Tea Blog

One of the benefits of my travels to Romania is our lovely apartment, which is located in a commercial area with easy access to transportation and is just a short walk from downtown. Aside from the cost savings and privacy, staying in an apartment rather than a hotel means the convenience of a washing machine and a full kitchen, and most importantly being able to collect things with the knowledge that they’ll be there for the next visit.

When we renovated the apartment several years ago, we incorporated a pretty tea cabinet into the kitchen design. While I still store tea here during each visit, my tea things have, with time, outgrown the space and claimed additional cabinets and shelves. Tea things have a way of doing that …

A favourite spot in the apartment is the balcony, with its view overlooking the city – the perfect place to relax, perhaps with a book or a crossword puzzle, while enjoying a good pot of tea. It’s especially pleasant to watch the magnificent sky show as the sun is setting. While the balcony isn’t a dedicated space like the one we have at our home in the USA, it serves as my de facto tea room whenever I’m in Bucuresti.

My every-expanding tea ware collection includes several teapots, large and small, tho’ as the kettle is a small one I usually fix tea in a two-cup pot or in my gaiwan, refilling as needed. At one time it was necessary to bring tea with me from home, but for the past several years I’ve been able to rely on buying good tea in Bucuresti. This latest trip, as previously reported, was a particular success.

Within a few minutes’ stroll from our apartment are several pastry shops offering a variety of strudels from apple to mushroom, and these make splendid teatime accompaniments. At other times I’ll bring home an artisan bread – I’m particularly fond of the olive rolls from the local market – to enjoy embellished with vegetable paté. And what would tea be without chocolates? On this trip I discovered Leonidas; besides their luscious Belgian chocolates, they carry a huge selection of Tea Forté.

Now and again I’m fortunate to have a guest for tea. We bring another chair onto the balcony, and we sip, chat, look out over the city together, and solve all the problems of the world over our teacups. I hope you enjoyed these chronicles of travels with tea in Bucuresti. If so, do please leave me a comment.

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