Having finished my Celta training I'd planned to do a brief overnight in a bordertown just so I can say I've been to Romania. The country is quite large and would divert me too much off my intended course if I went further in so this was as far as I could go and connect back to Belgrade.

Friday after the course the group planned to meet at 5 and go for drinks with the tutors after 8. I had a 7am train as this was the only train each day from Budapest into Romania so needed to be up early. The tutors came late and I wanted to say bye so got home after 9.

I'd done my last load of laundry in the morning and left it drying. After packing I still wasn't able to get to sleep till after midnite. I checked my clock at one point and it was only about 3am and I fell asleep again. Fortunately I'd set my alarm for 4.45 and it woke me up or I'd be out cold and would have missed my 7am train

I was talking all of my leftover food as my plan was not to exchange any money in Romania as its just a brief overnight and wait until I got to Serbia. If I could live off my food and drink for a day I should be ok. However this gave me an extra bag I didn't need.

I left home 5.45 and had a large suitcase, a smaller one, backpack with laptop, smaller bag, and food bags. At the subway (which luckily runs this early and was another worry how I would get there for 7am) one of the attendants helped me take one bag down the escalator as I couldn't have done it all myself. Coming up by myself was a lot easier when I reached the metro for Keleti station

The train leaves at 7.10am and I know another lady from Romania that was taking the course was on this train as she had told me about booking early to get a discount. By strange co-incidence our seats were back to back on the same carriage even though we'd booked our tickets weeks apart

For the first hour we compared our experiences on the Celta course complaining a lot as we are both experienced teachers and found the course too insular in its own reality not reflecting what really goes on in the broader teaching world. (see entry on Post Celta Reflections)

The train carriage didn't have any heat and was like an ice box till about the second hour when the guards turned it on. The carriage was mostly empty except for one other large guy. He kept sliding large bags under the empty seats to keep them out of view. Later I realized he was trying to get things thru customs so as long as he kept all those bags away from my seat

We got our passports checked on both sides of the Hungarian-Romanian border. Since I was in Korea travelling Asia on my Canada Passport and am now using my British Passport inside the EU they found it odd that it was in mint condition with no stamps on any pages.

In Romania they wanted separate photo ID so I gave my Canadian drivers licence not realizing it doesn't match my UK passport and they will ask why I don't have a UK drivers licence but fortunately nothing happened. My friend also told me I should set my watch one hour ahead now. I could see more vowel sounds on the signs and less ***********ants.

On arrival in Timisoara I had to carry all the bags down a flight of stairs to pass under the tracks then again up a flight of stairs to get to street level. The map showed the hotel not to be too far from the station.

At the intersection street where it was supposed to be I didnt see any guesthouses so asked some passers by. They were two young people holding violin cases and the guy seemed to speak good English. He went inside a store to ask the street number and told me I should go back towards the fire station. The map from the internet was wrong and showed the pin in the wrong direction of the street.

As I was walking towards the fire station I asked another lady who also spoke very good English and told me to carry on in this direction. Then the two young people came back and found me and walked me towards the hotel which was very nice of them.

At the hotel it seemed more like a restaurant and some big gathering for lunch taking place. A waiter who didnt speak much english told me to wait. Then another guy who didnt speak much english came over. I think they were saying I had to goto another hotel. I didnt have any choice with all this luggage and was hoping it wasnt the other side of town away from the tourist sights

He drove me in his car a few streets over to another hotel. The two hotels work together and as his hotel was full they were sending me here. Instead of 25 euros they will give me a discount of 20 euros.

I also explained to them my private shuttle bus to Belgrade was supposed to pick me up from the first hotel so could they call them to explain I am now at this hotel. We spoke to the people in Belgrade who said they will call back after 5pm to confirm pickup time.

I left my bags in the room, which was on the top floor of the 4 storey building. The guy was nice enough to carry my bags all the way to the top even though I said he didnt have to and they were heavy.

Now I wanted to go exploring the city so had to figure out how to get back on route from this new location. Eventually I made my way back and followed 16 Dec 1989 Blvd to the big orthodox church.

I'd been seeing churches of this design along the train ride in with turret style design. This was the same style but made with different brick patterns. The inside was very impressive. It was somewhat reminiscent of the Russian Orthodox Churches I had seen in Tashkent Uzbekistan. There was lots of gold and varied artwork along the walls and ceilings.

The church is at one end of Piata Victoriei. This is a long gardened plaza with the church at one end, a fountain in the centre, and opera house at the top end. The sides were lined with outdoor cafes and restaurants. The buildings housing them are very grand and ornate.

The opera house was closed today but if you follow the street along its site it brings you to Piata Libertatu. This is a smaller gardened plaza with a statue in its centre.

The street then continues to Piata Unirii which is a much larger paved plaza. At one end was the Serbian church. Externally it looks a bit Austrian styled but inside it hade more ceiling art and less gold than the orthodox church. There were a group of Serbian monks chatting and didnt mind me taking pictures inside.

Piata Unirii is the largest of the three plazas. Facing the Serbian church at the other end was the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St George. This was closed but you could see inside thru the railings.

The other side of the plaza is a palace which is now an art gallery which you have to pay to enter. As I had no Romanian money I didnt want to spend anything.

Now I was really tired being up from 430am to get my train so just went back to the hotel.