Some quick fun facts about Romania

Yes, we had a rather interesting past that culminated with murder.

Romania is a Eastern European country.

We're famous for turning against the Germans in WW2, shooting our dictator, as well as other things

Speaking of dictatorship, this is Nicolae Ceaușescu. He reigned supreme for a while under the communist regime, a regime of fear, poverty, snitching to the Security and brainwashing.

Anywho, in 1989 a revolution started, he and his wife were judged, found guilty as fuck and subsequently executed.

Mostly everyone owns everything here.

According to a census back in 2018, Romania has the highest ownership rate in the world - 96%.

Stuff like tennats, rent, car loans are foreign concepts here.

You see, when communism came around and went "your land? Our land comrade" people were pissed. After the 1989 revolution we kinda wanted to own our stuff.

It's ours. You can't have it.

Romanians invented things like the pen, ejector seat, jet engine, anti ageing creams. Neat!

Health care is crowd funded here which means it's free, mostly. Meds too.

If you're under 18, employed or retired, healthcare is free. Most common meds can be prescribed free.

*inhales* INSULIN IS FREE

I can waltz into my doctor's office whenever, tell her where the ouchie is, she gives me a prescription. I waltz into the pharmacy, get my super cheap or free meds, waltz home.

If the ouchie is complicated, I get a referral to a specialist, waltz in there for free, get my treatment.

If the ouchie is really big, I stay home on medical leave paid 75% of my salary BECAUSE I CAN.

This is an ambulance.

Emergencies are always free, no matter your social status, and you're definitely not getting charged for holding your kid after pushing it out.

If you don't need hospital stay, the ambulance doctors can give you something, even if it's just some recomandations and they leave.

Need an IV? They'll whip that shit out and rehydrate your ass while you all watch TV in your living room.

One more thing.

Parents here get a two year maternal leave, paid 85% of your income. Either parents can stay home.

Bonus round, if you go back to work before that 2 period is over, you're getting extra pay to your salary for the remainder of it as a stimulant (government funded).

If the kid has issues like late development, physical disabilty, that period is 3 years.

If you're really hardworking and get good grades, you get to go to whatever University for free.

Tuitions are not entirely ridiculous for those who don't have them covered, although some can get pricey.

Either way, you're not walking away with crippling debt.

I did 3 years of Uni and 2 years for my master's without pating a dime. The government paid me for my good grades.

Did I get a job in my field? Hell nah. I enjoyed the crap out of Uni though and absolutely loved learning all the things.

Having so many diverse influences, the food here is amazing.

People up north are especially fixated on feeding you until you can no longer breathe and you enter a food coma.

They also like to test your alcohol tolerance with a special plum brandy that will knock you off your feet! Good brandy does not give you a hangover, by the way.

One of the staples of the landscapes here are the old churches, especially wood ones like this (Bârsana)

They're quite impressive and even if you're not religious, it's a great place to gather your thoughts and enjoy some peace.

Is this familiar?
It's the Transfagarasan road, dubbed by Top Gear as the best road in the world.

It's absolutely breathtaking.

The Transfăgărășean was constructed between 1970 and 1974 during the rule of Nicolae Ceaușescu as a response to the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union.

Ceaușescu wanted to ensure quick military access across the mountains in case of a Soviet invasion. It's 151 km long.

I drove through this pass last summer, it waa a dream of mine. I didn't have words.

Our pearl is the Danube Delta.

This amazing place is a world heritage site, part of Unesco.

We have snow covered mountains, frozen caves, endless plains, huge grasslands, the sea, a delta.

We also have potholes, traffic jams, probably the slowest trains on planet Earth, a severe lack of highways, buildings that would crumble in 5 seconds in case of an earthquake (I'm looking at you, Bucharest), dashcams and legal radar detection units.

There's also bad people, slums, beggars, questionable street food, we had tornadoes a few times, biblical floods, massive illegal deforestations, morons in the government, people protesting against said morons, people protesting getting pepper sprayed.

Mafias, people who evade the laws, corrupt politicians, street fights, murders, fights with swords, movie worthy heists.

You know, the regular.

It's not exactly Switzerland (damn you Switzerland, you pretty) but it's beautiful nonetheless.

Also, this guy.

He's Vlad. He impaled people to make a point and fought off invaders. Cool guy.