This winter I escaped to my hometown of Brasov, Romania for the holidays and it was
everything I could have asked for: family, friends, food, wine, dancing, walking…and more food.
The trip didn’t start quite right. 
I had this weird feeling that nagged me: “I’m not ready to travel yet.” This is very strange, as I am usually super-pumped about hitting the road, especially when it comes to going home, to Romania… I was supposed to leave on Thursday, December 17, made it to the McGhee Tyson airport in Knoxville, Tennessee, reluctantly said good-bye to my lovely husband who dropped me off, and proceeded to the gate. However, my Delta flight to Atlanta had some technical issues and the delay caused me to miss my other two flights through Europe. After spending half an hour on the phone with a representative who pretty much said “just go ahead to Atlanta and maybe you can catch a flight to Europe from there,” I asked the lovely attendant at the counter to book me on another flight. I called my husband to come retrieve me, only to return and give the trip another try two days later. The silver lining was that I got to go dance at the local ballroom dance studio’s Friday night party one more time before hitting the road. Fortunately, Saturday travel was light, so it was smooth sailing to Romania!
Twenty some hours later, I arrived at the airport in Otopeni, Bucharest (we call it Bucuresti and it is the name of Romania’s capital). From there, I located my shuttle driver from M&M Express, a very convenient transfer service between the airport and major cities in Romania. Within two hours, I was finally home!
As soon as I walked in the door, my parents greeted me with hugs and kisses – and that never gets old! The phone rang and my brother, who was visiting from Switzerland where he lives together with his family, invited us to dinner. Food! Yes!! But first, a shower – airplane oogies, yuck – and a quick nap. Turns out that waking up from a one-hour nap after 20+ hours of no sleep is very hard… Luckily, I didn’t have to do much thinking between my parents’ apartment and getting into a taxi heading to Sacele, the nearby town my brother calls “home” while in Romania. The first thing on the agenda was to get two double espressos in so I can function properly and then the feast began.
Side note: Taxis are super convenient and available day or night. They are also very cheap – about $3 from one end of town to downtown or to the nearby town of Sacele; some of the cheapest ones are Martax and Tod Taxi. The taxi will display the price per kilometer and the total at the end of the trip. If you are worried about being overcharged, you might want to learn how to say the address where you’re going in Romanian and then refrain from speaking English/looking like a total tourist during the trip. However, most of the time, the taxi guys are friendly and they might even speak some English. I occasionally tip a little (1-2 RON, or .25-.50 cents), especially if it’s late at night or if I’m going outside town, or at the very least round up the amount.
It took a few days to adjust to the seven hour time difference, and I enjoyed doing absolutely nothing! My husband finally arrived on Christmas Eve and he had the same short nap option before our big holiday dinner at my brother’s house. We, Romanians love to eat (and party) but we go all out at Christmas and New Year’s. Here is some of the absolutely (not) calorie-free food we got to enjoy (recipes will follow).
Appetizers
- Salata de vinete = babaganoush or roasted eggplant salad
- Zacusca = spread similar to bruschetta, roasted red peppers and other veggies
- Crochete = fried cheese balls
- Salata orientala = potato and egg salad
- Piftie = meat in garlic gelatin
- Various pork products, like caltabos and toba – my husband’s favorites…not
Main meal
- Brisket and sausages (baked in wine…falling apart and delicious)
- Pickles (muraturi): varza = cabbage, pepene = watermelon, gogonele = green tomatoes, morcovi = carrots, conopida = cauliflower, castraveti = cucumbers
- Sarmale – traditional stuffed cabbage rolls, mandatory at Christmas time
- Red wine
Desert
- Cozonac = traditional sweet bread, rolled up and stuffed with walnuts, raisins, and sometimes Turkish delight
- Assorted baked goodies: cornulete cu nuca, prajitura
- Coffee
