Romania
Trackchasing Country #46
GREETINGS FROM PLACES ON THE WAY TO
ROMANIA
From the World’s #1 Trackchaser
I am an international trackchaser. My trackchasing hobby has taken me to well over 70 countries. With all of that travel I have seen and done just about everything….but not EVERYTHING. That’s why I’ll keep traveling for as long as I can. There is always one more thing to see and one more thing to do. I hope you enjoy taking a brief tour of Romania, my 46th trackchasing country. I made this trip solo back in October, 2010. I can’t think of a single trip that can top my going to first Romania and then Bulgaria for adventure and hospitality in country. None! As you read through this report you will see exactly what I mean with those statements. Going to Romania and Bulgaria made for a fantastic trackchasing weekend and life experience! DAYS 1-3 “IT WAS FINALLY TIME TO GO TO ROMANIA” TRACKCHASING TOUR Many of my international friends receive only my Trackchaser Reports from my international trips. Of course, if they would like to add “domestic” reports they can do so with a simple email to me. Others receive reports from both my domestic AND international trips. Several of my readers responded to my “International trackchasing country dilemma” message sent out yesterday. Here’s a sample of the responses: “I bet it was Roland who was behind the warning of American travel to Europe to thwart any possibility of being overthrown by you as the number one international trackchaser.” “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, ‘You’re a nut!’, but hey, I love your emails and live vicariously thru your trackchasing.” “Howdy #2, 46 nations! ! ! That’s bonkers. I’m only on 13.” “Keep up to spec Randy. Best regards to you all and keep me on the newsletter list.” “Suggestion, do not mortgage your house, trade it in for a house in Europe for 4/6 weeks and travel by car to the meets.” GREETINGS FROM THE UNITED STATES AND THEN MILAN, ITALY. Everything written in the “Advance Preparation” section of this Trackchaser Report was reported before I ever reached Romania. In order for a trip like this to be successful a good deal of advance preparation must be done. That planning takes place at the world headquarters of RLR – Randy Lewis Racing in San Clemente, California. Without the help of people on the ground in Romania this trip might not have been possible. Also if you’d like to learn a little more about Romania, the country, check out the “background” information I prepared for you. It appears at the bottom of this report. I have condensed this section so you can get a good “feel” for this Eastern European country. TODAY’S HEADLINES There is a new international trackchasing leader.…………..details in “Advance preparation”. I was fortunate to meet Maria Elena Reyes Torres of Havana, Cuba…………….more in “Day 2 – Thursday”. Was this an encounter with the Romanian mafia or just two nice guys? …………..details in “Day 3 – Friday”. ADVANCE PREPARATION There is a new international trackchasing leader. Yes. There’s a new international trackchasing “countries” leader and it’s not me! Recently Vilvoorde, Belgium’s Roland Vanden Eynde took over the “trackchasing countries” lead with a trip to Bulgaria. This gives Roland a total of 46 countries where he has trackchased. He now leads my total of 45 countries by one. In order for me to regain the #1 ranking in the “trackchasing countries” category I will have to get to 47 countries before Roland does. Just getting one more country will only tie me with Roland at 46 countries. Since he reached the “#46” first, he will own the “tie-breaker” and maintain the #1 ranking. Some background on this competition. Here’s a bit of background on this international competition. It was Roland himself who had encouraged me to expand my trackchasing adventures beyond the United States. Back in 2005 Roland invited Carol and me to come trackchasing with him in Europe. During that trip I added countries 5-9, including the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany. I remember Roland telling me it wouldn’t be so difficult to go all over the world seeing racing in different countries. At the time “I couldn’t see the forest for the trees on that one”. I didn’t think there was any way I could add many new trackchasing countries to my single digit list. However, I often found it is the individual himself who is responsible for his/her individual achievement limits. I’ve seen many people blame “the other guy” for their lack of results. I always smile silently to myself on that one. In reality it is the individual himself who “limits” what can or can’t be done simply by the “attitude they bring to each party”. I’ve had tons of help along the way. Of course, I have had tons of help beyond the initial efforts provided by Roland in this area. The most important “help” has always been from those folks on the ground in their home countries. The three items listed below have been the most important in allowing me to see racing in 37 countries in the past 37 months. Our son J.J. became a commercial airline pilot in August, 2006. Since that time we’ve been able to fly all over the United States and the world on almost a moment’s notice. You all know that I can’t match up with the big East coast trackchasing teams when it comes to spending money. I can’t match up to the big trackchasing budget that funds Roland Vanden Eynde’s travels either. I’m a retiree living on my savings alone. Believe it or not, being able to use GPS has been a huge factor in traveling the world. You may or may not think the street signs in your town are very good. However, street signs are almost non-existent in most of the countries I’ve been too. Where they do appear, they are very difficult to understand. I’ve probably been able to use GPS in half the countries where I’ve trackchased. In many of the others, I’ve had drivers. Therefore, I’ve been able to navigate my way without getting lost all that much compared to not having the aid of GPS. I have been blessed with having the very best “local contacts” that anyone worldwide traveler could ever have. I would say Roland got us started. I will tell you this. I have met some mighty fine people just “nosing about the world”. In most cases, I met them on the internet first. Then I was lucky enough to meet them in person. I won’t mention them by name for fear of missing an important person or two. This weekend’s trip would not have been possible without the help of “locals”. You’ll meet those folks in my upcoming reports. I love telling you about them. THE RACE There must be a race. For international racing, I search the web for race dates. One thing makes this more than difficult. First, I speak and read only English. However, most of the foreign track websites are NOT in English. Yes, this makes developing a plan more than challenging. First, Russia came to my aid. For this trip, I first located a site in Russia. They mentioned something about a race in Romania. Then I discovered a “Romanian race forum” called “4 Tuning” (http://forum.4tuning.ro/). The site was even sponsored by GILLETTE FUSION POWER, a Procter & Gamble shaving instrument. Then Romania stepped up. Alas, the site was in Romanian and not English. I took a chance and posted a message in English after registering with the 4 Tuning forum. Then an angel descended from the sky in the form of Octav Paraschiv. “Octavian”, a resident of Bucharest, would end up being the “man behind the scenes” for my trackchasing success in Romania. THE VISA Just your passport, please. That’s right. All I needed to do was show up with a valid U.S. passport and getting into Romania would be easy. No visa required. THE TRANSPORTATION Los Angeles to New York to Milan, Italy to Bucharest, Romania? Makes sense to me. California is not conveniently located to virtually any other trackchasing location. Most of the tracks in the United States are in the Midwest or East. That’s a 2,000-3,000 mile trek just within my own country. It is pretty rough traveling business class all over the world. Of course, traveling to countries outside of North America requires some 10,000-15,000 miles of round-trip travel. For the past several years I’ve been covering between 200,000-250,000 miles annually. This month I will go over 200,000 miles of trackchasing travel for 2010. In order to insure I arrived in time for Saturday’s race in Romania I had to leave California on WEDNESDAY! Yes, I did. I’ll tell you more about why I had to do it that way below. TIME ZONES What time is it? Romania is in the Eastern European time zone. The EET time zone is two hours ahead of the “Coordinated Universal Time” (UTC). Here’s a list of other countries in the EET time zone: Yes, I was going to be a LONG way from home. Romania would be ten hours ahead of California time. When the Saturday morning race began at 10 a.m. it would be midnight back in San Clemente! CURRENCY I would need some leis and banis. The Romanian “leu” (pronounced ‘lew’) is the official currency of Romania. The leu is subdivided into 100 “bani” for those of you who think in base ten. You might think that all European Union countries use the Euro. That is not the case. Romania joined the EEU on January 1, 2007. However, they are not expected to begin using the Euro until 2014. Rather than wait until then to visit Romania I simply acquired $40 U.S. of “lei” (plural) and hoped I could use this currency along with some Euros and Dollars that Carol had packed in my lunchbox. WEATHER I don’t care if it rains. The weather forecast wasn’t that great. It called for rain and temps in the high 50s/low 60s. I didn’t care. These folks race “rain or shine”. That was a good thing since the weather they DID race in would have canceled the show if it were scheduled for the United States. OVERNIGHT ACCOMMODATIONS I rarely book ahead. My first “overnight” would be spent on the airplane. My second night would have me resting my head in Milan, Italy. Finally, the night before the race I would stay in Bucharest, Romania. I don’t know which is more difficult when it comes to international trackchasing…..the planning or the doing. THE RENTAL CAR Octavian had a plan for me. Europe is much bigger on public transportation than we are in the United States. Americans love their cars and the flexibility those big cars bring. However in some places, and Romania is probably one of those places, it’s not that easy to navigate. Octav and I came up with a plan where there would be no need to rent a car. It was pure genius. More on that later. NAVIGATION It was time to give up control. Overall, I prefer renting a car and using a GPS to get me from point A to point B. This lets me stay in control. However, there are times when the smart man gives up control. This would be one of those times. THE TRAVELING COMPANION This would be ‘hard core’ trackchasing. As you might have guessed by now, “Trackchasing’s First Mother” aka wife Carol is not coming on this trip. We’re in the “pre-Christmas” time frame. Yes, I know it’s only October. However, the “pre-Christmas” time frame keeps moving up by a week or so every year. It is during this time that Carol begins her plethora of “holiday chores”. She is like an ocean wave. I can’t stop her. I have learned to stay out of her way during this period. Truth be told this wasn’t exactly a “vacation” trip. This was hard-core international trackchasing. Carol currently has 24 trackchasing countries to her credit. This gives her a third place ranking in the “Total International Countries” category. That ain’t bad. THE SUMMARY This has been a good year for international trackchasing…..and I’m not done yet. During the first nine months of 2010 my travel schedule has been daunting. I’ve made trips to Malta, Canada, Finland, Japan, Chile, Morocco, Brazil, Estonia, Latvia, Guatemala and El Salvador. Now I will soon add Romania to the list. That’s a pretty eclectic group of countries. Additionally, I’ve see racing in 29 different U.S. states in 2010. Mind you, I’m “cutting back” this year! I made this remark when I was challenging trackchaser commissioner, Will White, in our “race to 30” international countries contest” recently. I said that no matter who got to 30 countries first, for sure both of us would have fun doing it. I call tell you this. I have had an absolute blast seeing racing in 45 different countries up to now. All you have to do is look at the tab “Foreign Countries Visited” on my website at www.randylewis.org to prove that point. We’ve been almost everywhere and seen almost everything. However, there are still MORE countries to see. I plan on seeing them. I can’t tell you when (for security reasons) or where (again, for security reasons) but I will be adding new countries to my trackchasing list. The Trip Editor’s note: This trip began on Wednesday in Los Angeles. I would connect in New York and fly to Milan, Italy. Once there I would stay over one night and fly into Bucharest, Romania. Then the fun would begin. Day 1 – Wednesday I knew when I was getting to Romania, I just didn’t know exactly how. I had only one fixed plane ticket for this trip. I would use “EasyJet Airlines” to go from Milan, Italy to Bucharest, Romania on Friday. There are a million reasons why this made sense. For space reasons, I will cover only the highlights. The Romanian race was on Saturday. This flight would get me “into town” on Friday with plenty of time to get organized in time for the Saturday race. How would I get to Bucharest? None of my “airline partners” fly into Bucharest. Therefore I needed a “low-cost” airline that traveled to Bucharest. THEN I had to find a sponsoring airline that had standby space, that flew from New York to a city that offered low-cost service into Bucharest, Romania. Folks, this is what electronic spreadsheets are made for. No matter how much you think about it, I don’t think you will ever be able to fully appreciate the “creative thinking” it takes to implement the ideas mentioned in the above paragraph. I will tell you this. It keeps my “brain young”. By the way, the answer to the above brain teaser would be: Milan, Italy. The one and only New York to Milan plane, on Thursday, leaves at about 6 p.m. local time. There were only a couple of the Los Angeles to New York early morning flights that could get me into New York in time to make that connection. I could not risk on a Thursday morning flight out of Los Angeles and then NOT making the connection that could blow my flight to Bucharest on Friday. That meant I had to leave Los Angeles on Wednesday for a Saturday race in Romania. Don’t worry. This is what I do. New York or Milan? If I made an early morning flight from Los Angeles to New York on Wednesday I could then choose to stay overnight in New York on Wednesday night or continue on to Milan, Italy. If I continued onward I could spend the day in Milan on Thursday. Since I’ve been to New York a million times, I chose the chance to spend a day in Milan, Italy. Wouldn’t you? Wave good-bye or sit in business class? Mind you, I was flying on all of these airplanes on a standby basis. That means I go to the airport and if there is an unsold seat on the plane and I have a higher standby priority than other airline employees and independents I get on the plane. If there are no available seats I walk over to the window and wave good-bye to the departing passengers! Yes, this is an unusual lifestyle. However, as you might have guessed, I got on that early morning flight from LAX to JFK after leaving a darkened San Clemente at about 3 a.m. Then the “trackchasing Gods” rewarded me with a business class seat to Milan. The flight from New York to Milan is about ten hours long. Flying in business class normally costs about $4,000 U.S. round-trip. Don’t worry. I got it for less. Day 2 – Thursday Will I need yet more passport pages? I landed in Milan aka “Milano” at 10 a.m. Clearing customs was a snap. There were NO forms to fill out whatsoever. A U.S. passport comes with 48 pages. Most pages will accommodate four or more “stamps”. A traveler normally gets one stamp each time they enter or leave a foreign country. About a year ago, I sent my passport in to get 24 more pages added. Now I am down to just 5-6 “clear” pages! Yes, I’ve been out of the country a good deal during the past few years. On Wednesday afternoon, after I had landed in New York and knew I was going to Milan I did an internet search for a hotel in Italy. Since I can’t afford much when I travel I can’t pay those highly daily internet fees that airports charge. I simply “tethered” with my iPhone and Apple MacBookPro. Trip Advisor rocks! During my two-hour layover in New York I went to www.tripadvisor.com to find a Milan hotel. I used the Milan “forum” to ask about local hotels. Within minutes a friend recommended http://www.malpensahotels.com/. Using the “net” gets results fast. Soon I found a hotel near the Milan (MXP) airport for 60 Euros (about $85 U.S.). The fee included a free airport shuttle as well as breakfast. European hotels rarely offer FREE airport shuttles. Often a paid shuttle or cab ride can be $25-30 U.S. one-way even when the hotel is less than five miles from the airport. European hotels have long been ahead of U.S. lodging locations when it comes to including breakfast in the room rate. The Hotel Sempione was a quaint little 25-room hotel in a residential area. The owner’s daughter, who spoke English, checked me in to a quiet room on the second floor. Please understand that when I say that someone “speaks English” that this is their second, or even third or fourth language. We Americans rarely speak more than one language. Sometimes the “understanding” is not there even when two people are both speaking English to each other. This was no time to take a nap. I had a nice enough room. It was nearly noon in Italy. That meant it was about 2 a.m. back home. The very WORST thing a U.S. traveler can do in this situation is take a nap. Trust me, I’ve made that mistake. I needed to keep busy until at least past dinnertime. My plan was to ride the nearby commuter train into downtown Milan. The train station was within three blocks of the hotel. My plan would be much easier “said than done”. Where in the heck is the ticket office? Alina, the young woman who checked me in, told me that I could buy my train ticket near where I would board the train. I’m not that sure what Alina’s definition of “near” was. I took my life into my own hands walking along the side of a busy highway. I guess Italian’s have not invented sidewalks yet. I searched and searched the desolate train station area. No ticket office! After I missed my train, I returned to the hotel. Alina gave me directions again. The ticket office was located in a retail store that was closer to the hotel than the train station. Maybe that’s what she meant by “near”. I went to the store where they sold the train tickets. However, the store was closed “for lunch”. No, international travel is never easy. If it was, it wouldn’t be any fun. I decided to take matters into my own hands. I would board the train without a ticket and then “work it out from there”. The next train was leaving in 30 minutes. There was only one other person in this deserted graffiti covered train station. At first we waited without speaking on the same bench on a sun-drenched afternoon. It was nice to meet Maria Elena from Havana, Cuba. Soon I engaged the woman sitting next to me in conversation. In the ensuring minutes I would learn I was speaking to Ms. Maria Elena Reyes Torres who was in Milan visiting her brother. Maria Elena lives in Havana, Cuba where Spanish is her native language. She also spoke English. We both lamented our inability to locate a place where we could buy a train ticket. We talked a little until our train came. Then we both got on separately and took our seats. The train went down a stop or two and then, somewhat incredibly, began to head back in the direction where we had boarded. That seemed strange. I had to make a decision. With the direction we were heading now I would NEVER get to Milan. I made the executive decision to get off where I had boarded the train at the “Casorate” stop. My simple plan to spend the afternoon in Milan was not going well. Now I was standing by the side of the tracks at 4 a.m. my time in a desolate train location with no good plan. Just at that point, I looked up and who did I see but Maria Elena from Havana, Cuba. She had recognized that the train had reversed course and left the train as well. Sometimes you just have to laugh. We looked at each other and laughed. It is points like this that I really love the trackchasing hobby. We sat down on the bench again and began to “hatch a new plan” together. I told Maria Elena about the store that sold the train tickets. We figured they were back from lunch by now. Off the two of us went for a three-block walk over hill and dale. Maria Elena spoke enough Italian to complete the purchase of our train tickets. Then we stopped at a bar (they seem to never close) to get a drink and hit the toilets, that’s what they called ‘restrooms’ in most of Europe. Life in Cuba….and other things. Then Maria Elena and I returned to the train station. We had nearly an hour to talk. During our conversation we talked about life in Cuba. Of course, Americans are forbidden from even visiting Cuba, although son J.J. has been there under a “student visa”. Maria Elena told me about the beautiful beaches and her love for her country. We did speak some about the Communist rule in Cuba. I asked her what she thought about “freedom”. At first, she didn’t seem to understand that English word. We talked some more and she agreed that “people don’t work quite as hard when they don’t get to keep the rewards”. It was fun meeting up with Maria Elena and spending the better part of the afternoon with her. Once we reached the end of the line near Milan we parted ways. She will get a copy of this report, so I hope she takes the time to say “hi”. The train line stopped in an area that was NOT downtown Milan. I had the option to walk a good distance to get to downtown or to simply return to the hotel. Since I had wasted 3-4 hours just getting on the right train I chose to return to the hotel. By now, high school students were boarding the train for their ride home after school. This afternoon had been another great people experience. Even though I didn’t see much, if any, of downtown Milan, I had a great “people experience”. To me that was better than walking around town. By the way, you simply won’t want to miss the pictures of this part of the trip. You’ll see Maria Elena and much more. I try my best to explain my experiences, but you know the saying, “A picture is worth more than 900 words”. Tonight I was eating gourmet Italian food. I finished off the evening with dinner in the Hotel Sempione restaurant. Normally, I’m not much for eating in hotel restaurants. However, this looked to be a gourmet Italian restaurant that just happened to be in a hotel. I ended up having both my lunch and dinner here. Like I say don’t miss the pictures. Octavian and Pako, my international lifelines on this trip. My cell phone doesn’t work on these foreign trips via phone cell towers. However, if I have an internet connection, I can use “TruPhone” for nearly free international calls. I used this capability to contact first, “Octavian”, my Romanian race contact and “Pako” a man you will learn about in the coming days. Both phone calls were extremely important to the success of this trip. I also did an internet search for a Bucharest hotel for tomorrow night’s stay. No, I don’t reserve this stuff far in advance. That limits my flexibility. Limiting my flexibility limits my enjoyment of the trip. My room at the Hotel Sempione was small but clean. That first night in a real bed on one of these trips is priceless. I got a good 9-10 hours of sleep and considered my self “time zone ready” for the rest of the trip. I loved eating in their restaurant. Day 3 – Friday This morning it was EasyJet time. Following my somewhat sparse continental breakfast the hotel shuttle van returned me to the airport. Each time I road in the van, I was the only guest being chauffeured to and from the airport. I’ve flown EasyJet airlines a few times. EasyJet is sort of like the Southwest Airlines of Europe. My first flight with them was from Liverpool, England to the Isle of Man. EasyJet has really low fares. They fly to 29 European countries. The fares are normally lower the further in advance that you book them. However, they make up for low fares by charging for “everything” else. They charge about ten bucks U.S. to pay for your ticket with a credit card. They charge for soft drinks. They charge to board the plane first. Finally, they charge about $40 U.S. if you have more than ONE carryon bag! I needed to carry a lot of stuff. I’m going to be gone for seven days and six nights on this trip. I am carrying my computer and two pairs of shoes. Doing this with one bag is a challenge. However, when you must travel on a barebones budget paying lots of money to check a bag is not part of the program. I also needed to beat the system. To “beat the system” I carry a golf windbreaker stuffed with clothes, shoes and whatever else I can jam into its sleeves. The shoes are stuffed with socks and underwear. Granted I did pay some $300 U.S. for this windbreaker and am probably ruining it with my “packing strategy”. However, this seems to work so I will continue doing it until it doesn’t. All in all, I had larger than normal airline rolling bag, a Zero brand golf wind-breaker that looked a bit like the “Michelin-man” and a gift bag full of goodies for our grandbabies along with my camera bag. I was stretching the one bag rule just a bit. I noticed my fellow passengers looking at me as if to say, “How can he get all that stuff on the plane?”. If there’s one thing I hate it’s that “If I can’t have it, you can’t have it either” attitude. Buongiorno! At every opportunity, I tried to use a hearty “Buongiorno” each time I encountered an EasyJet employee. I think it was a combination of trying to speak Italian, being considered a helpless American and being “aged-challenged” that won the hearts of the revenue hungry EasyJet employees. Understand your assets…and use them. I once asked a big-bosomed co-worker what she used to convince people to let her have her own way. She glanced down, as if to peer over her chest and said, “You have to use the assets that God gave you”. Of course, this conversation occurred before sexual harassment rules hit the work place! I never forgot Debbie Gregg’s advice. Of course, EasyJet does not have reserved seating. It’s first come, first shove. I love all of the Europeans I have met during my travels. However, they do NOT seem very respectful of lines (queues). Of course, Americans ARE very mindful of not “cutting the line”. This is just one of several cultural differences that I have noticed. My flight from Milan to Bucharest would take nearly two hours. There was a one-hour time change. I arrived at 3:30 p.m. Again clearing customs was fast and easy….with my first ever Romanian passport stamp. I stopped for a pineapple gelato and then sought out the Air France ticket counter. The agent there was most helpful. He listed me on an even better flight for when I would depart Romania. He even phoned my hotel to have them pick me up at the airport. Romania is a bargain. Prices in Romania seemed to be very low. I would be staying at the Charter Hotel. They were charging just 35 Euros for my room, breakfast and a round-trip shuttle ride to the airport. That comes to about $50 U.S. For Europe this was a super bargain. My room was large with a king-sized bed. The hotel offered free wireless internet. What a value! However, the electricity did seem to go on and off from time to time. I only did this because I had no choice. The hotel manager told me there were just two restaurants within walking distance of the hotel. One of those was McDonalds. My plan was to meet my Romanian contact Octavian for dinner. I don’t like to eat at American fast food locations when I travel internationally. However, it was 4 p.m., I was hungry and might not be eating dinner until much later. I chose McDonalds as a “research” project. The most dangerous part of the trip. It was a one-block walk from my hotel to McDonald’s. However, before I could get there I would have to cross a very busy six-lane highway. I figured I would simply wait for a “break in the traffic”. Soon there was an opening in the three lanes heading north. I scurried across to the highway median. It was then that I discovered I had made a huge mistake. First, the “median” was a raised concrete strip about 18” wide. The traffic on the other side of the road that I had expected to let up didn’t. Now both the three lanes I had already crossed and the three lanes I was hoping to cross were filled with cars traveling 60 M.P.H. They passed within two feet on either side of me. I do NOT exaggerate when I tell you the wind from the passing cars was nearly blowing me off my 18” piece of concrete. This was as scary as it gets folks. Finally, there was another “break in the action” where I could run back to the side of the road where I had started. I stared across six lanes of very busy high-speed traffic. Yes, I concluded, fast food truly is dangerous to your health. After I got my wits about me once again, I noticed a pedestrian crossing off into the distance. I walked down there and noticed that if a pedestrian simply walks out into the street (there are no crosswalk lights) the passing drivers slam on their binders and come to a screeching halt allowing pedestrians to cross the road. Wow! A unique international dining experience? Not! You might think that a McDonalds in Bucharest, Romania would be a lot different than the Mickey D’s in your hometown. Wrong! It was EXACTLY like any American McDonalds I have ever visited. If someone had blind-folded me and turned me around I would have had no idea I was in Romania. Folks, that’s why I rarely eat in an American fast food joint when I travel outside of the United States. On the way back I stopped at a small Romanian grocery store if for nothing else than a look around. During my business career I spent a lot of time in stores. I always like touring them when I travel. I picked up a few provisions and then crossed that major highway back to the hotel like I was a pro! I was about ready to meet my Romanian contact. It was now beginning to get dark. I was really looking forward to having dinner with Octavian. It was at dinner where we would figure out my transportation plan for tomorrow’s Romanian rally cross racing. The races would be in Bradu, Romania. The schedule called for racing on both Saturday and Sunday. I had been emailing Octav Paraschiv every day for two weeks before I left on this trip. The plan was for me to ride with him up to the track on Sunday. Then at the very last minute I changed the plan. I would be trackchasing in Romania on Saturday NOT Sunday. One more problem to overcome. This created a problem. Octavian is a drag racer. He had a major drag-racing event for Saturday and would not be able to go to the races with me then. That created a transportation problem. However, Octavian had “friends” that could help out. Now folks let me ask you a question. Would you be willing to hop in a car with someone from a foreign country you had never met and drive off into the sunset? I think some of you would and probably more of you would not. I am one of those folks who would! I think of myself as a good judge of people. Who doesn’t! When I “meet” people on the internet, I try to develop a relationship with them. Once I have confidence that they are not a “weirdo” I take the relationship further. So far this strategy has worked out pretty well. Where was Octavian? As the evening wore on, Octavian didn’t show up. I called him a time or two and he told me he was having a hard time finishing up work and would be over to the hotel soon. By now, I was more than happy I had grabbed a snack at McDonalds. At 10:15 p.m. Octavian Paraschiv made it to the hotel. He was with another man named Horatiu Cioclov. Horatiu did not speak English but smoked a lot. The three of us, went into the hotel’s restaurant, which had closed for business about a year ago. In there just the three of us got to know each other. For all I knew these guys could have been with the Romanian mafia. Of course, I had never met Octavian or Horatiu in my life. I have never met any members of the “Romanian mafia” up to this point in my life either. However, it wouldn’t take much of an imagination for me to believe maybe I HAD just met some mafia members. I think Octavian must have been thinking what in the world is this guy up too. He came all the way from the United States just to see our little rally cross race? I think Octavian might have been thinking what is this guy REALLY up too. All the time Horatiu kept his eye on me …… and smoked. Octav was a nice guy and concerned about my having a successful trip. Octav spoke English well. We were here to meet each other and develop a plan to get me to the track tomorrow, Saturday morning. The race track was about a two-hour drive from my hotel. Of course, I could have rented a car but traveling with someone else seemed like a much better idea at this point. Octavian’s friend, Horatiu Cioclov would be racing this weekend. Soon we all agreed he could take me up to the track on Saturday morning. However, it would be very inconvenient for him to bring me back to the hotel on Saturday night since Horatiu needed to be racing on Sunday at the track. The conversation went like this. Octavian and I would speak to each other in English. Then Octavian would speak to Horatiu in Romanian. Then Horatiu would make some calls on his cell phone…..and smoke. This went on for a long time. We spent the next several minutes “negotiating”. Horatiu made some more phone calls. I had promised Octavian I would pay for the gas since I was getting a “free ride”. Now that Octavian was not going to be my driver things were getting a little more complicated. This was going to be one of the coolest ways I had ever gotten to a track. As we discussed all of our options, we poured ourselves a hot chocolate from the breakfast room’s coffee machine. Soon we came up with a plan. Horatiu would drive me to the track in his race car hauler. Wow! I had never been driven to a track in the U.S. or anywhere else in a racecar hauler. That would be cool! Then a “friend of a friend” would drive me back to the hotel after the races. That would work out really well too. After I visited the track I was more than happy that I had not driven myself. This track was out in the “boonies” where much of the local transportation was simply a horse and cart. I have Octavian to thank for this one. Simply put I had Octavian to thank for my trackchasing success in Romania. He was really a nice guy. When he smiled he looked like a young Mark Martin of NASCAR fame. Don’t miss the YouTube video of this adventure. You will see and hear both Octavian and Horatiu talking to me in Romanian at our “after hours” summit continued well into the night. Octav….thanks so much. Your advance help was fantastic. I really appreciate you driving all the way over to the hotel and working on a plan until we had something that would work. You were great. Thank you! To be continued…………………. Thanks for reading about my trackchasing, Randy Lewis World’s #1 Trackchaser Romanian saying: Adversity makes a man wise but not rich. Official end of this RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report DAY 4 “IT WAS FINALLY TIME TO GO TO ROMANIA” TRACKCHASING TOUR GREETINGS FROM BUCHAREST AND THEN BRADU, ROMANIA ROMANIA! TODAY’S HEADLINES Riding in the racecar hauler was one of the most fun things I’ve done all season. …………..details in “Day 4 – Sunday”. I implore you not to miss the movie of my time in Romania and a few other candid shots……………more in “Movie Time!”. This was not the Daytona 500; I didn’t care …………..details in “Day 4 – Sunday”. Day 4 – Sunday Today is race day. Yes, today is “race day”. This is trackchasing country #46 for me. Three years ago I had seen racing in just nine countries. A lot of water has run underneath my airplane during the past 37 months. It’s been a blast. I hope to continue adding new countries to my list as often as possible. Would you do this? I was playing golf with some people and asked them if they would hop in a car with someone from a foreign country (to me) whom they had never met and ride off into the sunset. To a person they all said that was too much risk for them. They seemed to think that in many parts of the world, Americans have a “target on their back”. Maybe so, but I’ve never seen it. I don’t seek out danger; in situations like this I try to trust my intuition. Thank goodness for ‘first time evers’. There are all kinds of “first time evers” on just about any trip I take. That surprises me. I’ve taken a lot of trips. How long can I continue to experience things for the very first time? I was up early this morning. Despite a 10-hour time difference I was reasonably well acclimated to Romanian time. Somewhat incredibly my hotel began serving their breakfast at 3:30 a.m.! I had never seen that before. This was the highlight of the trip so far. I was scheduled to be picked up at the hotel at 7 a.m. by Horatiu Cioclov. I had met Horatiu just last night. He didn’t speak English and I didn’t speak Romanian. We had agreed for him to pick me up at 7 a.m. He didn’t show up until 8 a.m. but when he pulled up front I knew this was going to be a fun experience. Can you imagine riding the New York Yankees team bus into Yankee Stadium for the World Series. That would be pretty cool……but not as cool as riding to a rally-cross event in the cab of the truck of a REAL race team. Some of our trackchasers are former racers. They might take this type of transportation for granted. However, most trackchasers have never raced and, I’m going to guess, have never ridden in a racecar hauler. When Horatiu showed up he was pulling TWO race cars. There wasn’t much room for me and him in the truck’s cab. That meant that all of my luggage would be put inside the cockpit of the lead racer. This was going to be such fun. Don’t miss the movie! Off we went down the road just like drivers and pit crew members do every day all over the world. There wasn’t much conversation (almost none) since we didn’t speak each other’s language. Horatiu played his CDs and told me at one point we were listening to “Romanian folk songs”. Don’t miss the movie that includes footage of our epic ride. About midway during the two-hour drive, we stopped to get gas. This was a normal freeway gas station/convenience store. I noticed another race team was already here. We went inside and Horatiu introduced me to everyone. From there we sat around the table enjoying a soft drink. These folks spoke a little English and were interested in why I had picked them to visit in Romania. During the conversation I whipped out my iPhone and showed them a video of some dirt oval racing back in Oklahoma. That brought smiles to their faces. Off the beaten path. By about 10 a.m. we were pulling into Bradu, a small Romanian town located about 115 kilometers northwest of Bucharest. It was at this point that I was glad I had not rented a car. This was a small town and the track was definitely “off the beaten path”. Once we got off the main highway I saw several old-time carts pulled by a horses. Yes, this would have been a tough track to find. Today I would be seeing rally-cross racing in an open field. No, this was not the Daytona 500. I didn’t care. I was here to see wheel to wheel racing in a country I have never visited before. I’m in this for the adventure more so than the racing. The weather was not good. One of the things I don’t like about racing in the U.S. is how easily racing programs are canceled when the weather turns inclement. Even in the U.S. I travel more than 1,500 miles to most of the tracks I visit. That’s a LONG way to go if the promoter ends up canceling. Luckily, most international racing, except Australia and New Zealand, runs rain or shine. Today’s racing surely would have been canceled had the program been scheduled to run in the states. The temperature was in the about 50, the wind was strong and skies spit rain at us most of the day. When there wasn’t much action on the track I sat it out in the racecar hauler. A racetrack, some racecars and lots of ‘cow plop’. The race track was a flat road course. Of course, a road course is one because it offers both right and left turns. The terrain was flat. In the United Kingdom they call this “autograss” racing. They simply take a farmer’s field, put down a few markers and start racing. Soon the cars turn the pasture’s grass into dirt. How did I know this was a farmer’s field? About every 6-8 meters there was a huge pile of “cow plop”! There were about 12-14 cars racing this morning and afternoon. I attended the driver’s meeting which was conducted in Romanian of course. What was the best part of the driver’s meeting. It was held in a tent of sorts where it was much warmer with no wind. They could not have been any nicer to me. Often, when I visit a track in a foreign land I am given gifts for attending. For some reason folks think traveling to the ends of the earth to see auto racing is worthy of such admiration. Frankly, I do too. The Romanian race organizers gave me THREE t-shirts. They also gave me two V.I.P. pit credentials. They advertised “Ultimate Racing Cupa Argesul. Campionatul National Rally-Cross. Bradu”. I can’t thank them enough for their hospitality. Just the basics and not much else. This was basic racing. There was a track and there were race cars. There was no formal seating, concessions or bathrooms. I was happy I still had a few food items from my grocery store visit of last night with me. However, there was a large forest adjacent to the track that served as “God’s outhouse”. There was no P.A. system or lights. There was also no admission fee. They did use electronics to capture each car’s speed during the “time trials” that started the program. Time trials were finished at 2:10 p.m. This program did not move along all that quickly. At nearly 3 p.m., they started wheel to wheel racing. It was at this point that the track, and the country, became “countable”. There were four classes racing with 3-4 cars in each class. Each car ran two races. The cars started from a standing start side by side. The races were short. I think they were each 3-4 laps in length. Don’t miss my YouTube movie to get a sense of how “down home” this racing really was. Whenever I can talk to the locals I do. I spent a good deal of time talking with one of the track officials. His English was good. He told me he learned to speak English listening to the Cartoon channel! He was a young man who lived nearby. He told me that Romania has 36 counties and that this group races about seven times each year. He also mentioned something I found interesting. I would hear this again later in the trip. When I meet people who are part of foreign cultures I pepper them with questions. I want to know how they think about things and why they do whatever they do the way they do it. Communism – pros and cons. One of my questions was in regard to Communism. Of course, Americans are taught to fear Communism. Most places that I have visited who used to be under Communist rule don’t want anything more to do with it. The man I was talking too agreed. He said that, under Communist rule, everyone was given a job and a low-cost home. However, there was often nothing to buy in the food stores or anywhere else. He did talk about one aspect that has come about by leaving Communism that I had never considered. The young man told me that older people are having a hard time with “freedom”. Apparently, they find it difficult to get jobs and feed their families without assistance from the government. From their perspective the Communist state might have been better. I had been at the track for more than five hours. The weather was very uncomfortable. I needed to be back in Bucharest by 7 p.m. There was a very important person I wanted to meet. You’ll learn more about that meeting and where it led me in my next Trackchaser Report. I was happy. Overall, I was just happy to have Romania “in the books”. I was only the second ever trackchaser to see racing here. Back in 2008, Roland Vanden Eynde saw an event in Bucharest. When it was time to drive back to Bucharest, I signaled my driver. His name was Lonescu Vissa Aurel. Octavian told me this gentlemen was a champion motocross rider back in the day. He had a van where I rode shotgun. This was a very relaxing way to see the countryside. Did I tell you I was happy I didn’t rent a car. We stopped for gas and a coke at a modern looking gas station/convenience store. Again, neither of us spoke the other’s language. That didn’t matter much. Soon we had driven through downtown Bucharest (my only view of the city) and I was back at the Bucharest airport in time for my next very important “appointment”. Major thanks to Octav Paraschiv. He rocks! In closing I am more than grateful to Octav Paraschiv. Without him it is very likely that this trip would never have come off. It is folks like Octav that keep my international trackchasing going. Thanks for reading about my trackchasing, Randy Lewis World’s #1 Trackchaser Romanian saying: One who sits between two chairs may easily fall down. TRAVEL DETAILS AIRPLANE Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – New York, NY (JFK) – 2,467 miles New York, NY (JFK) – Milan, Italy (MXP) – 3,980 miles Milan, Italy (MXP) – Bucharest, Romania (OTP) – 849 miles RENTAL CAR #1 No rental car! Rode with friends for 182 miles roundtrip TRACK ADMISSION PRICES: Bradu – Bradu, Romania – No charge! COMPARISONS LIFETIME TRACKCHASER COMPARISONS There are no trackchasers currently within 200 tracks of my lifetime total. Official end of the RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report THE COUNTRY LIST #46!! Randy Lewis Racing Lifetime Trackchasing Countries # 1 – UNITED STATES OF AMERICA – Peoria Speedway (Mt. Hawley, oval) # 2 – CANADA – Cayuga Speedway (oval) – Track #174, Nelles Corner, Ontario, Canada # 3 – AUSTRALIA – Parramatta City Raceway (oval) – Track #180, Granville, New South Wales, Australia # 4 – UNITED KINGDOM – Northhampton International Raceway (oval) – Track #378, Northhampton # 5 – NETHERLANDS – Driesum Racetrack (oval) – Track #839, Driesum # 6 – BELGIUM – Bellekouter oval (oval) – Track #841, Affligem # 7 – FRANCE – Circuit de Croix en Ternois (road course) – Track #843, Saint-Pol sur-Ternoise # 8 – GERMANY – Nurburgring (road course) – Track #844, Nurburg # 9 – NEW ZEALAND – Western Springs Speedway (oval) – Track #1,134, Western Springs # 10 – MEXICO – Triovalo Bernardo Obregon (oval) – Track #1,281, Tiajamulco de Zuniga, Jalisco # 11 – BARBADOS – Bushy Park Racing Circuit (road course) – Track #1,296, Bushy Park # 12 – THAILAND – Bira Circuit (road course) – Track #1,300, Pattaya # 13 – SOUTH AFRICA – Durban Grand Prix (road course) – Track #1,315, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal # 14 – JAMAICA – Dover Raceway (road course) – Track #1,322, Brown’s Town St. Ann # 15 – SWEDEN – Sturup Raceway (road course) – Track #1,335, Malmo # 16 – DENMARK – Ring Djursland (road course) – Track #1,336, Tirstrup # 17 – CZECH REPUBLIC – Automotodrome BRNO (road course) – Track #1,381, Brno # 18 – AUSTRIA – Lambrechten Stock Car Track (road course) – Track #1,382, Lambrechten # 19 – IRELAND – Tipperary International Raceway (oval) – Track #1,388, Rosegreen # 20 – GUYANA – South Dakota Circuit (road course) – Track #1,390, Timehri # 21 – CHINA – The Guia Circuit (road course) – Track #1,392, Macau # 22 – COSTA RICA – Autodromo La Guacima (road course) – Track #1,398, La Guacima # 23 – ANDORRA – Grandvalira Circuit (road course) – Track #1,404, Port d’Envalira # 24 – ARGENTINA – Circuito Efren Chemolli (oval) – Track #1,406, Buenos Aires, Argentina # 25 – QATAR – Losail International Circuit (road course) – Track #1,408, Doha # 26 – BAHRAIN – Bahrain International Circuit (road course) – Track #1,410, Sakhir # 27 – UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – Dubai Autodrome (road course) – Track #1,411, Dubai # 28 – COLOMBIA – Autodromo de Tocancipa (road course) – Track #1,415, Tocancipa # 29 – SPAIN – Motorland Aragon (road course) – Track #1,416, Alcaniz # 30 – PORTUGAL – Circuto de Murca (road course) – Track #1,417, Murca # 31 – ICELAND – Kapelluhraum (road course) – Track #1,420, Hafnafjorour # 32 – HUNGARY – Hungaroring (road course) – Track #1,426, Mogyorod # 33 – SWITZERLAND – Hock Ybrig (road course) – Track #1,427, Hoch Ybrig # 34 – ITALY – Vighizzolo d’Este Stock Car Track (road course) – Track #1,428, Vighizzolo d’Este # 35 – DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – Autodromo Mobil 1 (road course) – Track #1,515, Santo Domingo # 36 – MALTA – Ta’Qali Race Track (road course) – Track #1,521, Ta’Qali # 37 – FINLAND – Lake Pidisjarvi Ice Track (road course) – Track #1,524, Nivala # 38 – JAPAN – Suzuka Circuit (road course) – Track #1,530, Suzuka # 39 – CHILE – Autodromo de Interlomas (road course) – Track #1,531, Temuco # 40 – MOROCCO – Circuit de Marrakesh (road course) – Track #1,535, Marrakesh # 41 – BRAZIL – Circuit de Caruaru – Aryten Senna (road course) – Track #1,540, Caruaru # 42 – ESTONIA – Laitse Rally Park (road course) – Track #1,571, Laitse # 43 – LATVIA – Bikernieki (road course) – Track #1,572, Riga # 44 – GUATEMALA – Autodromo Pedro Cofino (road course) – Track #1,580, Alotenango # 45 – EL SALVADOR – El Jabali (road course) – Track #1,582, Quezaltepeque # 46 – ROMANIA – Bradu (road course) – Track #1,603, Bradu The ‘International Big 5’ standings. During the last 37 months, I have added 37 trackchasing countries to my list. That’s an average of just over one new country every month for more than three years. Here are the current international trackchasing country standings. ROMANIA – FAST FACTS * Much of this info comes from my research at Wikipedia. ROMANIA! Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, north of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black See. Romania shares a border with Hungary and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova to the northeast, and Bulgaria to the south. Click on this link to read more about Romania: Official end of Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report Meet my Romanian racing contacts:
. . See the trip from start to finish….from Romania!
. . Italy…my stopping off point on the way to Romania.
Click on the links below to see my photo albums of the adventuresome trip to Romania: Here’s the photo album from Italy where I stopped on my way to Romania: Italy….my stoppiing off point on the way to Romania . You won’t want to miss this photo album of my trip to exciting Romania: Romania – Trackchasing country #46 the pictorial trail 
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