My First Venture Off-Base to Craiova

     Duminica fericită pentru tine - Happy Sunday to you!  The MWR here on Deveselu offers a shuttle to Craiova (60km away) to allow base occupants some time away and an opportunity to learn more about the Romanian culture.  Today we went to the Electroputere Parc - their version of our shopping mall.

 

     As you can see, if you didn't hear the language being spoken, you wouldn't know you weren't in an American mall.  Their anchor store, Auchan, is very much like Walmart; if you need anything, you'll find it here.  They even have an Auchan Cafe similar to the ones you find in Sam's (only better).

 

     The shopping selection was amazing - as you can see, my focus is on sweet things but I did see the vast assortment of fresh fruit and seafood, the washing machines (which are not much bigger than those mini fridges you have in dorm rooms), bicycles (look closely at the top bike, it is ELECTRIC!  You plug it in and ride it or you peddle it and harness the energy.  It cost about $1,350.00 US.), ice cream (a cross between Italian gelato and US ice cream), alcohol (if you look in the middle of that display, they have Vlad Tepes (Dracula) brandy), and bulk, yes I said bulk, frozen vegetables!  Leaving the store, I purchased the basket you see there - NO JUDGING!  I got some really cool candy bars, a loaf of fresh bread, and FRENCH CREME HORNS (I love those things)!!!!  There's A LOT more here than food but I have my priorities straight.

     I had lunch at a restaurant in the food court called Mesapotamia and had a shwarma box (layer of French fries, layer of Greek salad, and a layer of sliced chicken with a tasty sauce) - it was delicious!  Right next door was a KFC and down the hall was a Pizza Hut.  On the bottom floor was a Starbucks.

     

     I got a little confused checking out, not because of the money, but because of the process.  Place your items on the belt and the cashier will ring up your total.  They then give you a receipt and you bag your goods.  Then you take your goods and your receipt to a machine where it will read a bar code and allow you to pay.  Once you pay, you get another receipt and use that one (which has a bar code when scanned will will open the gate), and you are on your way.  Fortunately, the wonderful cashiers helped me both times (I forgot something the first time).  

     It was a fantastic excursion and I look forward to heading back there again soon.