retiredmartin

March 2025. Iași. Romania.

Mrs RM will probably produce one mega post on Iaşi; expect it in October (2026).

My attention span aged 60 is now so low I can only blog in chunks of 10 pics and 300 words, i.e. lots of 2 minute posts you can read while downing your pint of Doom Bar (NB Doom Day coming soon)*.

So best visit Pubmeister for a comprehensive and concise summary of the charms of Romania’s cultural capital.

We’d be using Duncan’s guide on our night in Iaşi, but the best way to understand a town, whether Iaşi or Ipswich, is to walk it aimlessly with your backpack.

Only 7 minutes from Beer Zone to the Hotel Continental, Mrs RM’s £33 splurge,

a walk through a pedestrian boulevard below what I assume to be the main city square,

filled with cafes advertising Becks and Stella, broken statues,

karaoke and Hobgoblin,

leading to your classic Communist era hotels.

Hardly any pedestrians, though, even with bakeries as tempting as Patiserie Select.

In fact, I hadn’t noticed a single other English tourist on the flight out from Luton (complete opposite on the return from trendier Bucharest), which suggests Iaşi is waiting to be discovered at £33 a night and £33 (for two) flights.

One of the notable features of our frenzied assault on Eastern Europe since 2023 has been the lack of drama; clear pricing, contactless payments, easy check-in, safe streets, no scams.

Well, the lifts to Floor 3 of the Continental were a bit scary, those pull the doors shut before you fall out type, so just as well I walk stairs.

Clean, simple rooms with working WiFi too, and a view over what I presume to be central Iaşi.

Except it wasn’t, quite.

Iaşi’s many sights are five minutes south towards the Palace of Culture,

so let’s head there now, after making a note to visit the hotel bar later.

Who knows, they may even have Draught Bass on.

*So if you don’t want “foreign muck” I’d come back here at the weekend when I’ll have a post on a Sheffield classic.