Romania

Some first impressions. I flew here on the national airline, Tarom, which was fine; modern aircraft, good service and the light meal – it’s only a couple of hour hop from Cyprus – was reasonable, for airline food. A couple of vignettes from my first week should give you the.

I arrived with my owner in a fetching pink semi-soft carrying case. (Don’t ask.) I had tried to find out what the requirements are to import a pet into Romania, but the Romanian Government website is not particularly user-friendly; as far as I could see, the only requirement was an international veterinary certificate – I didn’t need the pet passport. After I had collected my luggage, which arrived pretty quickly – the airport is quite modern – I headed for the ‘goods to declare’ channel. I indicated the cat to the Customs Officer and he just gave me a bored look and a casual wave through. Point to note; if you want to smuggle some extra duty free through Romanian customs, bring your pet with you!

Moore’s Law says that anything that can go wrong, will. Bravo22c’s corollary adds, ‘and at the worst possible time.’ So, the week before I was due to leave Cyprus, I lost my driving licence – physically, that is, rather than having it taken away. I happened to mention this to a fairly senior policeman – I don’t have any contacts in Romania, well, I didn’t when I arrived, but, as is generally the case, I know a man who does, so I have been schlepping around introducing myself to people he suggested and gave me introductions to. Anyway, the policeman in question said that that would be no bother. He mad a call for me and I went to see another fairly senior policeman in Traffic Branch who got one of his minions to take a report, gave me a copy and a signed and stamped letter saying he knew all about it. I called the DVLA and got a certificate certifyin that I was entitled to drive, had it certified with a British Embassy stamp, along with a certified copy of my passport, and voila, I’m mobile. I do like working in developing countries 🙂