs after days of barely eating – nothing better than that.

Cartofferie also has a wide array of sauces you can add to your order and each one we chose was a hit.

I want to go back and eat these fries all over again, please and thanks. Ugh.

The famous Stavropoleos Monastery.

Super small and a tour group was filing in as we were trying to get back out so it was pretty claustrophobic. So beautiful though.

Creepy!

I loved the shape of this building.

We stopped at Vice Cream – another indication that I was feeling better! I had pistachio but then made Henry go back down and get a scoop of the rice pudding & raisin flavor to share – IT WAS SO GOOD.

There was a guy set up on the streets of Old Town taking pictures of people walking for this cute souvenir paper. Of course I was like WE HAVE TO DO THIS and were probably the only people who actually approached him rather than him trying to lure subjects over. I was like, “YES, US PLEASE, DO US NEXT” lol. I thought this was so cute!

We also went back to one of the gift shops from the day before because I was whining about the religious section that I wanted so desperately to buy something from. Henry was very “mmmmm” about this but I got my way. The hardest part was trying to choose just one to bring home, but I eventually settled on this one which is currently on display* in our religious bathroom:

*(This is a lie – after I took this picture, Henry went in and took everything off the walls in the bathroom because “we’re” painting the walls gold.)

One last look at the Parliament building while out scouting for a mailbox, lol. I am seriously so lame. Henry was just like, ‘YOU AND THESE FUCKING POSTCARDS.”

Our last Luca :( Then it was time to go back to the room so “we” could finish packing. We had to leave around 3AM the next morning and that was not great, and the whole travel day was exhausting with very little positive moments other than the most important one – making it home safely. Henry and I were not speaking at all by the time our last connecting flight happened lol.

We never did find a mailbox but our host told Henry that we could just leave the postcards on the table and they’d take them to the post office for us the following Monday – so nice! And they did it too because all of the recipients have since received their post card. :)

Aside from the health stuff & flight delays, the actual Romania portion of the trip was superb. 10/10. Renting a car was 100% the way to go. The countryside was the stuff dreams are made of. Most of the interactions we had with people were wonderful. Obsessed with the music. To be quite honest, it still doesn’t feel like we were really there and I am so grateful that Henry helped me make this happen after pining over this country for most of my life.

My favorite place was hands down Sighisoara. Wish we had more time in Cluj-Napoca. Need a Brasov do-over after getting sick! I’d love to go back and do a road trip in another region, see the Danube and the Black Sea. This was not a one-and-done for me!

Henry’s last words: “I enjoyed it immensely and would go back.” This is why we don’t have a YouTube channel, you guys. It would just be me jawing off with Henry grunting his annoyances in the background.

Here’s the last video compilation. Sigh. Thanks to anyone who followed along with these drawn-out recaps.

Comments are off for this post