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Ada sisi positifnya saya mengujungi paris di umur ke 21, yaitu di bolehkannya memasuki museum dengan gratis. Siswa yang berumur 18-24 tahun di izinkan memasuki museum dengan gratis - syaratnya siswa tersebut harus memiliki surat izin tinggal (residence permit) dari negara EU. Nah, kebetulan saya sedang tinggal di Romania untuk enam bulan dalam rangka mengikuti program pertukaran pelajar (Erasmus+) dan telah mengantongi surat izin tinggal dari kantor imigrasi Romania, jadilah kesempatan emas ini berlaku buat saya.

 

Museum dan icon kota yang saya masuki dengan gratis di antaranya Musium Luvre, musium yang menyimpan koleksi lukisan Da Vinci, the last supper dan Mona Lisa dan The Arch of Triumph.

 

Tempat-tempat yang harus di kunjungi di Paris versi saya:

1. Menara Eiffel

2. The Arch of Triumph

3. Musium Luvre

4. Notre Dame

5. Sungai Seine

6. Pantheon

7.Toko Buku Shakespeare and Co

Tempat favorit saya di Paris, toko buku Shakespeare and Co. Entah apa yang sepsial dengan toko buku ini. Padahal harga-harga bukunya juga sangat mahal. Ditambah lagi kalau berkunjung di pagi hari akan dipenuhi oleh para turis. Kalau ingin membaca buku dengan tenang di toko buku ini, datanglah di malam hari. Toko buku ini buka hingga jam 11 malam.

Oya, yang spesial dengan toko buku ini, karena toko buku ini kerap menjadi tempat tonngkorang para penulis hebat seperti Hamingway dan lain-lain. Sampai hari ini pun toko buku ini masih menyediakan ruangan khusus bagi penulis profesional untuk berdiskusi. Bahkan konon katanya penulis dapat menginap didalam toko buku ini gratis.

8. Mesjid Agung Paris

 

Setelah mengunjungi Paris saya merasa bahwa Paris adalah satu tempat wisata dimana seorang harus berkunjung sekali seumur hidup tapi setelah itu tidak ingin kembali lagi. Kenapa? Mungkin karena volume pengunjung yang terlalu padat?

 

Saran saya jika berkunjung ke Paris, berkunjunglah disaat low season. Masalahnya Paris sepertinya tidak pernah surut pengunjung.

 

Alasan berikutnya karena sistem underground Paris yang super ribet. Di arah menuju stasiun metro atau RER ada banyak pilihan menuju stasiun lainnya. Terkadang untuk menuju ke ruang tunggu kereta, dibutuhkan waktu sampai 30 menit. Ditambah lagi karena lokasi ruang tunggu kereta berada sangat jauh didalam trowongan.

 

Terakhir karena warga Paris tidak begitu ramah. Dimana-mana turis sangat dihargai. Tidak dengan di Paris. Banyak orang yang takut untuk ditanya. Alasannya mungkin karena banyaknya penjual dan orang-orang yang meminta bantuan. Sehingga kalau ditanya mereka jadi malas.

 

Secara keseluruhan Paris memang sangat membuka mata. Apalagi dengan arsitektur kota Paris yang sangat detail. Bagi yang suka foto-foto, setiap sudut kota Paris sangat cocok untuk dijadikan latar!

Tulisan saya lainnya menyangkut Europe Trip:

1. Membuat Itinerary

2. Menekan Pengeluaran saat traveling ke Eropa

3. Cara Mendapatkan Pengınapan Gratis di Paris

One thing expats can't get away from, that would be dealing with bureaucracy. And the worse thing about bureaucracy is that it never be the same from one place to another. Some place would make everything very easy. Others, however, could make the simplest thing difficult. These uncertainties are the biggest contributor to people's trust/distrust toward government's institution. But still, no matter how hard you wish to avoid this thing, you bound to deal with it. As long as you are alive you are going to have to encounter this thing whether you like it or not.

Enough with the bullshit!

These are the documents required by immigration office in Romania for obtaining the residence permit: 

1. Copy of the first page of the passport and the page where the visa is attached, including the page where your arrival date is written.

2. Medical Certificate (consist of):

1.Blood analysis (VDRL)

  As a student I really understand that we want everything done with a minimum of  outcome. Therefore I will tell you a hospital that could possibly give you a cheap price for blood analysis, which is Vital Med located in Str. Lahovary nr. 5, 6200, Galati.

2.Medical Certificate first step

For this thing, you could also get it from the same hospital. The total cost for the two are about 30-40 lei

3.The conclusion of the test stating that you a free from any decease that can contaminate society

After you get the two documents, if you are a student in "Duneare de Jos" university, you need to go to a student hospital located in Unitatea Sanitara. Or the easiest clue to get there would be student dormitory near Gradina Publica. When you get there, ask the people around and they will bring you to the hospital.

Supposedly when you arrive in the hospital, the doctor will immediately understand what you are there for just by showing the two existing documents.

3. Letter of Acceptance

I suppose you have gotten this document long before you arrive in Galati?

4. Letter of Financial Support stating how much scholarship you receive from the organization that rewards it.

Normally erasmus+ office will provide this document for you. So, just ask them to be precise!

5. Photo 3x4 2

6. 5 Lei Tax paid at the nearest post office

Post office in Galati located so close to the hospital I recommend in blood test section.

7. The contract of your residence.

If you happen to stay in the dormitory belonging to the university, then you don't need to worry. The manager of dormitory will provide it for you. But if you happen to rent an apartment perhaps you need to ask the land lord about this whole thing.

8.  fill in the form

Make sure you fill the form! But since the form is in Romanian, it might be wise to have a help form the local.

Those are the documents you need to prepare in order to get residence permit in Romania. The RP is expected to be ready in 30 days. But you can also try to check in day 25, if you desperately need it. Who knows maybe you need it for another visa application, schengen visa application for example.

1. Transportation

Capital city in general is a crowded place, and so does Bucharest. Taking bus to explore the city, is definitely not a wise decision to make. Furthermore, you need to worry about the authoritity who might be wearing mask under the uniform. Unlike the cities in Turkey, or perhaps other countries too, Bucharest's buses do not provide the ticket scanner (machine) at the nearest door to the driver. But, they (ticket scanners) are attached in the middle of the bus. This allows passangers to enter the bus from every door, which at first sounds like a good idea. But if you know what's in the authority's mind you would change the whole perspective.

When you enter the bus please do scan your ticket immediately! There will be authotities coming to check your ticket. If they find out you just scanned the ticket, you will be their prey. They will be fantasizing money coming from you. If you happen to be the one who scan his card when the authority coming, please whatever happens do not hand your ID to them. Once you handed your ID, they will not give it back unless you give them 50 lei.

This might sound illogical, but foreigners are the easiest people to fool. As foreigners we often think that we are obligated to show our ID, when the authority asks. Not in this case, it is just a trap. Or perhaps you could show your ID, but don't allow them to touch it. Just let them see it from distance.

******
Fortunately, Bucharest has subways that are well connected. You could literally reach all the cities by taking the subways. If you wanna go to the old city, for example, you can take the subway that goes to the University of Bucharest. From there you just need to walk 15 minutes.

One of the things a traveler must have is a devise that has GPS on it, if you have GPS - nothing you need to worry about. Atleast in the case of Bucharest, where you can pretty much walk on foot everywhere- the touristy places are mostly in the center of the city. And also, from my experience, the route of transportation in Bucharest are very well recorded on googlemaps, instead of asking the passersby you can just utilize your divise, right? Sometimes asking the passersby can waste your time.

For metro (or subway) you have the option to buy daily ticket that costs 8 lei, I suggest you to buy this ticket if you are staying in bucharest less than a week. And, If you are planning to stay in Bucharest for the whole week, it might be better if you buy the weekly ticket that costs 28 lei.

2. Accommodation or Where to Stay?

I am not talking about a big budget traveler's accommodation here. I am just gonna focus on low budget traveler's accommodation, which is hostel - since I failed to get a host through couchsurfing. Try to join couchsurfing, who knows may be you are lucky enough to get a host.

For a hostel, I have only one recommendation, the Cozyness of Downtown Hostel. This is my very first experience staying in a hostel, and I am impressed by it. I have so many worries regarding hostel - or I listen to much to the voices out there.
If you happen to be in Bucharest, this hostel is definitely where you should stay. What I feel most about this hostel is a sense of trust and community. They provide a shared kitchen that you can use for free. And there is where you are made to feel like you belong the community. Plus, the community you have is international community. When I was there I met people from the USA, Finland, Belgium, Italy etc. If you are lucky enough, you can exchange stories with these interesting people. They are normally very open-minded.

The stuff of this histel is unbelievably kind - when you first arrived she will instantly offer you a free towel, a pair of sandal, a lock for your locker, bucharest map, and other brochures regarding Bucharest.

What would make you attached to this place, I think is the living room - or the lobby - if it's lobby at all, I think they failed to create that image, because it's so hommy.

I don't want to praise too much, because it will make it sound cheesy. So, again, if you are in Buchareat you should definitely stay here.

my current room

Some people are destined to be homed. Some others spend their entire lives in semi-home, meaning dormitory. I might be one of them. I've been living in dormitory since middle school. Well, I took a break for 3 years, during high school. But then, fate brings me back again to my home. See? Home does not always have to be a home. "Home is wherever you are." I can go on and on talking about this sentence. It could be related with so many ideas, such as living abroad etc.

Actually that is where I am going to go. Yes, studying abroad. Quite true, but something is missing. Studying abroad under the frame of Erasmus+. This time I was brought back to my home by this little thing called Erasmus+. And, my current home is located in Galati, Romania.

I want to show you how it looks like and try to draw some comparison with my previous dormitory.

1. Location

Both my dormitories located in a quite strategic places. By strategic I mean they both are pretty close to school. Meaning I don't have to pay more money for bus to get to school.

2. Price

My previous dormitory costs 23o TL (69 euro) per month, while my current dormitory costs 85 euro. 

3. Facilities

#in the room:

• Previous dormitory -

bathroom, study tables, book shelf attached to the study table, beds and everything related to it, room heater, refrigerator, and cupboards.

(these great facilities are supposed to be shared with 4 people. But since so many room was empty I ended up living alone for 6 months. The next semester, however, I was forced to get a roommate , otherwise they will pick one for me, which is something very scary.)

• Current dormitory -

Just like the previous one, but the book shelves are not attached to the study table. Instead of study table, we have a dining table. And, fortunately I share these facilities with only one person.

#Inside the building:

• Previous dormitory:

Free breakfast and dinner, canteen and laundry.

• Current dormitory

We have a tiny shared kitchen with 2 hotplates and a big refrigerator. Laundry. Canteen that opens only from 12 pm to 4 pm.

Which one is more favorable for me?

I think both have its good qualities and bad qualities. I like to cook my own food when I am tired of the food they make. But, I have times when I am so lazy to even make my own food. So the combination of the two would make a perfect place to live for me :D :p

 

When you are coming to a foreign country there are so many questions come to your mind, that sometime it's too hard to handle. Nowadays you could try to answer that questions by googling it. But if internet fails to answer your naughty questions, what happens next is that you get so stressful and the worst part of it is that you can't get a good sleep? Imagine if your departure is within a week but you have no idea how it's going to look like in that new world. Even trying to imagine it gives me headache :D :D

One of the questions that you might come up with is the transportation question. This one won't be hard, right? Nowadays, all transportation agency has their own websites. Yes, it's partly correct. But what if the language used on that website was a language that you not know of?

Enough with your bullshit theory, Hari! :D

Now I will give you a website where you can check what means of transportation that can bring you to your destination in Romania.

Autogari.ro

Don't worry it's available in English. Even though when you are directed to the bus agency's website, it might switch to Romanian language.

We took a mini bus under the name of 'TST Turistik', I don't know if there is any other bigger bus. The street was so small. I couldn't imagine big busses pass that street.

What great about this whole thing is that the driver knows English. And the transportation system here is so, I lost word to describe it. Let me put it this way, there is no central bus station, where passengers are supposed to buy ticket - and where tickets booth are supposed to be located .

Apparently, here the system is like, the driver picks us directly from the airport. The mini bus is parked just outside the airport. How do we know that we, as passengers, will be picked up? Don't worry, the mini-bus driver is so good that he will call you half an hour before bus departs.

***

It was 17.30, which means the world was about to become dark - thus we won't be able to see anything. Literally anything.

Well, maybe that wasn't that bad, right? Since there was no much thing to see either. I suddenly understood why they came up with that Dracula myth. The atmosphere here during night is so supportive to that myth, too.

3 and a half hour on the read, we finally arrived in Galati. I didn't get to sleep on the bus. My mind was flying back and forth to the first existence of the world, and trying to answer 'did I make a good choice.'

Again, there was no bus station, or maybe their version of bus station is so out of my vision. The bus dropped us somewhere, which he called as bus station but I didn't see any bus parked there. Instead, it was a big street. And we were dropped just there.

We took a taxi to bring us to our dormitory in Str. Garii. Our names already on the list, and the receptionist were expecting us. We got our room keys. We went to our room separately. I slept peacefully that night.