What did the Romanians ever do for us?

They created a wonderful country, that's what! It's not an obvious tourist choice for Brits but that's what we like about it. Firmly ensconced in eastern Europe, it's the only country in the region whose language is related to Latin and hence, Italian, Spanish and the rest. Although in the EU, Romania has its own currency, the leu (plural lei), a quirky infrastructure and is the home of Dracula, but since the downfall of Communism it definitely has ambitions to go places.

So the three of us (Russell, Alan and I) arrive on a balmy afternoon where the temperature is perhaps 10C higher than that at home. The first full day we get to see that while Bucharest is nothing like as famous as say, Budapest or Prague, it's a dignified place with broad boulevards and 19th century monuments. The main branch of Christianity here is Orthodox and there are numerous tributes to this, mainly in a Byzantine style.

Bucharest is packed with both quiet corners and noisy avenues---some of which boast outrageous parodies of styles from earlier ages. And it can be proud of a handsome population. Which is more than can be said for the President's palace, the giant folly from Ceausescu's time!Baca lagi