Timisoara

or all the good sides of travelling alone...

I was quite surprised yesterday when I got off the train. It was 9 pm and still bright:) I found the trolley bus quickly but there was no schedule. So I found some Romanian who could speak English, but they knew only which direction is the centre. Ok for me. It's where my camping is, as well. I got on the bus, without the ticket, as all the kiosks where closed already. There was no information on the bus neither. Only a plan of the lines, but without the stop I needed. Well, nice. I asked two girls if they knew anything about the camping or where the bus stop is. First, they where shocked that someone was speaking English with them, then they finally realized they know where the stop is. Ok. I'm safe.
Well, no really. Didn't really know where to go to find the camping. So I went straight on, looking for the right street. After few minutes I got there.

Now the shock because of the prices (yes, it is only 10 leis, but there's 20 leis for a day for a tourist tax. Madness!!!), then the annoying mosquitoes, then pitching a tent (it was first time when I've done it without any help! Maybe it's not perfect, but it is! I hope it won't be rainy or stormy or windy – then my tent may fly away:), then a shower, shower, nice shower with hot water and a small frog, I don't need anything else! Time to get some sleep. It was a long day.

In my dreams I saw my tent flying away because of the strong wind, I saw it soaked up because of the rain, I saw strange Czech (???) neighbours from another tent who tried to do some harm to my tent (!!!) and many other crazy things... But I slept well.
And here's a good side of travelling alone – I have so much space in my tent, just for me! I can be messy, put my things everywhere and no one cares. There are of course more advantages of travelling alone – e.g. I decide! No need to compromise, no need to ask, encourage, argue... I rule! Of course, I'm happy to meet my friend from Poland soon, and I'm happy to meet my Romanian friend, too. All has good and bad sides. Well, there's one thing I don't like about travelling alone – no one can take a good photo of me:) And I would like to talk to someone from time to time, share my experiences and adventures. Maybe that's why I'm writing so much:)

Oh, I was supposed to write about Timisoara. Yes. It's quite nice. I'm sitting in a centre now, using free Internet. It's Piata Victorei. There's a theater, Orthodox church (peaceful inside, many are praying, many just visiting), too many pigeons, a clown selling balloons, people enjoying their free time on the benches, in the cafe gardens, by the fountains. The time goes by slowly. Few steps further there's a next square, Piata Libreti. It's not so colourful any more and there are more local people than tourist (they invaded the city afternoon, and I've been here since the morning). The next square, Piata Unirii, boasts an array of colourful walls of old buildings. There's a Cathedral, opposite you can find a healthy mineral spring with many people filling up their bottles. There are shops with ice creams, cafes, many banks. And it's hot. Too hot for me to explore the city. That's why I spent the hottest hour in the shade, writing my blog:)

I found a market with fresh fruit (bought some), fond a bakery with fresh bread (bought some) and realized that the life in the city remains me of Banja Luka, a city in Bosnia and Hercegovina. Yes, I like it. And yes, it doesn't make much sense to spend here more than 2 days. So I'm leaving tomorrow.

I didn't expect that many people would speak English or German here. I can't say I can speak Romanian, I can't even say I'm trying to learn it, but I know the basic phrases and so the communication on the street or in a shop is quite successful.

Now it's time to explore more. The hottest hours are gone. So I can move on now.