The next participant in Insider tips series is our ERNI Germany colleague “Doru” Vasile Teodor, Professional Consultant – originally coming from Romania, living and working in Germany. As he says, he is proud of the country he comes from and gladly spreads a word about the lovely things worth trying out when in Romania.
Doru is originally from the city of Mediaș and came to Germany in 2009 right after his secondary school graduation. In the meantime, he acquired the German citizenship which he holds parallel to his Romanian citizenship. When he was 19 and deciding whether to go abroad or not, he was also considering if he should continue with his football career or rather with the studies. After a knee injury followed by surgery, he gave up the professional football career and applied for the Electrical Engineering Bachelor Degree in Munich and moved over with a friend. As Teodor is working on the customer site as well, he is commuting to Stuttgart for a few days each week. Teodor loves the active lifestyle and meeting interesting people on his travels. He visits Romania at least twice a year also because of his grandmother he holds very dear as a valuable source of wisdom and advises.
But now let us Teodor share his tips …
- Typical food you would advise people to try: I asked my mother as she is preparing all the dishes for us ? First of all, it is Sarmale – cabbagge rolls filled with meat which are common also in Serbia, but the Romanian ones are smaller. Another dish we have in common with Serbia is Mititei or Mici (Romanian words meaning “little ones”) which are similar as Serbian Cevapcici, but as the name says … little ones. Also, the Romanian soups are very special, like the Ciorbă de fasole (beans soup) or Ciorbă de burtă made with beef tripe, garlic and sour cream. I would also like to recommend to everyone who visits Romania to try out the traditional salami Salam de Sibiu and Carnati de Pleșcoi (Pleșcoi sausages).
- Typical drink: The traditional Southern Romanian spirit Țuică contains 24 – 65% of alcohol and is made from plums. Then we have the Transylvanian spirit Palinca de Zalău and Vișinată, a spirit made from sour cherries. Being the fifth largest European wine-producing countries, Romania has some interesting wine sortiments to offer, one to mention is the white wine Tămâioasă Românească and Grasă de Cotnari.
- The most beautiful place: If you are a fan of the Top Gear series, you will know the Transfăgărașean highway, which in Top Gear was mentioned as the most beautiful road where they have tested cars. The Danube Delta is the place where the Danube splits into three canals and flows into the Black Sea (this is the only place where still the wild horses live in Europe).
- Most famous sight: Castelul Peleș is the beautiful royal castle in the Carpathian mountains beside the Dracula Castle which has the name Castelul Bran.
- Mostly used greeting in the local language: It is funny that we say Servus in Transylvania same as the Bavarians in Munich do. Bună is used in Southern Romania. You also use to shake hands when we meet. When parting we use La revedere, similar to the Italian “Arrivederci”, meaning “See you”.
- Famous personality: In sports, we had the Gheorghe Hagi (football player), Ilie Nastase (tennis player), Nadia Comaneci (gymnastics in 1976) we are very proud of. Tennis player Simona Halep beat Serena Williams, winning the Wimbledon this year which is also a huge success. I also am proud of Brancusi Constantin – the father of modern sculpture and Mircea Eliade (Writer and mostly known as a historian of religion).
- Typical dessert: Cozonac, a type of Stollen, or sweet leavened bread with chocolate and hazelnuts.
- Recommended means of transport: I would recommend the aeroplane when moving between bigger cities within Romania, however, due to the missing highway infrastructure and some troubles with the punctuality of trains I would not recommend those two.
