Eurojournal - 28 July continued

We make it to Buchuresti and the driving steps up several notches. I am comfortable driving in the cities at home. I am comfortable driving really fast. I am comfortable passing. I am burnt out driving and arrive to a city where really anything goes and people are grumpy with their horns. Some intersections do not have any signs indicating who has the right away so anyone goes and if you are too slow everyone honks at you. I had to go and hope for the best. I’m tired and hungry and can’t deal. It’s my birthday and I have been driving all day. The kids are arguing about whether it is my birthday or not. I have to tell them that yes, it is in fact my birthday. *sigh* I remind myself that I am in Europe for my birthday and to be happy.

We find a great Lebanese restaurant. We had hoped to make it to our final destination area to stay the night but it’s getting late and I am tired. I decided before we arrived to Buchuresti we would stay in a hotel with a hot shower there. I didn’t care how much it cost. I’m done. After dinner James checks out a suite for twice as much as we budgeted. I had dropped him off and drove around. I had several people honk at me and the same old chaos. I pick him up on the verge of tears and declare we are getting out of the city now. The suite sounds amazing but no parking. We just go. We get lost getting to the freeway out and the on-ramp is not separated form the off-ramp. Both a semi and I are driving down what could be considered the middle of the road, no lines. I swerve and miss thank goodness. We find a motel outside of the city. James has me go with him to see what the rate is. I hug him and break down. We take a walk and he buys me a Fanta. Yep I’m hooked on the silly Portocale (orange) fanta soda.

Now this is funny. We walk to the motel and look at the posted rates on the building. 3 beds for 160 lei (about $50). Someone comes out and asks what we want. James starts babbling in English. I interrupt and ask Vorbeti Engleza? He goes back to three other men and they are laughing at us. One man comes back and speaks to us in English. He offers us the room for 60 Euros ($75) and breakfast. We ask to see it. It’s fine for all of us. I am adding up the Euros and confused about the posted price. He wants Euros and no credit card even though they advertise that they accept VISA. We tell him we only have lei. He is not happy. He tells us then it will be 210 lei ($75). I point to the posted sign and ask why it says 160 lei for 3 beds? He pretends he doesn’t understand so I attempt to take the sign off the wall and show him. He then writes, 175 lei and no breakfast. Fine. We didn’t want breakfast there anyway. I ask why the extra 15? He says the kids. Fine. I go to the car to get more money and return. The manager was there offering James a “discount” to 160 lei. The worker was disappointed and rude at that point. James thought maybe I figured out they were taking advantage of us and the owner was afraid I was going to call someone like the anti-corruption hotline when I left. Great we got the posted rate. The worker asks for my passport and money and will not give me my passport back. I ask for it back and he says he will give it back when we return the key. No way. We tell him give me my passport and money and we will go elsewhere. The manager looks at him and signals for him to give my passport back. We get the keys. We walk out laughing. What just happened here? The same 4 men including the disappointed worker but excluding the boss followed us out. I move the car to the side of the hotel where other cars are parked and they run out and tell me to park directly in front. I park there and we get the kids out. The boss runs out and tells us to be careful with the tv with the children as the first few channels are adult. We thank him for the advice and the discount and go in. This is funny. We decide to call the four men the Romanian Mafia.

We get in the room and Luna and Liam hand me a folded piece of paper with Luna’s writing. On it are coupons : 1 day to sleep in until 10am; 5 minutes of silence in the car; 1 chore; many kisses and love. They sang Happy Birthday to me and James and Byron return with a vegan dark chocolate bar. Now that was the best birthday present ever!