Plastic bottles that have obvioussly been refilled, contain either Țuică or Pálinka. Both are fruit brandys that usually have a high percentage of alcohol.
Țuică is the Romanian variant and Pálinka is the Hungarian term.
Everybody has an explanation what the differences between them are… and every explanation is different.
Manele is a type of Romanian folk-pop music
that nobody admits listening to. However,
once people had enough to drink, everybody
knows the lyrics to every single song. Quite
similar to German techno band Scooter,
actually. In public, everybody looks down
on them, yet somehow they are among the
most commercially successful German acts.
Many foreigners associate Transylvania with
Bram Stoker's “Dracula” and vampires in
general. While Dracula existed (pictured), the
locals are often annoyed when their rich
cultural heritage gets reduced to pop culture
references. It is worth noting, though, that
Romania's national anthem begins with “Awaken, Romanian, from your death-like sleep …”
Mici, also known as mititei (both meaning
“little ones”), are basically the Romanian
version of cevapcici, usually served with
fries and mustard. They are tasty. They
are also highly poisonous … why else
would there be persistent rumours that
the EU will ban them, soon? Allegedly,
sodium bicarbonate is the problem …
Bran Castle, which is located on the southern
border of Transylvania in the Carpathian
Mountains, is marketed as the castle of
Dracula. However, the historical inspiration
for Bram Stoker's novel “Dracula”, Vlad III.
Dräculea (affectionately remembered as
Vlad the Impaler), had no connection to the
castle and was probably never there.
Many (especially elderly) citizens of Romania
believe that air currents can be extremely
harmful to your health. Therefore, there can
never be two windows open in a room at the
same time. Unfortunately, this also applies to
busses and trains in the middle of summer.
Try opening more than one window to cope
with the heat and you'll get some nasty stares.
My name is Ingo Tegge
After having spent more than five years in Romania, I decided to collect all the weird, funny, and astonishing facts that I’ve learned about this country.
View more of this series here.
