public transportation

I Bought a New Tarot!

Publié le 29 Août 2020 par Charly C.

Catégories : #adventures, #bucharest, #public transportation, #shopping

Hello everyone!

DISCLAIMER: Bear in mind that some of the links in this post are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a commission. I used these affiliate links to give you the option to check the book out, for yourself, if you so wish, through a well-trusted seller. While I will be very glad if you buy any of the linked items, the decision to do so or not, belongs to you. Thank you for reading!

We learned that last week, on aug 22 and 23, a yard sale would take place.

What is a yard sale?

A yard sale here is organized as a gathering of various artisans or authorized sellers. These folks sell either stuff they made or things they don't need anymore, that was collected over time. So a yard sale is more like a small fair or a flea market.

What happened?

So, Anna tells me about this fair taking place at Address1, but then the next day (aka, today) she tells me that the event is at Address2. And This Address2 was closer to us, so we decide to go there.

And what do you know? There was NOTHING going on at this 2nd location! NOTHING! The place was a decent looking house with a yard. In the yard, i could see some sort of gazebos? made of wood or metal. So they were pretty permanent. The gates were under chains and locks, everything was quiet and almost eerie.

So we decide to go to the Address1, hoping that the event may happen there. We hop on the tram as it the fastest way to get there, by a weird coincidence. What can i say, public transportation is like that here.

By tram, we only traveled 3 stops, and we reached the general area in which the event was taking place. It would have been quite difficult to go there on foot mostly because of the heat.

We get there, and lo and behold! the event IS happening! But we nearly missed it by passing it by, hahaha. It was hosted in a VERY narrow and long yard.

There were quite a few people attending as well, so the place felt cramped. Everyone was wearing a mask due to the current situation. Anna didn't have the courage to browse, but i did.

I saw the work of this local artisan. She made very unique necklaces out of leather and some large beads, as well as some hand-painted greeting cards. I wasn't enticed by anything, especially not her chatty personality.

Ok, she was trying to make me buy, as she needs the money, yada-yada-yada. But i had no use for any of that stuff. I only wanted to buy something if i REALLY liked it or needed it. Her items, as unique as they were, didn't fit the bill.

I walked further into the yard and i found this other girl selling a few things. The one thing that stood out to me was her Tarot de los Angeles. Angel Tarot?

She was asking less than 10 USD for it (40 lei). And i wanted already to buy another deck. And in the only store where I saw a variety of decks being sold, the cheapest was 15 USD? (60 lei). You ight say the difference in price is not big, but every penny matters.

I thought it would also be a good purchase for my site, BeingObscure.com where i currently offer some interpretations for the Shadowscapes Tarot deck.

Why is that? because when I'll be done with the Shadowscapes, I'll need something else to write about. Yes, I do own an oracle deck, but i feel no connection to it, whatsoever.

In this picture, you can see me comparing it to the (barely visible) Shadowscape Tarot. I must say, this new tarot being smaller, is easier to handle. As such, it feels lighter as well.

The downsides is that it's in Spanish. See this card? It says "Tronos" not "Cronos" as i see it. So, yea, they really messed it up with the chosen font.

The deck is complete and in very good condition. The package has some signs of tear and wear, but I can fix that, I believe with some glue and/or clear tape.

If you're interested in checking out this deck, you can use this affiliate link.

Voir les commentaires

Seaside adventures in August

Publié le 11 Novembre 2018 par Charly C.

Catégories : #adventures, #impressions, #life experience, #people, #public transportation, #story, #shopping

We wanted to relax for a bit and get out of city. Since we have Ciel we can't go on a vacation like most people: Ciel needs someone at all times and it's not familiar with strangers. He also barely eats by himself.

We decided to leave for the seaside in the morning and return at night. With all the preparations I still had to return to get a scarf I forgot. When we got to the train station we learned the train would be 45 minutes late, but in reality it was an hour late.

While we waited, we got some pretzels for the road, as to avoid spending a lot of money on food.

The train was also over sold so we had to stand because there were no more seats available. Luckily A found a chair in first class and sat for most of the ride. Our tickets were for 2nd class. The train was also fast and had some air conditioning.

When we got to the resort, we found the beach quite fast. We had to find a seat as this was one of the most popular resorts at the seaside, so it was packed!

The first views of the Black Sea. there was a small lake in the resort, by the beach.

The first views of the Black Sea. there was a small lake in the resort, by the beach.

Here, we have too pay for chairs and umbrella, but not if we sit directly on the sand. However, we need umbrella and they're only available next to the chairs. The price was some $6 for a chair and they only take cash. The guy charging for the seats was gypsy and we suspect him off having stolen my phone.

I had the phone on me some 5 minutes before finding the right place, and I noticed it gone after the guy left. I also kinda felt something.. Like something was sliding up at the back of my pants, but I ignored the feeling.

The guy returned to see if we found cash, and in telling him we don't have cash, just the card, he started to be verbally agressive. Then we openly accused him off stealing, and he insulted us. We left and I managed to use A's phone to lock mine. Then I asked a to text my phone and ask for it to be returned. A lifeguard called us and met A and returned the phone. But! The lifeguard had no business to be in the place where it went missing. I literally walked between other chairs and the lifeguard has no reason to do so. Here claimed he found it.

I think the phone was returned because they couldn't use it or resell if it was blocked. I'm glad I have my phone back, but I lost some videos I took in the train, for I also erased it's data.

In the end we managed to find some other chairs and we didn't pay for those. We stayed some 2 hours there I think.

We managed to go in the water and it felt nice as it was warm, despite the rather dangerous waves. Lifeguards were constantly on the lookout for people going too far and calling them back. The limit to the deep water was set pretty close to the shore too.

We found a place to eat and rest and recharge the phone a bit. Then we went on the beach again. This time we went in a different area and were forced to pay for chairs as there was no sand, just smashed seashells that were cutting into our feet. We spend some extra 2 hours there with constant visits to the shore. Of course I collected some seashells too.

Then it was time for us to return. Before leaving, we bought a bag, some sun glasses for A's mom, some sewing needles for me, a rabbit keychain, and some bracelets.

The return train had seats for us, but it was smelly! There was little luggage space too though we only had 2 bags and As purse. The trip was also longer and most of it happened in the night. There was a really beautiful sunset though. Once in the city, some 3 hours later, we managed to catch the last bus home too.

I fell asleep as soon as I got home, after checking on Ciel and seeing he actually ate by himself. He does that when he stays alone for too long.

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Voir les commentaires

Bucharest adventures in April

Publié le 28 Mai 2018 par Charly C.

Catégories : #life experience, #life lesson, #bucharest, #adventures, #customs, #shopping, #story, #food, #spring, #public transportation

This entry was quite long in the making, for several reasons: my poor memories, recovering and editing the pictures, and actually writing everything, in between other stuff going on in our lives. Published a bit later than hoped, but not that late, and better than never at all ;)

Last week of March was when all the winter happened as the worst winter weather hit us. Luckily, as soon as April started, the weather also turned into spring. It never snowed again, after that. YAY!

Since the weather warmed up, we were able to go out more and have various adventures.

these flowers appear later in the month

The month started off with the Easter celebrations in the Catholic world, but Romania is an Orthodox country so we had Easter on the 8th, 1 week later.

During the first week of the month we were quite busy, and we couldn't wait for Easter to come so we'd relax a bit. Luckily, in Romania Easter Monday is a bank holiday so everyone stays home to relax and eat.

At 11 pm on Satuday we went to the church to to hear a bit of the mass and to bring home the "Light" - or a lit candle. All Romanians do this for good fortune in the "new year" [from an agricultural point of view].

Check out this video for a little insight into how the midnight mass goes.

many people heading towards the same church

many people heading towards the same church

The next day, on Sunday Easter we were supposed to go to A's parents' house. And so we did. They moved out of city, but luckily the city bus takes us close to their new place. We had to walk from the bus stop to their house because the usual minibus driver doesn't work during major holidays like Easter.

A small feast was waiting for us there - see the picture below. That's a cheesecake that replaces the traditional pasca which is a bit different both in looks and in how's made.

The slices with boiled eggs in the middle are a special meat loaf made only for Easter, called drob.

You also get to see a bit of the countryside, from A's parents' balcony, in the pic below.

Some time later, A's birthday came. That day we had to go with the older cat to the vet. He wouldn't eat and he would throw up if he did. The vet said it's just a gastritis, and gave him some shots and home treatment.

Everyone praised Whiskey the cat for his prettiness and for being such a good boy.

The next day, in the evening we decided to have a bit of fun. Or to try to relax a bit. So we went to see a movie - A Quiet Place. You probably already read my thoughts on the movie, and if not, by following the link you can do so now.

he was in my arms and trying to hide :)

We also had to go search for a specific cat food, that we learned we can find at this rather new mall that opened not too far from us - some 6 tram stop away, and that's close. Check out this post about the public transportation in Bucharest.

There was an interesting place where they would only sell French fries. Of course we had to try them out. And I personally wasn't impressed - only 2 guys taking orders and serving people, so I had to wait some 30 minutes? The taste wasn't impressive either, but the fries were made on the spot which also added to the waiting time.

And while I did say these were fries, they weren't thin like at McDonalds, but thick type, wedges. I also think they needed to be cooked for longer and maybe at lower temperature?

In any case, we saw another location downtown, in the Old City Center area which is easier for us to get to.

One day A asked me for avocado on toast. So I made some. Not much to say there, but it's too small to make a separate entry on it.

Toast the bread. Cut open the avocado, remove the pit. Slice it up or mash it and spread on the toast. Then serve.

I discovered avocado tastes better with a dash of salt on top. If you think this is weird, wait for my entry on the weird foods I sometimes eat and enjoy.

After some time, I decided to make some doughnuts. I decided to follow a Romanian recipe for "Little Lies" which I have to tweak. The recipe I had gave me some cookies or biscuits instead of donuts, which is probably why they're called "Little Lies" -in Romanian minciunele.

However, they were pretty sweet and worked well with tea and coffee, and there's that at least.

I have this cat shaped cookie cutter and I decided to make some of them shaped like cats, because why not? I got the cookie cutter as a freebie from a box of margarine. It was meant to make cute looking sandwiches for your kids, but that's too much work for me.

Once I find recipe that I like better, I'll share it. Till then, just a sneak peak at my Little Lies.

all dough-nuts should be covered in confectioner's sugar, if you ask me.

At some point we went to a cafe for the first time in ages. Or it felt like that to me. I think we had hot chocolate and tea? or something like that, I completely forgot.

Some time after that, I decided to turn some old shirts I had into pillow cases. I like doing things myself the most - this makes me feel accomplished.

The blog entry will appear in June, [which is awesome because I discovered some pictures I forgot to add] however the idea was born in April and was mostly performed in May. If you read this entry when it's published, the link won't work, but if you read it some time in June, out of curiosity, it will work. You can have a little sneak-peak below.

Of course, my oldest cat decided to help out.

Of course, my oldest cat decided to help out.

We also had some work to do, and we still did go out after that. But nothing much happened, except for the adventure we had outside of the city, in search of an outlet. I'll let A talk about it, as it was her idea and i'll just add the pictures in.

A month ago we decided to go to an outlet store that was suppose to be in an area we haven't visited before. However, we had no idea of how this trip was going to go. We sure didn't expect what was coming ~

First of all, we got in the bus and as we looked on the map, realized it was gonna take at least 22 long stops. 22!! We never really went that far. Beside that, the day was quite hot, it was a rush hour, and the bus was packed with people. So half way there i started feeling nauseous and like i had no air...many of the people in the bus seemed to have no problems as if they were used to it ~

An hour later (no joke) we finally got off the bus. It was pretty much in the middle of nowhere, and even tho we went to other malls that are somehow out of city, this one was different. The entire area didn't seem safe at all, there was a lot of shadiness. We crossed the street and started walking by these what seemed to be abandoned houses and trying to make sure no stray dogs were gonna bite our ass. It wasn't comfortable at all and i felt quite unsafe...after walking a while trying to gather all our courage we ended up crossing a street to get to a railway and in that moment, we started to think what the hell are we doing. The mall didn't see to be in sight, actually there was nothing like a mall in the area at all. That's when we decided to turn around and go back as we didn't want to end up being there at night.

After more waiting for the bus, it finally arrived and we got in. But, since we were already out, we thought it would be a good idea to go to another mall that was located somewhere halfway through the trip. And so we did.

Well, this mall was a lot better. We got to rest a bit while exploring it. I was looking for some sport shoes and at the very least they had some options. When we got really tired we went outside to a cafe to sit and eat something. We had some fries and a burger that were not impressive. The burger was supposed not to have any onion, but i found a big layered slice of onion in it. At least it looked funny.

At that point we just wanted to get back home but didn't know how. We started looking at tram schedules to see which one we need to take, and spent some 15 minutes waiting in a stop. Then we realized that might not be the right stop as the tram we were waiting for somehow turned into a different one with another route. Pretty discouraged we went back at the mall and after waiting some more and trying to figure things out, we called a taxi.

Luckily at least that was uneventful. The taxi came fast and took us home, where we finally arrived home, 6 hours after heading out in the first place. This trip gave me some interesting feelings ~

First of all, i thought i knew the city pretty well so i didn't expect getting lost. I also thought its really hard to get lose and especially not be able to locate the transportation i need easily. Then there was the uncomfortable feeling of the area, which i didn't feel very often at all. Bucharest is generally a safe city with no problems, so i wonder where does that come from...
And the tiredness. I feel i'm becoming an old person since I got tired so fast.

All in all this has been an interesting experience, but not one i am about to repeat anytime soon. The mall managers should definitely do a better job at explaining where its located so that shoppers don't put their hopes up in the first place....or maybe it was just a ghost mall that could never be found, o.o. Now that would be quite a twist....

Hopefully you didn't get too bored, if you managed to get to this point.

Voir les commentaires

Shopping trip failure - vlog-

Publié le 20 Août 2017 par Charly Cross

Catégories : #adventures, #bucharest, #commuting, #life experience, #public transportation, #shopping, #tram

So, as mentioned in last Sunday's entry, today I will post a vlog video, with a little explanation.

I think YouTube is messing up the audio of the videos. So, if you don't hear well, blame both the beginner me and YouTube. You get to see glimpses of Bucharest that you don't usually see in travel blogs and magazines, along with random Romanians going about their way. yay?

As I'm trying to explain in this video, my friend ordered a product online, and she was supposed to go pick it up. I went along and recorded the adventure. It took us some 45 minutes to the [mini]mall where the place [called eMag] was. We were told to wait in line, and after some half an hour they said their server crashed O.O and that it would probably last some 45 minutes to fix it.

And so we waited, as we hoped it would be true. So we tried out this café place with a really nice view. I had a sandwich as I was starving - and it was pretty good. Don't ask about its name as I forgot it and I don't even remember seeing it posted anywhere.

My friend went back to the store - we then realized it was a showroom only, and the server worked for some 5 to 20 minutes and crashed again. Some 20 minutes before closing time! (at 9pm - most other stores close at 10 pm) We still stayed, as we weren't the only people needing to pay for stuff. Of course we waited in vain.

The video ends with me complaining about their customer service and just how generally uncool this [mini]mall was. They were supposed to call her the next day, but didn't. As expected.

While this shopping trip seemed like a failure, it was actually a disguised blessing. Some days later we found the product she wanted at another store and the full price wasn't even the one eMag mentioned! They said they were selling it for 50% off - full price being some 190 Lei? The store we found was selling it for just 120 Lei full price [tax included, as in Romania the prices shown on the shelf includes the sales tax].

My friend ended with getting another similar product that was on sale, from the second store. Happy ending!

What I didn't mention in the video was that while we were waiting in line the first time around, we decided to get a mouse as well - it was pretty cheap. Except the guy told me I would have to go back the next day or the day after to pay and pick it up: they didn't have it in stock!

You can now buy merch inspired by this experience, from here. There are more types of items available, not just the tote bag I made as default.

Voir les commentaires

Exploring Bucharest

Publié le 18 Juin 2017 par Charly Cross

Catégories : #adventures, #beauty, #bucharest, #commuting, #public transportation, #spring

This blog entry is LONG overdue. And I mean, 1 year overdue! wow! So, everything you'll see here was recorded in 2016, but I never got around to do anything with all this material. Today is a good day to show you all that I gathered.

I like looking at old buildings and imagine their history - what did they look like when they were new, what did people think of them, the lives of those that lived in them as well as what did they think of the construction they called "home."

Some buildings are nicer than others, but I rarely discriminate - I'm usually able to see beauty in the weirdest places and forms. All the images are from Bucharest, but you won't see them in any travel guide as they're generally from residential areas. The video will show you both sides of the river splitting the city in half and was recorded in early spring - March, and then a few weeks or a month later.

The next few houses cannot usually be seen by tourists. Well, I also forgot where exactly they are located, sorry.

I know where this one is. On a very quiet street, uptown, in a very posh and expensive area. The street has 2 lanes, one for each direction. In my opinion, the picture doesn't make it justice, or maybe my memory is bad. The roof covers the sides, like a mountain house. I remember it was love at first sight when I laid my eyes on it the first time around.

The next one must have looked really good at first. I really like that patio in the "tower" - it must be my favorite feature of this house.

I wonder if anyone bought this next house. It looks really bad, but I see a lot of beautifying potential in it. Since [I'm pretty sure] it was on a quiet street, the possibilities are quite many for it.

Next, is an old and rather ugly apartment building. I believe its facade was redone, but it simply is not as impressive in my eyes. I forgot why I took a picture of it - perhaps the creepiness factor was what drove me to it. Maybe it looks better in real life? Anyways, you can easily see this one downtown as it is on one of the main street tourists are taken on a double-decked bus.

I also like mosaics. The one with blue tiles can be seen downtown in Unirii Square, in one of the fountains. I'm not sure if all the fountains have the same mosaic design, because I never really paid close attention. Perhaps they're just similar? The brownish one was the floor of a shop uptown, in an old building. That's all I remember.

And if you made it this far, maybe you want to take a short bus ride with me? Tourists don't really get to see this scenery.

Since I'm trying to learn Chinese, i tried translating the video title into Chinese.

You should let me know if you want more posts like this one. I still have some unpublished pictures.

Until next time, stay safe!

[ps: i just started learning Chinese, so please don't be too harsh on me]

Voir les commentaires

Using the public transportation in Bucharest

Publié le 10 Septembre 2013 par Charly Cross

Catégories : #advice, #bucharest, #buses, #commuting, #public transportation, #subway, #tram

Bucharest has a very goo public transportation system, this allowing you to reach any area you're curious about, with ease. There are many more bus routes compared to the routes of the trolleybuses, trams, and subway. They'll usually leave you right next to your destination or within walking distance.

So the easiest way of reaching Downtown is by public transportation and while I read that some countries have some bus routes free of charge, this is not the case in Bucharest. In fact ticket inspectors come to check your ticket quite often. The fare for one way, is 1.3 lei for the above the ground routes, no matter how far you go... I guess this is about some US .50 cents? If you're caught without a ticket, you must pay 50 lei (about 11USD).

most commonly seen tram

Speaking of tickets, we don't use those anymore. Instead we have some cards that can be loaded with either trips, monthly passes, a combination of the two, or a certain amount of money (not more than 15 lei). They're the size of a regular bank card. To recharge, you need to find an open "ticket" booth - all of them accept cash in lei. Only some of them accept credit or debit cards. Below is a closed bus ticket booth near my [uptown] place - it used to close at 2PM and it's not opened on weekends.

Using the public transportation in Bucharest

Let's be clear, a charged card doesn't mean you paid your fare for the trip, unless you have a monthly pass. You're supposed to pay for your fare as soon you get on the [trolley]bus or tram. All the public transportation vehicles have some orange machines like the one below and all you have to do is put the card as close as possible to its front and dark circle. A green light and a BEEP will tell you you've been successful. A really loud and long BEEP with a red light will tell you an error occurred and you have to try again. Multiple charges are not possible by default, but you can pay the fare for others that are with you. This is done by pressing the button labeled 2 for as many times as possible.

from instagram: 2nd pic by @eduardintaiul [that's not the bus card]. 3rd pic by @nr137. 4th pic by @dracon1312.

from instagram: 2nd pic by @eduardintaiul [that's not the bus card]. 3rd pic by @nr137. 4th pic by @dracon1312.

As you can see, there is a screen too where various messages are displayed in Romanian. If you were successful in paying for your trip, you should be shown how much money is left on the card - sometimes the message is too fast. Sometimes, error messages are shown, like in the 3rd picture above and this usually means you can't even attempt to pay for your trip.

It seems RATB [the company operating the public transportation above the ground] likes to repair their machines with tape. They still work though.

We used to have this type of tickets. pic by @alexandrapoate on instagram.

If you go out late in the evening, you might risk not having a ride back. However, we have a few night buses go all over the city every 30 minutes, but not between 1 and 3am. The fare to ride them is the same as for the day routes. Make sure you get in the correct bus: the N123 bus for instance will not go to the same place as the daytime123 bus!

creepy old tram seen at night. used for maintenance.

This article was edited on Feb 16th, 2018, but originally posted on September 10th, 2013.

Very old tram by @transportcivilizatro on instagram

Voir les commentaires