Travel guide from Karin

Travel tips from Karin:

FOOD: I don’t get out of the centre as I’ve always lived in this area; my job is also in the centre of Bucharest. So I am happy with what I find in the area. I’m not too pretentious about food; I’m ok with salads, soups, pasta or Lebanese plates. I would eat fresh fish anytime, but I don’t trust Bucharest is the place for that, only the seaside and in the Danube Delta. I like pasta and salads at Shift; Garlic on Eminescu St. has also very good salads (in pizza dough); Home on Xenopol St. has great spinach pasta; Lebanese food at Tripoli or Four Seasons. There is also a hidden teahouse on Aurel Vlaicu St. (La Vlaicu) where I take in summer green tea with ice cream and mint. I like the new Lente Café in Armeneasca St. area; it’s nice and chill.

DAY: I din’t find yet the perfect pool. I like to ride my bike and loose on the little streets in Matache St. area. Speaking about terraces I used to like E-Uranus and Una Galeria, now closed… Nowadays, I go pretty often to Energiea, PRIMUS, on George Enescu St. (for the pub atmosphere), although there are some of the most uncool bartenders in Bucharest… Fabrica also is not bad; it is more the kind of punk and skate style. I used to look for terraces with unfiltered beer; nowadays you can find it almost everywhere.

NIGHT: I usually have a club where I go almost every time with my friends. In high school it was Fire, during first university years – B52 and Expirat; now I’ve settled for a while in Control, where I meet someone I know any time I go; it also has the advantage of being right at Universitate Square. Though on Tuesday all drinks are half price, which is appreciated, their alcohol could be better. Otherwise I really enjoy Eden Club - in the basement of Stirbey Palace. The setting is pretty cool, the music is neat and you can play table tennis in between beers. 

SHOPPING: I’m not a shopping addict, so not even for clothes I don’t go further than the city centre; so as a matter-of-fact I enter the shops on my way… Moreover I didn’t quite change my style from my teens, so I still shop at Hippie Hippie Shake, Mini Prix and lately at Glow in Romana Square. There are also some outlets I visit, such as Tonka near Cinema Studio, which despite the loud music and bad taste air it has some cool items. If I go to Unirea, I enter New Yorker, Pull&Bear and H&M. I only shop for clothes on sale, I don’t think it is worth otherwise. I heard lately that on Stefan cel Mare St. there are a lot of second hand shops between Lizeanu and Obor market, I’m tented by a sort of escapade… Otherwise, I also buy clothes from young Romanian designers, at fairs or by contacting them directly. But I spend more time in bookshops and stationeries than in other kind of shops – Carturesti, Bastilia, Humanitas Kretulescu and Anthony Frost. There is also a French library I particularly enjoy, Kyralina on George Enescu, it has the exact intimate and pleasant feel of a small library you can spend hours in.

CULTURE: My favourite cinemas are Studio and Elvira Popescu, having that art and neighbourhood cinema look and feel. The art gallery I like most at this moment is Aiurart, recently opened on Lirei St., close to “Mihai Viteazu” high school. I enjoy the escapades at MNAC and also I like very much the MNAC Annex opened in the centre of Bucharest, in Sfantu Gheorghe area. Last time I went to the theatre at Godot Café on Blanari St., I like the theatre-bars in Bucharest (Green Hours too) where you can also enjoy a glass of wine during the play.

BUCHAREST DISCOVERY: I like very much Gara de Est (East Railway Station), almost deserted, having the air from old times. Still in the area, I also like the Parachutists tower; I’d take some photos there.