It was definitely a whirlwind of a weekend of sightseeing, laughing and above it all, eating.
Over the years, my passion for food has slowly topped my passion for just travelling. When I was younger, all I care about is going to see as many places as possible but after being with J for so long, he has definitely influenced me to appreciate good food more (and movies!).
So now, food and travel goes hand in hand. Without good food, I will probably feel unsatisfied with my holidays. How #FOMO of me. Wahahaha.
Anyway, our trip. Bucharest may not be on many people's travel list but it was definitely mine. I love to see and soak up different cultures. So it was an ideal destination for a city break for me.
Flights
Our trip started off by flying with Wizzair. Many thanks to Celeste who made all the plans and bookings for us. Apart from the usual slight delay, everything went perfectly. None of us wanted to take time off work, so we travelled after work on a Friday. Oh, also thanks to Jo for driving me to laugh so hard that my belly hurts! 😂
Flight faces!
We touched down at 5am and Emilia came to the airport to get us. Sad to say, I couldn't sleep on the plane so I self-entertained with a lot of Hell's Kitchen that I've downloaded. It felt like a really short flight and I was more awake than ever.
Accommodation
Emilia picked the quaintest apartment for us. It's a Pintrest/Instagram dream.
Tad bit dark in this one. But you can see more photos here: Luxury Dream Apartment
I had about 2.5 hours nap time before it was time for breakfast and to go out for sightseeing.
What an awesome breakfast spread. The only way we knew how. 😋
I think the fact that we once worked together made us a pretty good team. I think being friends with workmates can be really beneficial...first of all, you still want to be friends after seeing them everyday at work. 😂
Food and Coffee
First stop was an obvious one. We needed some strong coffee to help us get through the post breakfast coma and the lack of sleep.
Chocalat Creatuer De Gout
This place serve some serious fancy coffee and cakes.
We liked it a lot and it definitely fueled us to start our walking tour with our favourite local. 😅
I wasn't kidding..these were just some of their selections.
After our coffee, we just went for a big walk to see where Emilia hangout usually.
Not going to bore you with sightseeing photos.
Ahahaah maybe just one. We didn't dined here but this is kinda funny since Romanian most famous vampire is Count Dracula. 😄
After a few hours of walking, we were very ready for an early dinner.
We voted for some serious traditional Romanian cuisine and Emilia really delivered.
Caru' cu Bere
Link: https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-d739896?m=19905
This place is truly amazing. According to Wikipedia,Caru' cu Bere means "the beer wagon". This building is a gothic revival building built in 1899. This majestic building is clearly still standing strong today, though there were come renovation happening outside the building.
Famous pork knuckle. Must order this. The pickled cabbage was to die for and the melt in your mouth pork is...omg. I am hungry just reimagining that feeling of that in my mouth.
Not a big fan of lamb chops and we all agreed that it was pretty standard lamb chops, so I don't recommend this unless you really want lamb.
I am sooo not a fan of beans but this, omg it was amazing. Beans and pork. You will not regret this.
Emilia's top tip is to order the garlic sauce as they won't readily bring this to you.
Try this place, please. It was amazing but remember to make reservation. Most good restaurants in Bucharest get booked out quickly so best to plan ahead unless you are dining outside lunch and dinner rush.
Cremeria Emilia Romania
Wanted to include this even though I only tried a tiny bit of ice cream but it is incredibly popular whenever we passed the shop and I had a little taste of Emilia's pistachios ice cream. Definitely think it is one you can give a go. It is a chain, so you will see it at most malls.
Emilia outside Emilia.
Caju by Joseph Hadad
Another place I'd like to recommend is Caju by Joseph Hadad. He is a celebrity chef in Romania. Friendly dude. We caught him on the way in the restaurant and exchanged hello.
Trendy location.
You can't miss him. This place is pretty upmarket but a cocktail cost around £3, so it is really cheap.
Butternut Squash Risotto with Calamari
Fettucine with fresh veg and calamari - this was my choice and it was amazing. Handmade pasta. 😋
Apparently Joseph Hadad is half Lebanese so we could definitely see it in his cooking. This is a Kofta dish.
Beautifully plated salmon dish.
The food was once again, amazing. I feel like I repeated the word amazing so many times but that is the only way I can describe everything I ate.
One for the road.
French Revolution
Last recommendation for my short but sweet trip are these lovely eclairs.
It was one of the best eclairs I've tried. I think the Romanians really nailed the whole dessert and cakes thing.
Spoilt with choices but at the end we picked what we can manage after a big lunch.
Last group photo before we left this beautiful city. What a great group of ladies to be going on a holiday with.
Hope to see you in another country soon, Em!
