It's official - I can stay in Romania!

After spending five hours and walking all around central Sibiu, I have successfully registered as a Romanian resident. Now they can't send me back to England after three months!

As I've come to expect in Romania, the registration process involved lots of rubber stamps on documents and required a lot of patience on my part. I thank God that He gave me lots of patience!

I arrived in Sibiu around 11a.m. today (Thursday 26th August) and followed the road to the city centre. I had been told to go to the "Prefectura" so I asked for directions from my friend Mihai, leader of the Sibiu-Agnita Railway restoration team who happens to live in Sibiu. He said that the route towards the city centre would take me right past the building I was looking for. Sure enough there it was, so I took the first turning right to look for somewhere to park my car. About 200 metres along the road I found a space just outside the University Lucian Blaga. This is easy I thought. Five minute walk to the "Prefectura", check the signs outside the two entrances. One was Passports and Driving Tests the other was Driving Licences. No mention of Foreign Citizens so I went into the Passports door. Asked an English speaker in the queue if this was where I could also get Resident's Permit but he didn't know. Queued up for about 15 minutes in a rather small, overcrowded and stuffy area for the window which had "Informatie" above it. When I finally got near enough, I called across to ask if I was in the right office. "Just a moment" was the reply. Five minutes later, after he had finished issuing passports to a family of four, the official called me to the window ahead of the next person in the queue. He told me I should go to the Police Headquarters in Strada Revolutiei and wrote on a piece of paper the name of the department I should ask for.

Forcing my way through the now larger crowd of passport applicants, I found some space in the entrance hall to get my map unfolded and find Strada Revolutiei. It was about 10 minutes walk to Police HQ but once outside, the road junction didn't seem to match up with my map! Fortunately there was a policeman on the corner who spoke reasonable English and instead of just directing me, said that he and his female colleague were going in that direction so they would walk with me. I had a police escort to within a 100 metres of their HQ! On the way Mr Friendly Policeman asked if I was married and when I said "I'm a widower" he said he was sorry to hear that and asked if I would be looking for a Romanian wife! This seems to be the reaction of many I meet. Are they perhaps trying to find a husband for their unmarried sister?

At the Police HQ I was directed to a door which said "Serviciul pentru Strain", the French equivalent "Bureau des Etrangers" and the somewhat strange English translation of "Foreign Office". No queue this time and after handing over my passport, the contract for buying 130 Roandola to prove I had somewhere to live and my European Health Insurance Card, I was asked obvious questions such as what was my reason for coming to Romania and was I able to support myself financially. I had brought with me some of the documents and receipts relating to my ongoing company registration but they needed more information about my bank accounts. I was asked to fill in a form (a remarkably simple one for Romania), then told to go to the local branch of my Romanian bank for a statement of my accounts after which I was to go to the Primaria (City Hall) in Piata Mare to pay a registration tax of 4 lei (80p). Why can't this tax be collected by the "Foreign Office" at the Police HQ? Don't they trust the police to pay it into the county coffers?

The branch of Alpha Bank was about 10 minutes walk from Police HQ but, needless to say, in the opposite direction to Piata Mare! Obtaining a print-out of my account balances was easy and quick, for a change. Piata Mare was 15 minutes walk back along a pedestrianised street lined with bars, cafes and restaurants. In Piata Mare itself there was a lot of activity in preparation for a Medieval Festival due to start at 9p.m. this evening and run until midnight on Sunday 29th. Unlike all the other Primaria buildings I have seen, the one I was looking for did not have Romanian tricolour and EU flags over the front door which was just a tourist information office. I had to ask where to find the Tax Office, the door of which turned out to be round the corner and actually facing onto Piata Mica. Fortunately no queue here either and I left five minutes later with a receipt for my 4 lei tax which I would now take back to the Police HQ, another 15 minute walk.

By now it was 1:30p.m. so I bought a "sandvich" (spelt with a "v" - it's not a typing error!) which is in fact a decent size bread roll with ham, cheese, peppers and some relish plus a few chips! On the way back to Police HQ was a small park so I was able to sit on a bench and enjoy my lunch - excellent value at only 90p and very filling.

Back at Police HQ around 2p.m. I had my photo taken with a digital camera linked directly to the police computer and gave a specimen signature on a digital pad, also plugged into the computer. I handed the print-out of bank balances to the official who was handling my registration. "This is not enough, we need 'Extras de Cont' (statement of transactions)" he informed me. Actually this was probably my fault because he had written "Extras de cont" on a piece of paper which I had failed to pick up and take with me. So it was back to the bank again, who quickly furnished the required statements as efficiently as before.

This time I decided to fetch my car from where it was parked outside the University Lucian Blaga and drive back to the Police HQ. Being unfamiliar with the road layout, I ended up in the wrong lane and unable to get back in the right lane because of a long traffic island. I had to turn left instead of right but thought, "Oh well, I will take the first right and go round the block!" However, I had reckoned without a one way system which, after making the first right turn, then prevented me from going round the block. I could only turn left which meant I was heading away from Police HQ. Still, I had some time to spare as I'd been told to come back in three quarters of an hour with my bank statements. Eventually I got back to a junction I recognized from my trips to Sibiu airport and was able to turn left onto a garage forecourt and exit back to the city centre.

Arriving back at the Police HQ, I was able to park just across the road and after handing over the bank statements, a certificate declaring that I had been registered as having "the right of residence on Romanian territory" was finally handed to me. Oh no! They had put my address as 130 Laslea so I had to explain again that I lived in Roandola which, although it is administered as part of comuna Laslea, is a seperate village 6kms down the road. Whilst the amendment was being made by his assistant, the chief of the "Foreign Office" was chatting to me and once again when I said I was a widower, asked the inevitable "Will you look for a Romanian wife?" He then added "It is not right for a man to do the washing and the cooking - it is woman's work" which sums up the male attitude to women in Romania. Perhaps he also has an unmarried sister!

Finally, around 3:45p.m., I had my certificate of registration but by the time I left Police HQ, my plan to do a bit of sightseeing in Sibiu was completely scuppered. I just wanted to get back home. However, I did find a very scenic way back to Roandola by turning off the main road and following a minor road signposted to Agnita. It ran through a deep valley and on the climb out of the valley, I came round a bend to be met by a wonderful view of the Fagaras mountains in the hazy distance. Romania's two highest peaks, Moldoveanu (2544m) and neighbouring Negoiu (2535m), were easily distinguishable above the rest of the range. The road was unfortunately still under reconstruction for a four or five kilometre stretch - which in Romania means you are driving on uncompacted hardcore at no more than 15kph. Still, the views more than made up for the very slow progress. Certainly a route worth showing to Casa Cristina guests - once the road is properly surfaced, hopefully before the 2011 season!

Dacia Logan MCV and kitchen units

After three unsuccessful attempts to get a video of the MCV onto my blog I have now uploaded this video to YouTube. If you want to look around my new car, the link is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWxalDHe-HQ

Load space in the MCV was very useful today when I went to Sighisoara to buy some kitchen units. I spent yesterday morning planning a layout for the kitchen and in the afternoon I visited the furniture factory outlet shop where I had previously bought a bedroom suite, bed/settee, TV/video unit, coffee table and corner seating unit with table. Of the six or seven kitchen sets on display there were two which caught my eye. Both had glass fronted wall cupboards suitable for wine and beer glasses, but the one I preferred had a tall cupboard with four drawers in the base. The sets as sold total 2.6 metres in length and when I checked the sizes of the individual units making up the set, I found that one complete set plus an extra 800mm unit would fit the available space almost exactly without having to order made-to-measure units. It was too late in the day to get cash from the bank, the only way I could pay at this shop (cards not accepted) and as yet I cannot get an ATM card until I am registered as a Romanian resident. I told them I would return the next day and went to check prices for stainless steel sink tops.

On the way to Sighisoara today I noticed that my new English speaking friend Adi was home so I stopped and asked if he would mind coming with me to translate and make sure I got what I wanted since no-one at the furniture shop spoke English. Adi was happy to help, so off we went.

After drawing some cash, a rather lengthy process until I can get a cash card, Adi suggested we look at a couple of other furniture shops he knew of. However, both only sold ready assembled units which would have to be ordered and their prices were around 35% higher than the flatpack units I had looked at the day before. In addition, I would have to pay for delivery!

Back at the factory outlet shop it was confirmed that I could have the set I wanted straight away from stock but the additional 800mm base would have to be ordered and collected next week since the factory, near Brasov, was shut for the annual holiday period. Waiting until next week would not be a problem as I had a few days work ahead of me re-plumbing the kitchen then assembling and fitting the basic set of eight units - four base units, three wall cupboards and a tall cupboard. I was then told that the four drawer base and the glass fronted wall cupboard were already assembled - so that would make life a bit easier! After paying the 850 lei (£170) for the complete set, including worktops, we loaded up my Dacia MCV and set off home. After dropping Adi back at his house in Laslea, I got back to Roandola and unloaded everything into the house. Shade temperature was still 32C at 5pm so I decided to have a quick dip in the pool before I did anything else.

An hour later - floating around in the pool on my airbed was so relaxing! - I dried myself off and unpacked the flatpack kitchen to make sure all the bits were there. Tomorrow I must go to Medias to get the name on my electricity bills changed from that of the previous owner of the house and while I am in Medias I will buy a stainless sink top for my new kitchen. By tomorrow afternoon I should have got the new sink installed and the plumbing completed and by Friday I hope the rest of the units will be assembled and fitted with only the extra 800mm base unit to be put in next week. It will be great to have cupboards to put things in at last instead of having to keep eveything on the two tables which are my kitchen furniture at present.

Next project - a bed for the room which will become my private quarters. I already have a wardrobe and a chest of drawers, purchased with the house from the previous owner. With my friends John and Margaret Willemsen coming to visit next month, I want to show considerable progress towards opening as a bed & breakfast. August should be a busy month as I hope that Kary, my builder friend from Cluj, can start work with his team installing en-suite shower/toilet, drains, septic tank, central heating, new plumbing in the cellar for washing machine and dishwasher and new electrics throughout the house. Phew! Makes fitting the kitchen sound easy!

Dacia MCV and my "holiday" in England

In my previous post, I mentioned arranging to collect my Dacia Logan MCV and the problem I'd had finding out about trains to Odorheiu Secuiesc. In the end everything worked very well. On Friday 23rd I drove the 10kms to Danes station in my Audi and parked it on the station forecourt. Train arrived bang on schedule and away we went. I had a chat with a young lady who spoke very good English and was travelling the short hop to Sighisoara with her boyfriend (who didn't speak any English). The train conductor came along to collect the fares - tickets for this privately operated train are not sold at stations - and I handed over the huge sum of 5.70 lei (£1.15) for the 75km journey. Amazing value!

The train consisted of a fairly modern two-car diesel unit and was well utilised. Most seats were occupied as people got on and off at the twelve intermediate station stops and at one stage, for a few kilometres, it was standing room only. If my fare was only 5.70 lei, those making shorter journeys can only have been paying a fraction of that amount, literally a few pennies. No wonder the train was full for most of the journey.

We arrived in Odorheiu two minutes early (British train operators please note) in the middle of a thunderstorm! Luckily for me, Attila the Hun(garian), sales director from the used car lot, had told me to call him when I was at the station and within 15 minutes he arrived in his posh Mercedes. He took me to where my new car was being washed and valetted, gave me the key and asked me to follow him the rest of the way to his office. Once there we checked over the car together and after a couple of missing items were replaced from other Dacia MCV's in the compound, I handed over the 32,000 lei (€7,400) collected from the bank the previous day. The documents for the car were handed over and I was on my way back to Roandola, via the filling station next to Attila's office to fill up with diesel. At the same time I zeroed the settings on the car's computer display so I would know just how much less fuel this car used compared with the Audi.

I soon got used to being on the left hand side of the car and changing gear with my right hand! The best bit was being able to see to overtake trucks and slower cars! The drive back home was interrupted only by one stop to take a photo of a tall pole in someone's garden which was a deliberate attempt to get storks nesting on their property. There is a superstition in Romania that storks bring good luck (as well as babies!) and presumably it works for that particular house.

Back in Roandola I checked the fuel consumption. I was very pleased to see the figure 4.6 litres per 100kms - equivalent to 60mpg and considerably better than the 25mpg I got from the Audi. All that remained was to collect the Audi from Danes station and I did this with the help of my new friend Adi from Laslea. I drove the Audi back and he followed me, driving my Dacia which he said he enjoyed very much.

Three days later - 26th July - I had an early start to get to Sibiu airport for 7am flight to Luton and at one stage during the journey I caught up with two more MCVs making a nice little convoy!

Blue Air flight was on time as usual and we landed at Luton about 20 minutes early. I had booked a hire car to pick up at 9:30 but actually got to the car hire centre at 8:30. Needless to say my car wasn't ready so I had a sandwich and waited patiently. It wasn't too long though before I was called to the desk and by 9:10 I was on my way to Hindhead to visit my son Rob, daughter-in-law Ali and new granddaughter Daisy. Slow progress on the M25 (not unexpected while widening work is carried out) but arrived at my destination within ten minutes of my predicted ETA.

New granddaughter Daisy had grown and become even more gorgeous since I last saw her at five days old in May. Rob came back to work from home for the afternoon which I thought was very good of him. I stayed with Rob and Ali that night although Rob had to go to work the next day to prepare for a business trip to Canada. Ali and I went to the shops with Daisy, then had some lunch and I left for my daughter Louise's home in Newbury on Tuesday afternoon. Ali was going to stay with her mum in Highworth while Rob was in Canada and I was invited to join them for lunch on Friday so I would get another opportunity to see, and cuddle, Daisy before returning to Romania.

Wednesday was my birthday and I went to Lambourn with Louise and my other two lovely grandchildren, Noah and Martha. We had a picnic lunch then back to Newbury with a stop at Sainbury's to get some BBQ food for that evening. A very pleasant and relaxed birthday for me!

On Thursday I drove to Wantage for a visit to the bank to arrange the transfer of more money to Romania. For security reasons, I can only make a transfer from my UK bank to my Romanian bank account by visiting the branch in Wantage in person so I made sure that sufficient funds would be in Romania for the impending building work which I hope will finally start this month. After the bank visit, I went on to Grove for a prearranged lunch at Cornerstone with John and Margaret Willemsen and Trevor and Margaret Dodd. It was John who first introduced me to Romania back in 1992 when I joined a team of drivers in a small humanitarian aid convoy organised by churches in Grove and Wantage. Trevor was a driver on my second trip in 1993 and all of us had visited Romania many times since. Next month John and Margaret will be visiting me in Roandola.

After lunch I visited Michael Wenham, a new friend from Vale Elim Church. I had only met Michael and Jane a few months before I left the UK and now we are following each others blogs, I thought it would be good to meet for a chat outside the church environment which had previously been the only place our paths crossed.

Friday came too quickly but it was a day I had been looking forward to as I would be babysitting Martha while Louise went to work at her new job in Lambourn library - and I was also going to see Daisy again in Highworth. It was a most enjoyable day with Martha behaving impeccably (she kept her mischief to annoy mum and dad and big brother Noah!) and Daisy just kept smiling at us!

At the end of a wonderful few days, I got back to Sibiu at 2pm and was relieved to see my new car was in one piece with four wheel trims and the radio aerial still in place! It was a hot afternoon, 37C according to a street display in Medias, and I was very glad to have air conditioning in the car. I stopped at new Billa supermarket in Medias to stock up with some fresh food and arrived back in Roandola at 4pm - tired and hungry but happy.

My next visit to family in England will not be until Christmas and I have decided that now I have a car capable of 60mpg, I will make the journey by road. For a two week visit it will be cheaper than flying and hiring a car, especially as these will cost more during the holiday period. Plus I will have plenty of room to carry presents for the family and lots of cheap Romanian beer and wine for the festivities!