Stayed at hotel all day-- not that I was cowering out of fear in my room, but I figured discretion was called for and police would have been fit to be tied if I had gotten in trouble again. [In retrospect, I should have just gone out and done what I had planned.] Enjoyed Romanian TV. Noted that weather reports were similar to ours (except in Celsius) and they included Moldova in their Romanian map! Seem to recall some Moldovans would like to see their country merged with Romania. Had all sorts of sitcoms and dramas, mostly imports from U.S. and elsewhere, subtitled.
Had actually considered leaving Romania today, instead, but had no place to go and no means to make a reservation somewhere. I would have found myself picking blindly some Hungarian town and wandering around trying to find an English speaker to help me find a room. So-- I'll be off to Oradea, Romania tomorrow, as scheduled.
Tried to get an international call through to get tech support for my cell phone, but the number had a "+" in front of it and the front desk did not know what to do with that, nor did I. Half the Romanians have cell phones and I don't!! Also tried to call the hostel in Oradea, but there was no answer even after eight tries! [Once I got there I would realize why-- the proprietor was only near the phone occasionally!] Was beginning to get nervous.
Had one more big meal at the hotel, some concoction with ham and beans. Ham seemed tough. Not sure if it was overcooked or what, but I'm easy to please. My original choice of side dish did not match well with the main course and it took several minutes and more wait staff to explain the problem, since their English was not good.
Settled my bill before going to bed and made sure to get a wakeup call, since I was still unable to figure out the alarm clock function on my wristwatch. Did manage to turn it completely off, though. Also arranged to have them give me a voucher for a taxi ride to the train station, since I had no Romanian money for the cabbie-- the thieves got it all. Hotel is one of the few places (aside from ATM's) that will accept my remaining credit card that the thieves did not get. Arad seems like a very "happening" city. Too bad I didn't see much of it.
--END 29 JUNE--
|  | 
|
