Sunday evening

We never did see the sun today and late afternoon had us dodging showers.  I met Florin in city center around 1:30 and we had a coffee (do you detect a theme?) and then went to the National Museum of Art of Romania to see an exhibit called Faces of Modernism: Painting in Bulgaria, Greece and Romania 1910-1940.  It was quite an eclectic collection of art, some of it very interesting.  There were several examples from the Dadaist school and even a Pointillist painting, there were several landscapes and various nudes and self-portraits and pastoral scenes.  There were even a few I liked quite a bit.

After leaving the museum, we went to a traditional Romanian restaurant to eat (yet another theme).  Florin had a kind of fish called Royal Dorade (This mouth watering fish from the Mediterranean Sea has captured the imagination of European cooks for centuries. Dorade is a small fish with tender white flesh and when it's grilled or braised it has a rich, succulent meaty flavor, similar to the pompano or red snapper.)  Florin was served two whole grilled fish with Rosemary potatoes.  He laughed at me when I ordered Sarmale cu Mamaliga again.  By now, you probably remember that it's cabbage rolls stuffed with spiced smoked meat served with polenta and sour cream.  It's at least the fifth time I've had it but, with no apology I can say that it always tastes really good to me, and I have only 8 more days before I leave Romania for Malta, the last leg of my journey.  For dessert, Florin had a type of crepe stuffed with cheese and raisins and I had Tiramisu.  For once, we skipped the coffee.

I came back to the apartment after dinner for a low-key evening of reading and email.  I'm still a little tired after getting home so late last night.