Can you please inform, where are the best locations in Bucharest for long-distance hitchhiking, towards the north? Any metro stations in particular?

http://transylvanialife.blogspot.com/

Romaneste:
Pericol: Aceasta persoana are o alergie grava la alune. Orice mancare sau ustensile care au venit in contact cu alune, ulei de alune, sau alte produse din alune, pot cauza o reactie fatala

Pentru ca restaurantul/institutia dumneavoastra sa evite spitalizarea acestei persoane, este absolut necesar sa aveti confirmarea de la bucatari,bucatar-sef si/sau manager, ca nu exista nici o urma de alune, sos, ulei sau bucati de alune care au venit in contact cu persoane, echipament sau vase.

Din nefericire, aceasta este o conditie medicala care poate duce la moarte.Dupa cum vedeti, verificarea sigurantei mancarii si a echipamentelor reprezinta un real si apreciabil ajutor. Va multumim foarte mult.

English:
Danger: This person is highly allergic to peanuts. Any food or equipment which has come into contact with peanuts, peanut oil, or other peanut substances can cause a fatal reaction.

To avoid a hospitalization incident in your restaurant/establishment, it is imperative that you positively confirm with the chef, cook, and/or management that there is no possibility of any peanut residue, sauce, oil, or pieces to have come into contact with any persons, equipment, and dishes.

Unfortunately, this is a serious medical condition that can result in death. As you can understand, your help is very much appreciated in verifying the safety of the food and equipment. Thank you very much.

(Thanks to Mrs. Pockets for the help.)

You’ve brought up an interesting point regarding peanut (and other) allergies. No one would want to find your husband collapsed on the floor of some restaurant, unconscious and gasping for air.

With respect to point A, I think the best thing to do would be to print out a small “warning”/description in the native language, cut the paper down to size, then laminate it. Most any Kinko’s can laminate a card/paper for you. Or you could buy a lamination machine, which isn’t terribly expensive.

I’ll attempt to harangue my friends to get an example card for you and post it for your consideration, shortly.

With respect to point B, I would like to think that Romanian hospitals are up to snuff, but the fact is (as far as you and I are concerned) they just are not. The staff may know their business and you may get preferential treatment as a foreigner, but you just don’t want to end up in a situation where unreliable hospitals are responsible for a life and death situation.

I find peanut based food to be extremely rare here. Of course, that assumes you stay away from packaged treats like candy bars and such. Odds are that you may do that already. But in terms of restaurant foods, I (while not a forensic expert) have found peanuts to be almost non-existant in food. The primary reason seems to be price, while the secondary reason is culinary culture.

This is most certainly true throughout the vast majority of Romania. Granted, the capitol city of Bucuresti has a far wider variety and you’ll have to take into consideration the type of cuisine served by your vendor of choice (don’t eat Thai!). Then again, if you follow the advise of those in the know, you wont spend much time in the capitol to begin with.

Let me get you some kind of warning card example, which you might consider presenting to your waiter (in their native tongue) to avoid any unpleasantries. However, for the most part, I imagine you will not encounter any risky circumstances.

I am planning, along with my husband and another couple of good friends, to travel in Transylvania etc next fall (we’re thinking September would be great but what do we know?).

While I have traveled outside the U.S., and so have our friends, my husband is getting nervy. Primarily this is because he has a fatal peanut allergy and is worried about this in relation to A) the language barrier (it’s hard enough getting American waiters etc to tell you if there are nuts or traces of nuts in a dish), and B) the availability of hospitals in case the unthinkable does occur.

Since I would prefer not to leave my husband dead in Eastern Europe, I was hoping that you might be able to tell me how commonly peanuts are used in food products in Romania/Transylvania etc, so that we have some scope of risk to be aware of when we go.

I think my writing skills are a little off this morning, but I’m sure you catch my gist. :) Many thanks in anticipation!

What I’d give to just simply sit down at a nice place to eat and drink…LOL!!

Oh the things one takes for granted at times; and I don’t mean you!

Nice story!