I caught the first group taxi (Furgon in Albania, dolmus in Turkey, marshrutka in the Po-So, and MAXI-TAXI in Romania. When I first heard this I thought it was the best name ever and told a Peace Corp worker that it sounded like a pad delivery service and instead of bursting out laughing she didn't say anything and subsequently avoided talking to me for the rest of the time we were in each others' presence. Can't win 'em all.) to the city which was packed full of villagers heading who knows where (I mean, obviously they were heading to the city, but why at this hour I don't know) and they were hilarious. They were happy I studied economy, and told me Romania needs one. I LOL'd.
Drobeta Turnu Severin was decidedly gloomy. I mean, it was a warm evening, but it was so humid that it was warm but felt like it should be cold. Have you ever played The Colonel's Bequest? You know how when you're wandering around the grounds of the Colonel's mansion out in the bayou and it's all foggy but clearly warm enough for the main character to not need a coat and it's also the 1920s and there seems to be no one around? That is exactly what DTS was like. Anyway, I went to train station to see if there were any leads on later trains to the rest of the country. There were none. In fact, DTS is at the complete end of the line so most of the traffic had already cleared.
The woman working the ticket counter was not impressed with me. I don't know what I did. It was after 9pm, and I'm sure she was sick and tired of indulging the whims of tall blonds who pass through the station with no clear direction in life. At this point, I was starting to wonder if anyone really, truly, actually enjoyed putting up with my shit. She was of no help so I tried another lady working in the station. I asked her, "Umm, English?" and her head popped up (she looked like the old one from the Golden Girls. The really old one), cracked an enormous smile, and beamed, "No!" She also was of no help. She indicated to me that I should go back to the first lady for help and when I tried to explain that the first lady had some unresolved issues, Crone #2 essentially told me to tell Crone #1 that she was beautiful and then she would help me. As I'm always looking for ways to reinforce gender norms under the guise of being progressive and post-sexual, I thought I'd give it a whirl. I wasn't successful and subsequently left the station no better off.
On the walk into the centre I didn't encounter any more people. It really felt like a deserted ghost town, and there seemed to be no indicators of where I might find lodging for the night. The one sign of activity was some sort of discotheque above, I believe, another discotheque, but the one above served pizza and was full of teenagers. Obviously that's the one I went to. I didn't like it, however, as the pizza was subpar, the waitress was sour, and I wasn't served any beer, despite everyone around me getting some. What I did get, however, was free wifi, which tipped me off on where I could find an HI Hostel in the city.
Had I remembered by gut instinct about HI Hostels in Romania, maybe I wouldn't have spent 2 hours wandering around the suburbs of the city trying to find an address that does not exist. Almost on the brink of tears and ready to collapse, I spotted the Traian Hotel, one of RomIntour's famous landmark hotels spread across the country and offering, in many cases, perfectly acceptable accommodation at lower-than-hostel prices. I kind of wanted to shower, and I always like the breakfasts, so I went for it. Why not?
In the hotel room I cracked open one of the delicious Serbian beers I had been saving for my sister when she visits at Christmas (sorry) because I deserved it and everything really just went wrong for me that day. Then I turned on the TV and I drowned my sorrows in Romanian television and an incredibly comfortable bed. I was determined to get everything I could out of this experience, which involved showering (but, like, with soap this time) and taking up as much bed space as possible because I paid for it, so I may as well use all of it.
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