Regardless, this suburban hotel near a metro line with direct routes to the city center seemed sufficient enough.

Milan is an hour behind Bucharest, so waking early made sense.

The sun hadn’t yet risen. I hopped in the shower, dried my hair and threw on some clothes, saving the rest of my dressing routine for later. I wanted to photograph Piazza del Duomo and Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in the early morning hours before other sightseers ventured out.

After a successful photo session downtown, Andrew and I returned to the hotel around 8 a.m. We were surprised to find a housekeeping cart already stationed outside the room.

The hotel didn’t provide a “do not disturb” sign to hang on the door handle, and I’d wrongly assumed it was too early for housekeeping anyway.

I sheepishly poked my head into the room, “Hello? Ciao?” feeling awkward about interrupting the cleaner’s work.

I leaned forward and noticed a woman crouched on the bathroom floor, emptying the trash or picking up towels, I thought.

After seeing me, the cleaner very quickly gathered her things and rushed out, accidentally leaving a roll of trash bags in her haste. The rest of the room was already finished, it seemed.

A few moments later, I grabbed the leftover bags and peered back into the hallway where the cleaner had moved her cart a couple doors down.

“Excuse me?”

She turned sharply towards me with a look of panic on her face.

“Oh, you forgot these,” I said, holding out the bags.

Her shoulders dropped and she smiled with such immense relief, I noted it to my husband back inside the room.

The morning passed and I didn’t think much more of it. We ate breakfast, I finished my makeup, and we got ready to head back out into central Milan.

As I reached for my 10-year-old engagement ring on the bathroom counter, I suddenly noticed the shape of the band looked a little odd.

“It’s just the lighting in here—a weird shadow,” I thought.

I carried it to the bedroom window.

Upon closer inspection, I realized the band had lost its perfectly round shape and appeared more oblong and ovular.

“Is this from wear and tear? Did my body heat cause the ring to warp like that? How had I not noticed this before?”

My thoughts were racing.

I looked closer and noticed two of the top prongs that held the largest stone appeared bent as well, as if someone had tried to apply pressure on the ring in an attempt to remove the diamonds.

Suddenly a realization washed over me, thinking back to earlier that morning.

“The maid!”

It all made sense. Finding her in the bathroom, how she rushed out when we returned, her shocked and stressed demeanor.

I had foolishly left my ring on the vanity while out taking photographs early that morning.

Nearly shaking in disbelief, I headed down to the front desk. Throughout all my travels and living abroad, I’ve never knowingly had anything damaged like this or stolen before.

With no hotel management on site, my thoughts turned to the Italian police or Carabinieri. There was a station about a 10-minute walk away, conveniently just past the concert venue we’d be visiting the next evening.

We hurried down the street to the police security gate and pushed the call button.

“Pronti,” a voice on the other end gave permission to speak.

“We need to file a police report.”

The metal door buzzed then clicked, allowing us entry to the Carabinieri headquarters.

Andrew and I stepped forward to meet two Italian police officers in their fashionable, Armani-designed uniforms. Neither spoke much English.

We showed them the ring and explained in English and our limited Italian how the damage occurred at our albergo or hotel—our brains frantically pulling at whatever vocabulary we could muster.

After some back and forth, and in true Italian fashion, the police said it was their lunch break and to come back again in a couple hours.

We returned that afternoon with my Romanian ID card and diplomatic passport so the police could make copies and take our statement. We gave a full rundown of the property damage and attempted theft to the police, who assured us they will investigate.

We’re now back home in Bucharest and I’m wearing my ring as I write, diamonds thankfully still intact but the setting forever changed.

After this incident, I’ve cultivated a new appreciation for my stone, its band and the resilience it represents. If not for my ring’s ability to bend and adapt, my central diamond may have been lost forever.

Instead, it’s safe and secure on my finger where it belongs.

Perhaps in jewelry, as in life, flexibility is always key.

Leave a comment

Destination Guides

Hungary | Italy | Romania | United Kingdom | United States

Perpetual grey skies and precipitation, both rain and snow, leave the sidewalks wet, salty and muddy, a mixture just viscous enough to coat our dogs’ paws and furry undersides each time we dare take them on a walk.

Venturing outside nowadays means wriggling into two pairs of socks, wool long johns, layer after layer of sweaters, and on the most brutal days, hand and feet warmers tucked inside our gloves, pockets and shoes.

These little heat packs have been a lifesaver for our fingers and toes during recent mornings at local animal shelter Adapost Odai, where Andrew and I have begun volunteering.

The dog shelter is positioned just off a highway in northern Bucharest, beyond a security gate staffed by one Romanian and five or so wild dogs who chase our car as we slowly maneuver over potholes and loose metal grates, past abandoned food stalls, decaying vehicles and rotting piles of wood. When we hear the stressed howls of hundreds of dogs, we know we’re getting close.

The stench from their cages hits as soon as I open the car door. As bad as it is now, the smell, I’ve been told, is much worse in summer.

The shelter’s conditions are overwhelming, almost traumatizing to witness. After our first morning there, Andrew and I spent the rest of the day slumped on the couch, quiet, just trying to process and make sense of the experience.

Odai lacks the basic infrastructure and amenities American animal shelters provide.

The rusted kennel doors are held shut with twisted chicken wire that must be undone and retwisted each time someone enters or exits the pen. There’s no heating for the animals whatsoever. When temperatures are 10F (-12C), the dogs are out in it—suffering.

Rain accumulates in most pens, creating a small pool of feces and urine the dogs continually wade through. Volunteers become filthy as they venture in and out of cages to give select dogs 15 minutes of free time each Sunday.

The longtime volunteers we’ve spoken with say they have so many ideas to improve the shelter, but the city government won’t allow changes. I don’t understand but will keep asking questions.

Andrew and I together with the embassy community raised a small amount of money to purchase 31 plastic dog beds to add to the pens of the oldest and most vulnerable dogs.

The NGO we’ve been working with, Dogs Without Borders, says these, along with straw, offer more insulation than a concrete floor alone.

The shelter is in constant need of dog food donations, as well as additional avenues for—quite frankly—getting these dogs out of Romania.

It breaks my heart, and there’s so much more to be done.

If you’re able, please join me in making a recurring or one-time donation to Dogs Without Borders Romania (Odai Animal Shelter).

Or if you’d rather donate via Venmo or Zelle, I’m happy to make and deliver animal shelter purchases (like durable dog beds and high-quality dog food) locally on your behalf.

Travel News

London’s Heathrow Airport officially joined London Gatwick, Birmingham, Bristol and Edinburgh airports in ending the 100mL size limit for liquids in carry-on baggage.

Thanks to the new billion-pound scanning system, travelers no longer even need to remove liquids from their hand luggage at all!

Good news for me and Andrew as we’re planning to return to our old stomping grounds in South London next month.

Americans who are short on paid time off but rich in airline miles and credit card points are increasingly opting for so-called “microvacations”—trips of three days or less to far-flung locations across the Atlantic or Pacific.

While the concept of maximizing time is admirable, I personally think you’re missing out on touchpoints with the local culture by hitting only the must-see attractions in your “microcation” destination.

What do you think? Would you fly 18 hours roundtrip just to stay in a destination for, say, 60 hours?

Aiming to attract more foreign tourists, Dubai is set to pave a street in their Gold District with—you guessed it—literal gold.

The gleaming roadway will no doubt bring a flurry of interest to the city whose tourism board has rather successfully positioned it as a futuristic luxury travel destination.

What to Watch

We binge-watched Netflix’s The Hunting Wives earlier this month—a juicy, drama-filled thriller about progressive New Englander Sophie (played by Brittany Snow) who relocates to Republican-ruled Texas with her husband for his new job.

Desperate to fit in and make friends, Sophie finds herself swept up in the guns, glitz and glam of life alongside her fellow housewives.

The Hunting Wives was already renewed for another season. I can’t wait!

When a murderous neighbor moves in next door, what’s a writer to do? Make him the subject of their next book, of course!

So begins The Beast in Me, a 2025 Netflix psychological thriller chronicling author Aggie Wiggs as she forms a complex, often terrifying bond with her intriguing new neighbor Nile Jarvis.

When the story begins to shift from Nile’s past life to their current shared community, Aggie never suspected just how much this project would, quite literally, follow her home. Highly recommend!

The Chestnut Man is a Danish crime thriller from 2021 that follows two detectives hunting a serial killer who leaves eerie chestnut figurines at murder scenes across Denmark.

The series scored a perfect 100% on film review site Rotten Tomatoes.

Definitely worth a watch, but I did have to look away in some of the most brutal scenes.

That’s all for now! Connect with me on Instagram for more daily updates.

See you next month! 😘

-Michelle

Destination Guides

Hungary | Italy | Romania | United Kingdom | United States

“The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.” – Mahatma Gandhi

Moving between cultures has become easier as of late.

Before visiting the U.S. last month, I dreaded reverse culture shock. When I returned home from studying abroad in Florence, Italy in 2010, Texan culture hit me like a ton of bricks. The blonde hair, accents, so many people who looked and spoke like me…

Rejoining college after living independently in Europe felt like I’d matured five years in four months. It was difficult relating to those my age again, and I strangely preferred conversations with those a decade or more my senior.

Going home this time, after living in another non-English-speaking country for over a year, I was bracing for any number of reverse culture shocks, only to find there really wasn’t one!

Whether it’s because we’re around so many Americans at the embassy here, or because we’ve come and gone from the U.S. so many times over the last four years, I’m not quite sure.

But I do know I slid right back into my home culture…hitting up Central Market (iykyk), my favorite barbecue spots and seeing old friends who luckily were in town for Thanksgiving just like me.

Returning to Romania wasn’t too difficult either. I was perhaps a bit surprised once again by the pervasive graffiti and striking Soviet-style architecture, but all in all I’ve been feeling very American-Romanian after our trip.

What else has happened recently? Let’s see…we attended a rugby game—USA vs Romania. Our chargé d'affaires (the acting ambassador) presented the trophy. Spoiler—the Americans won!

We attended the Marine Corps Ball at the Palace of Parliament. I wore a crowd-sourced beaded gown that won my Instagram poll in a landslide.

I cooked lots—made spiced banana bread, a rich parmigiano minestrone, vegetable lasagna and a full Christmas turkey dinner with homemade gravy, among many other dishes.

We also attended a tropical Christmas birthday party for our friends Lydia and Maria who live near our old neighborhood downtown.

Tonight is New Year’s Eve. We booked tickets for a rooftop event in the city center featuring a buffet, prosecco and (supposedly) a spectacular view of midnight fireworks, if we can muster the energy to stay that late.

Just like in England, you must “book ahead to avoid disappointment!” in Romania, so we committed to this event weeks ago, mostly out of fear of everything selling out and having nothing to do!

Reservations are almost always mandatory in Bucharest and often you’ll be out of options without a bit of preplanning.

Will let you all know how it goes!

See you in the new year. 😘

Michelle

Connect with me on Instagram or Threads.

Destination Guides

Hungary | Italy | Romania | United Kingdom | United States

There’s life before the Foreign Service… and there’s after.

My life split into two halves, divided by time, divided by the light in my eyes, the shape of my smile, divided by my change in weight, change in mental and subsequently physical health. Visible and unseen markers of the massive shift in how I perceive and experience life.

They say the first tour is the hardest. It involves the most adjustments and learning. Learning State Department rules, embassy procedures, learning to live with the new normal. As one of my fellow diplomatic spouses once said, they break you down before they build you up.

But more than rebuilding, I’ve found with time, you start feeling dependent on State.

The entity becomes like a parent—dictating your country, city, housing, furniture and tour duration.

You begin to question your personal capacity for adventure beyond its structure.

“Did we really move to London on our own? Would our lives be dull without moving countries every two or three years? How would we figure it all out?”

The blow to confidence is accompanied by the grip of seemingly infinite possibilities with the Foreign Service.

Like an abusive relationship—you feel addicted to the highs and lows, the optimism and hope that things will get better. When you know in reality the foundation is unstable and unhealthy.

“I know the beginning of this posting was tough, but maybe life in Manila will be better.”

Always another tour, always more hopes and possibilities.

You never thought yourself an optimist, but the massive and repeated discrepancy between your private hopes and lived reality make you question just how unrealistic your modest expectations may be.

But still you persevere, day after day, one foot in front of the other.

Here’s to hoping this holiday season brings more clarity and joy to us all.

Yours,
Michelle

Connect with me on Instagram or Threads.

Destination Guides

Hungary | Italy | Romania | United Kingdom | United States

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”

― Steve Jobs, 2005

Twelve months have flown by, thanks in part to our near-constant moving (we’re in our fourth and final apartment), but also thanks to the fun we’ve had as of late. The food and wine festivals near Kiseleff Park, hot summer nights strolling Calea Victoriei, time well spent trying new restaurants and making friends.

It’s easy to forget how far you’ve come since stepping fresh off the plane.

Andrew and I recently volunteered as social sponsors for a new embassy employee who arrived in Bucharest from Washington, D.C. One of the first questions he asked was about the pronunciation of Romania’s currency—the leu.

Hearing such a simple and honest question reminded me how eager yet inexperienced we all are upon first arriving at a new Foreign Service posting in a new country, almost childlike.

There are so many things like that, pronunciations and little cultural idiosyncrasies we’ve had to learn and adapt to over the last 365 days…things I don’t often think about now or possibly take for granted.

Teaching a new arrival the pronunciation of Romania’s currency was a helpful reminder of just how much we’ve learned from being immersed in this foreign culture for 12 months.

Beyond simple pronunciations, I’ve learned how kind Romanians are, how much they love a good cigarette, what skilled cooks and drivers they are and how small their sense of personal space is (hehe).

I’ve learned about their immense national pride. The diaspora’s nostalgia for home. The graffiti, loose cobblestones and hanging wires that so characterize the streets of Bucharest have come to represent home to me.

I think I’ve mastered the Romanian head nod and their pensive facial expression. I love mici sausages with mustard and have never eaten more pickled vegetables in my life.

I share Romanians’ affinity for gelato, pastries and a cheeky cocktail on a night out. I do not, however, share their love for liquor-laced desserts—bleh. 😝

While we still have another year here, I already find myself wandering the streets on a sunny afternoon, dreading the day we leave.

Bucharest is a place that’s easy to love, and it’s a privilege to know it more intimately.

On a separate note, my mom and sister just visited us from Texas! We had a marvelous time gallivanting around the city and exploring Florence on a short weekend trip.

I’ve included a few photos of life lately below.

Yours,
Michelle

Connect with me on Instagram or Threads.

Destination Guides

Hungary | Italy | Romania | United Kingdom | United States

New Blog

The comfort of family visiting ends quickly once they leave Romania to return to America.

Their absence a reminder of the loneliness you didn’t realize you’d grown accustomed to, or maybe a loneliness you battle more readily in your daily independence—filling the time with work and meals and events in the city.

I’ve told Andrew several times the Foreign Service is an emotional rollercoaster. When things are good, they’re really good, and you’ll do whatever you can to not disturb that flow of life. You ride that happiness wave and hold onto the positivity, because you know the next crash is surely not far behind.

When family is here, you let your guard down. The familiarity is like an old raincoat you almost forgot you had. Amid an unpredictable sea in uncharted waters, you put your coat on and feel known, protected, at ease. The familiar warmth, the comforting fabrics. The rain and wind can’t reach you. You feel more whole and capable.

When family leaves, it’s like ripping off a Band-Aid on a wound that wasn’t quite healed. Disorienting and painful. Behind the patch, you see the ugly scab in its entirety. Laid bare—still there, the plaster a temporary mask for an ongoing issue you’re suddenly confronted with again. Those feelings of cultural, linguistic and social isolation you so cleverly and temporarily concealed are still there—waiting for you. And worse—now you’re completely out of practice at managing them.

The new connections you’ve formed in this new country suddenly don’t feel like enough. There’s a unique bond we all share in being foreigners in an unfamiliar place—sure. A type of trauma bonding, I suppose. But there’s no history, longevity, permanence to the people around. For they too will be gone from this city with time.

The last couple months have been tricky. In addition to what I’ve written above, Andrew and I were both hit with a pretty bad case of Covid. Even weeks later, I still feel a bit of brain fog I’m hoping subsides with time. A little loopy on some days, a little groggy on others. Zinc and Vitamin C have been my best, most loyal friends.

Aside from that, we lost our beloved pet rabbit of 10 years Maxwell. He died in my arms in the living room of our apartment after struggling for several days to eat. We miss him every day, and there’s an absence and quietness in our home now that’s felt every day.

Our pup Maple also suffered a pulmonary edema and was struggling to breath when we returned home from our trip to Bari, Italy. Her condition has significantly improved, but she needs daily medication now and continued monitoring.

On a positive note, we had the best time with my visiting in-laws and miss them so much.

We also enjoyed the embassy’s Fourth of July festivities as well as the end of summer pool party. We’re thankful for our little American community here and look forward to strengthening our existing friendships and building new ones.

Travel and Culture News

An electric streetcar designed for carrying tourists up and down a steep hill collapsed Wednesday in Lisbon, killing 15 people and injuring 18 others. It’s being described as the worst accident in the city’s recent history.

Frontier Airlines is making moves to surpass Spirit Airlines as America’s go-to low-cost carrier. Frontier announced 22 new routes, 18 of which are flown by their struggling competitor.

Tourism officials in Washington, D.C. are worried Trump’s deployment of the National Guard could impact international travel to the capital. With crime in the city at a 30-year low, hotels, conference venues and other key stakeholders are taking steps to counter the negative perception to hopefully mitigate a decline in foreign visitors.

Lastly, I thought this was interesting. The Financial Times polled ambassadors to the UK to learn where in London they dine for a taste of home.

Show Recommendations

We’ve discovered lots of great shows lately! Barracuda Queens on Netflix follows a group of Swedish girls turned art thieves who balance heists with their love lives and budding independence. Set in Stockholm, Barracuda Queens reminds me of Girls, Gossip Girl or even perhaps Charlie’s Angels.

We’re also currently streaming The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox on Disney+ (or Hulu in the U.S.). Written in part by American exoneree Amanda Knox herself, the series delves into her arrest in Italy and the subsequent murder trial. One episode is released every week, so we’re in the midst of this one.

Italian coming-of-age film The Hand of God was another recent favorite. Available on Netflix, the movie is based on the life of director Paolo Sorrentino. Set in 1980s Naples, young Fabietto navigates love, soccer and career ambitions in the face of family tragedy.

New Blog

That’s all for now! Feel free to comment on anything I mentioned or whatever has been on your mind.

Cheers,
Michelle

Connect with me on Instagram.

Destination Guides

Hungary | Italy | Romania | United Kingdom | United States

Earlier this month, we attended the embassy’s “Hails and Farewells” event on the outside lawn. Summer brings about lots of staff changes as families depart post for their next diplomatic mission and new community members arrive. One friend is headed to Kenya next and another to Iraq, both with a few weeks of home leave in between.

Foreign Service life feels in constant motion—you’re always adapting to changes in your own life or changes taking place around you. Thankfully, so many new, friendly people have arrived in Bucharest recently, these last few weeks have felt like the best of our time here.

Thinking back to some of the darker winter months, life now seemed almost impossible to imagine. It was so difficult for so long to see beyond the daily struggles of adapting to the loss of autonomy and control that come with the first foreign service tour.

While I still struggle in certain ways, our expanding community and improved living situation have made life here more than bearable now.

It’s been a lesson in perseverance. A reminder that even when life feels impossible, you may be just a day or a moment away from positive, healthy change. Keep pushing through and hang in there—things can and will get better.

Speaking of changes, after submitting our bid list and speaking with Andrew’s career development officer, we finally received word of our next assignment.

In January 2027, we’ll leave Bucharest, spend a couple months in the U.S. for home leave and training, then arrive in Manila, Philippines for our second diplomatic tour!

While Manila was ranked towards the bottom of our bid list, we know the city has a lot to offer—friendly, English-speaking locals, plenty of American brands and proximity to some incredible parts of Asia I’ve yet to explore.

My biggest concern with living in the Philippines is the high rate of tuberculosis. But the embassy has reassured us that cases are mostly isolated to the slums and less common in the capital.

If you’ve ever been to Manila or have friends or family who have, please reach out and let me know your experience!

Other quick updates from this month… A big group of us attended the Bucharest pride march through the city center! Same-sex marriage still isn’t legal in Romania, so we marched for increased LGBTQ visibility and equal rights.

Andrew also hosted Senator Chris Murphy and his team on an official visit. He showed him the best of Bucharest and accompanied the group to various meetings and dinners.

Lastly, we trialed a new pet sitter for the critters and took a two-night trip to Constanța along the Black Sea. The hotel where we stayed felt like a five-star beach resort, but for a fraction of the price! We ran into a surprising number of Americans out and about in town, as there’s a large military base nearby.

What to Watch

Multicultural shows we’ve enjoyed streaming lately:

The Glass Dome is one of the best shows I’ve seen all year. A Nordic criminologist named Leila returns home to discover another little girl has been abducted in the same manner she was as a child. Leila must navigate the present day investigation while dealing with the trauma of her past. A gripping show with a surprise ending.

The Danish mini-series Secrets We Keep earned a perfect 100% from film review site Rotten Tomatoes. Set in an upscale Copenhagen suburb, a young Filipino au pair disappears under suspicious circumstances. The subsequent investigation highlights how money and power, or lack thereof, can influence justice.

We really enjoyed Bet, a Japanese-style psychological thriller about a teenage gambler named Yumeko who transfers to the elite St. Dominic’s Prep school where underground betting determines social hierarchy. It’s like Gossip Girl meets Now You See Me—a touch mysterious and packed with drama.

In the News

US dollar suffers worst start to year since 1973 (Financial Times) - Unfortunately, a weak dollar means a less favorable exchange rate for American travelers overseas.

Israel reopens skies for air travel, returns international airport to full operation (Times of Israel) - Don’t think I’ll be traveling over that airspace anytime soon!

Spain is cracking down on Airbnb rentals as residents struggle to find housing (CNN) - As is the case in many cities facing overtourism, residents are pushing for policy changes to manage the affordable housing crisis.

That’s all for now! Feel free to comment on anything I mentioned or whatever has been on your mind.

Cheers,
Michelle

Connect with me on Instagram or Threads.

Destination Guides

Hungary | Italy | Romania | United Kingdom | United States

“We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next to find ourselves. We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate. We travel to bring what little we can, in our ignorance and knowledge, to those parts of the globe whose riches are differently dispersed. And we travel, in essence, to become young fools again- to slow time down and get taken in, and fall in love once more.”

- Pico lyer, author

Earlier this month we finally received our big commissary order! Once or twice a year, the embassy lets you place a special food order from a base in Germany. What’s unique about this order is that it includes frozen items from America that you’d never be able to get otherwise. The only problem is that the minimum order quantities were quite large. Knowing this, we had to be very careful with what we chose!

We ended up settling on some American-style nitrate-free bacon (which is impossible to find here), maple breakfast sausage links and some Sister Schubert’s dinner rolls. It was a challenge to make it all fit in our tiny European freezer, but somehow, we made it work.

It’s been great to have a familiar taste of home here in Romania.

We recently joined the gym at our apartment complex. The facilities are incredible. They have an indoor and outdoor pool, full modern gym and plenty of workout classes I still need to try.

When I was sitting in the sauna the other day, a Romanian woman struck up a conversation with me. After speaking for a few minutes, she told me I don’t sound American, but rather British. She said I’m missing a certain kind of “harshness” American accents so often have to her ear.

I’ve wondered this myself a few times—if living in London for almost 3 years softened my accent. Maybe it did.

Andrew and I both had birthdays this month, so we decided to go to Cinque Terre and Florence to celebrate. The weather wasn’t quite as warm as we’d hoped, but we still managed to get some swimming in (albeit with an insulating wetsuit top). Cinque Terre was crowded as usual, but tourists were scarce out in the water.

Florence was amazing, as always. This trip was particularly special because it coincided with my friend Andrea’s visit to Florence. Andrea and I studied abroad there together in university, so it was incredible to be back walking the same streets 15 years later.

In other news, Andrew and I received the bid list for our next Foreign Service posting. This list has over 200 countries and cities with available embassy positions where we could serve our next tour beginning in October 2026.

The catch is, of these options, only a small number align with the end of our current tour in Bucharest.

We’ve been researching the different locations that do match up and ranking them into a top 20 list. Soon, we’ll submit this list to the State Department, who will then assign us a location based on their needs.

We should find out our next assignment in late June. Will keep you updated!

New on the Blog

I recently published a roundup of the best areas to stay in Bucharest.

In short, I recommend finding a hotel anywhere in Old Town or north of Sector 3 that’s walkable to Calea Victoriei (the main shopping avenue here).

That’s all for now! Keeping it short and sweet this time. Feel free to comment on anything I mentioned or whatever has been on your mind.

Cheers,
Michelle

Connect with me on Instagram or Threads.

Destination Guides

Hungary | Italy | Romania | United Kingdom | United States

"Embracing diversity is one adventure after another, opening new paths of discovery that connect an understanding to caring, listening, and sharing with others who are different than ourselves." - April Holland

We’ve just arrived back in Bucharest after our short trip to London. Returning to the city where we lived from September 2021 through January 2024 felt comfortable and natural. It was a relief to hear and communicate in English again and be surrounded by London’s more diverse population.

I often feel isolated living in Bucharest. Ninety-seven percent of the population here is ethnically Romanian. Everywhere I go, every errand I run, every trip to the store—I’m the odd man out.

You don’t quite realize how physical similarities promote a sense of belonging until you’re living in a place where no one looks like you.

I love and appreciate London for its wide-ranging skin tones, hair colors, religions, languages… diverse cultural elements of all kinds. It’s easier to feel at home there. I’m already looking forward to our next trip back.

In other news, after a bit of an issue with our furnishings, we’ve now officially moved into our newly assigned apartment further outside the Bucharest city center.

While in our first apartment here, the embassy agreed to take almost all the provided furniture back to storage to clear room for our personal belongings. However, after the office in D.C. finally granted our housing appeal and re-assigned us to a better apartment, the embassy’s offer to remove furniture suddenly changed.

After a bit of back and forth, it was finally agreed the furniture removals requested previously would thankfully be honored.

So all our belongings we haven’t seen in over a year and a half were finally delivered, unboxed and put in place. It’s great to have a space that feels more like us again. Hopefully we can begin to put the instability of our housing situation behind us.

Just before and during the transition from our temporary apartment to our permanent one, Andrew and I had the misfortune of contracting norovirus (we think) from a group of schoolchildren who were dining at the mall food court alongside us.

The stomach bug was so brutal, I ended up in the emergency room. That experience is one I do not wish to repeat!

What to Watch

We really enjoyed The Wages of Fear (French)—a remake of the 1953 film by the same name.

The movie follows NGO workers and explosive experts as they navigate the African desert en route to an oil rig outside a refugee community that’s been badly damaged by enemy gunfire.

Will the team arrive in time to contain the oil rig, or will the village perish in a massive explosion? Watch on Netflix to find out!

British series Who is Erin Carter? is a fun, fast-paced watch that’ll keep you guessing.

Is she just a regular mum or a trained undercover operative? Either way, this British expat in Spain is haunted by a past she just can’t seem to escape.

In the News

Beginning May 7, American travelers boarding domestic flights will be required to provide a REAL ID at check-in and security.

If your ID has a star marking in the top left or right corner—you’re all set! Most states have been giving out these higher security identification documents for years. Passports are also REAL ID compliant.

Visit the DHS website to check if you’re REAL ID ready.

European travel to the U.S. has plummeted in recent months. Border anxiety and political tensions have made many rethink their travel plans.

This trend poses a major threat to the U.S. tourism industry, which accounts for 2.5 percent of America’s overall GDP.

Spain and Portugal lost all electricity Monday in the biggest European blackout in 20 years.

The countries went dark after the city’s power grid experienced a sudden change in frequency, resulting from an imbalance in supply and demand.

A cyberattack has been ruled out as a potential cause.

Featured Hotel

While in London, Andrew and I stayed at the very central and highly recommended Art’otel Battersea.

If you’re traveling to London anytime soon, you can’t go wrong booking here. The rooftop pool, hot tub, sauna and steam rooms would make for an excellent staycation, too!

That’s all for now! Feel free to comment on anything I mentioned or whatever has been on your mind.

Cheers,
Michelle

Connect with me on Instagram or Threads.

Destination Guides

Hungary | Italy | Romania | United Kingdom | United States

“That is the magic of travel. You leave your home secure in your own knowledge and identity. But as you travel, the world in all its richness intervenes. You meet people you could not invent; you see scenes you could not imagine. Your own world, which was so large as to consume your whole life, becomes smaller and smaller until it is only one tiny dot in time and space.”

— Kent Nerburn, author

In an unexpected turn of events, I’m writing to you now from our new (temporary) apartment a bit further out in Bucharest.

In my last note, I shared that the embassy housing board here wouldn’t allow us to switch apartments until the summer sometime.

However, after taking another look at the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) which dictates embassy procedures, my husband and I realized the board’s decision was based on incorrect information.

After bringing this to light and pointing out the relevant section of the FAM, things quickly changed.

Last week, movers packed up our belongings again and moved us to our temporary accommodation, where we’ll stay for three weeks or so.

In mid-April, we’ll finally move into our “permanent” housing assignment for the duration of our first foreign service tour in Romania.

Thankfully, our temporary apartment is in the same building and apartment community as our permanent one, so we feel much closer to being settled already.

I’m liking this area so much more than our unsafe, dark, noisy and polluted apartment downtown.

I feel thankful to now have access to cleaner air, more sunlight and a more serene, welcoming home environment. The doggies will benefit so much from living in this location, too.

When I look back on the last five months, I feel relieved it’s almost over. Living with such impermanence, instability and anxiety has been draining. The nine months in D.C. before that were no cake walk, either.

I occasionally look back at my photos of our life in London before joining the Foreign Service, and I almost don’t recognize myself. Everything feels so different now.

I miss that happiness, freedom and autonomy.

Here’s to hoping spring brings some brighter experiences.

What to Watch

We’ve found so many good foreign language dramas and thrillers lately.

We’re currently streaming The Asunta Case (Spanish), a TV series loosely based on the disappearance of 12-year-old Asunta Basterra—a Chinese-born orphan adopted by a wealthy Spanish couple.

With unexpected twists and turns, The Asunta Case is so bingeworthy, it has a perfect score of 100% on the review site Rotten Tomatoes.

I also recommend German Netflix series Dear Child, which follows two children and their mother-figure as they escape captivity and navigate the subsequent police investigation. This one will keep you guessing until the very end.

Lastly, Woman of the Dead (German) is the gripping story of a woman’s quest for vengeance after her husband’s murder. Set in the snowy Austrian alps, this dark drama pulls you in from the opening scene.

In the News

The World Happiness Report for 2025 ranked Finland, Denmark and Iceland as the happiest countries in the world. Australia was ranked number 11, the U.K. number 23 and the U.S. number 24.

Top influencing factors this year, as most years, were social connectedness and faith in others.

Lebanon, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan took the bottom three slots.

In other news, the U.K.’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) requirement goes into effect April 2 for Europeans. Anyone traveling to or through the country without British or Irish citizenship will need to apply in advance and pay the £10-£16 fee.

This same policy was implemented for Americans, Australians and other nations back in January. You can find the full list of ETA countries here.

With new immigration and border policies in effect, many nations are issuing advisories to those considering travel to the United States.

Border crossings from Canada were down more than 20 percent in February, and experts worry about the potential cumulative economic impact.

Even a 10 percent reduction in Canadian visitors could result in $2.1 billion in lost spending and 14,000 job losses, according to the U.S. Travel Association.

New Blogs

I just added a new blog to the site about common scams travelers should look out for when visiting Romania.

The blog was unfortunately inspired by personal experience, as you’ll see if you read through to the bottom.

Overall, the country is incredibly safe, but there are cheeky tricksters to look out for everywhere unfortunately!

Top Travel Accessory

These Sony headphones have gotten me through many long haul flights. The noise-canceling technology is unparalleled, helping you to arrive fresh and energized after a lengthy travel journey.

In fact, I even use them on a daily basis to help drown out background noise while I work!

That’s all for now! Feel free to comment on anything I mentioned or whatever has been on your mind.

Cheers,
Michelle Altenberg

Connect with me on Instagram or Threads.

Destination Guides

Hungary | Italy | Romania | United Kingdom | United States

“We leave something of ourselves behind when we leave a place. We stay there, even though we go away. And there are things in us that we can find again only by going back there.”

― Pascal Mercier, Night Train to Lisbon

After appealing our embassy-assigned apartment in Bucharest for the third time, we finally received the good news that we can switch locations.

Unfortunately, though, no other embassy-owned or leased housing will be open and available until the summer sometime—maybe June or July.

This means we’ll be staying in our current ground floor apartment that burglars tried to break into for another four months or so at least.

Now knowing this, we decided to go ahead and order all our furniture that’s been in the State Department’s storage in Belgium.

This includes everything from our home in London: our comfy sectional couch, our white dressers, tufted headboards, wool rugs, coffee tables, wall art, vases, etc.

It’s beloved interior décor accumulated throughout our lives that we haven’t seen in over a year now. We’ve been living with rental furniture and embassy furniture for the last 13 months while we switched from London to Washington, DC and finally to Romania. It’s been a bit of a baptism by fire into the Foreign Service.

Don’t get me wrong—embassy furniture is very nice, solid and well-built. It’s just not ours.

We initially delayed the arrival of our large furniture shipment in hopes we’d be switching apartments sooner rather than later. We hung onto that hope week after week.

“Any day now we’ll find out. Any day now we’ll get an update, and a move will be imminent.”

Unfortunately, the timeline of things did not go as we’d hoped.

So for the time being, we’re ordering all of our stuff here and will make this place feel as much like home as we can.

We’ll see what happens in the coming months and where we’ll move our furniture next.

What to Watch

Based on a popular book series, The Åre Murders follows a Stockholm detective who investigates the disappearance of a young girl in a small Swedish town. The five-part series has episodes ranging from 35 minutes up to one hour. We binge-watched the entire season in a day. It’s good!

The Night Agent season 2 also just came out on Netflix. This FBI thriller is a fun watch set in Thailand, New York and Washington, D.C. Personally, I thought season 1 was a bit slow, but season 2 more than makes up for it with great pacing, complex relationships and an engaging plot.

In the News

Demand for European train travel is at an all-time high and train operators are launching new routes as a result.

New journeys connecting Paris with Berlin, Marseille and Milan were announced, as well as new high-speed routes between Barcelona and the south of France.

There’s even rumors Virgin Group may launch a new English Channel train route to compete with Eurostar in connecting England and France.

Following frigid temperatures across much of Europe, Eurostat released data showing where citizens most struggle to heat their homes.

Residents of Spain, Bulgaria and Lithuania have the most difficulty keeping their residences adequately warm, while residents of Luxembourg, Finland and Slovenia seem to be the warmest and coziest at home, with just 2-3% of the population reportedly struggling.

A mysterious string of earthquakes has been rocking the Greek island of Santorini. Residents have evacuated as the tremors increase in strength.

Over 12,000 earthquakes have been recorded since January 26, according to the University of Athens’ crisis management committee.

New Blogs

I recently published three new Bucharest-specific blogs:

• Weekend in Bucharest: The 10 Best Things to Do + Map

• Therme Bucharest Review: A First-Timer’s Complete Guide (by a Local)

• Best Restaurants in Bucharest | Where to Eat in Romania’s Capital

I’m continually updating all my blogs with new information, so let me know if you have any tips or suggestions for things to add!

Top Travel Accessories

My #1 travel accessory recommendation will always be Apple AirTags. In fact, we’re using these on a daily basis right now as we track the location of our incoming furniture shipment.

I can see in real time the exact location of the moving truck. Highly recommend you include these in your checked bags anytime you travel!

Another new-fangled can’t-travel-without product I’ve found are these magnetic power banks that connect to the back of your phone and juice the battery when it’s running low.

Great for long-haul trips when you may or may not have access to a power outlet, or when you just can’t be bothered to dig out the right charging cord.

That’s all for now! Feel free to comment on anything I mentioned or whatever has been on your mind.

Cheers,
Michelle

Connect with me on Instagram or Threads.

Destination Guides

Hungary | Italy | Romania | United Kingdom | United States

“When overseas, you learn more about your own country than you do the place you’re visiting.”

It feels like we’ve gotten to know Bucharest more fully the last few weeks.

Since moving here three months ago for our first Foreign Service posting, we’ve been so preoccupied with housing appeals and getting acclimated we haven’t had time to properly visit many of the main tourist sites.

This month, that finally changed!

We toured the Romanian Palace of Parliament, which is the heaviest and second-largest building in the world, behind only the Pentagon.

We attended a Harry Potter themed orchestra performance at Palace Hall (Sala Palatului).

It seemed like every millennial in Bucharest was there!

We ventured through Obor Market and discovered why Bucharesters flock to this large produce hall for their weekly meat and veg.

We even soaked in the mineral waters of Therme Spa Bucharest again and unwound with a couple glasses of Romanian wine.

In addition to exploring some of the main tourism sites, we also discovered some great places to eat, including a Texas-style barbecue joint, a Mexican taqueria and a great brunch spot offering a classic English breakfast. I wrote about these and other top restaurants in Bucharest on my blog.

Each time we venture out, we see a new side to the city and discover more interesting places we’d like to go.

Travel-Related News

• Wine and climate experts fear rising temperatures are forever changing the winemaking landscape across Europe.

  Extreme weather is pushing viticulture north and forcing traditional vineyard regions to adapt.

• Starting May 7, American travelers must be REAL ID compliant to board domestic flights. Passports are still valid for international travel.

• Romania topped Vogue Magazine’s list of the best places to travel in 2025. The country is set to join the U.S. visa waiver program in the coming months, meaning travel between our two countries will be easier than ever.

• Lastly, Eurostat shared some interesting graphics outlining overall life satisfaction as well as trust in others in the EU. Unsurprisingly, Romania was near the top on both. My sense living here is that Romanian people are very proud and self-assured. The low crime rate also contributes to greater trust, I’m sure.

What to Watch

Wicked – I know this one’s obvious. I approached Wicked with a bit of skepticism, thinking the film had been over-hyped. While I’m not the biggest Ariana Grande fan, I have to admit Wicked hit all its marks. The pacing, set design, music, acting… it’s all there. We really enjoyed this take on the Emerald City.

Missing: The Lucie Blackman Case

This gripping true crime documentary tells the story of a British family’s quest to find their daughter who went missing while working in Japan.

The film delves into the complexities of cross-cultural communication between the victim’s family, detectives and ultimately the media attention that helped solve the case.

That’s all for now! Feel free to comment on anything I mentioned or whatever has been on your mind.

Cheers,
Michelle
@AmericanExpatAbroad

“Traveling outgrows its motives. It soon proves sufficient in itself. You think you are making a trip, but soon it is making you – or unmaking you.”

Destination Guides

Hungry | Italy | Romania | United Kingdom | United States

Bucharest comes alive at Christmas. All the main avenues are adorned with lights. Storefronts, hotels and even tram cars are decked out with holiday décor.

After living in Christmas-crazy London the last three Decembers, I was concerned we’d miss out on that holiday feeling this year. But it’s safe to say Bucureșteans love Christmas just as much as Brits.

Andrew and I took the tram to a Christmas market on the west side of the city earlier this month.

I was so impressed with the number of food stalls, the ice-skating rink, carnival rides and overall atmosphere. I couldn’t believe entry was free!

In London, tickets would be mandatory, and they’d likely sell out in September.

We really enjoyed our fourth annual trip to Florence, Italy for Christmas. This was our first trip out of Romania since the big move and it went off (mostly) without a hitch!

Flying from Otopeni Airport here in Bucharest is such a breeze. It’s only a 20-minute drive from our home, security is super quick with our diplomatic passports and the airport never seems busy.

It’s truly such an improvement from all the hectic airports in London that took ages to reach.

We flew into and out of Rome this time, since we were traveling with the doggies and none of the airlines offering more direct routes allowed pets.

The Frecciarossa fast train travels between Rome and Florence in just over two hours. Easy peasy!

Once in the city, we toured Palazzo Davanzati and Palazzo Medici Riccardi for the first time, and stopped by old favorites Giunti Odeon, Villa Bardini and Piazzale Michelangelo, among others.

It was gratifying to be somewhere familiar amid all the new elements of Foreign Service life in Bucharest.

Unfortunately, our happiness after our trip was short-lived, as someone attempted to break into our ground floor apartment one of our first nights back.

We woke to find our doorknob and locks all damaged. Thankfully, the embassy-provided front door is incredibly thick, and the criminals couldn’t break through.

This is my first time ever experiencing an attempted home invasion. It’s shaken my sense of security.

The police came out to investigate and dust for fingerprints, but it’s highly unlikely the would-be burglars will ever be caught.

In better news, we finally got our new car! Since arriving in Romania, we’ve been using a mix of rental cars and cabs to get around. Not anymore!

Our car has taken on new importance since joining the Foreign Service. It’s the only major thing in our lives we actually have a say over. Our home on wheels.

We may not get to choose what country we live in or what apartment, but hey! At least we love our car.

That’s all for now! Feel free to comment on anything I mentioned or whatever’s on your mind.

Cheers,
Michelle
@AmericanExpatAbroad

Life Lately

It’s been six weeks since we arrived in Bucharest from Washington, D.C. I’ll be honest—the transition has been more difficult than I anticipated.

When we made the jump across the pond from the US to London in September 2021, everything felt smoother. We moved into our terraced house right away, and it quickly felt like home. Décor, electronics, furniture.. everything just sort of fell into place.

This time around with the Foreign Service, it’s been different.

There have been more moving parts. More uncertainty. More transitions. Things still feel incredibly unsettled, even though we’ve been here almost two months now.

Our initial housing appeal I wrote about last month was denied.

We’ve appealed once more (with more supporting materials this time) and are currently waiting on a final decision.

Our big furniture shipment is on hold until we can sort out (officially) our living situation.

Despite these challenges, we’ve still made some progress.

We found a great pet sitter for the pups and our rabbit Maxwell.

The doggies got groomed for the first time! How cute are they?!

And we decided on a car!

We’re getting a small SUV from a dealer that offers a diplomatic discount. This, combined with our tax exemption, results in a huge reduction on the overall asking price.

Hopefully we’ll have our new wheels before Christmas!

We took our first little trip to Sinaia in the mountains over the weekend. Toured lots of castles and enjoyed the snowy atmosphere.

There’s lots of stray dogs in Sinaia and Romania in general, it seems.

I’ve started carrying little snack packs of dog food in my coat pockets—just in case we come across any hungry critters.

What I’m Watching

I’ve been loving the Italian Netflix series The Law According to Lidia Poet.

This crime/drama follows the adventures of Italy’s first female lawyer and her struggle against gender-based discrimination.

It feels similar to “Sherlock Holmes” but better.

Make sure to watch in its original Italian language and read the subtitles. So much is lost with the dubbing.

On the Blog

I don’t think I ever shared my post on the best souvenirs from Florence, Italy. Think perfumes, coffee candies and leather goods.

For more frequent updates, be sure to follow my Instagram or Threads page where I share more about daily life and cultural observations.

That’s all for now! Feel free to comment on anything I mentioned or whatever’s on your mind.

Cheers,
Michelle

“May the space between where I am and where I want to be inspire me.”

Life Lately

We’ve been in Bucharest at our first Foreign Service posting for just over two weeks now.

Our permanent housing unfortunately wasn’t ready when we arrived, so we spent the first nine nights in a temporary apartment.

Initially, we thought this would be like an Airbnb with a stocked kitchen, cozy beds and maybe the essentials like coffee and tea.

When we arrived, we instead found a mostly empty place with two large boxes in the kitchen.

The first box had a few used electric appliances (a kettle that smelled like ramen, a vacuum, etc).

The second box was an Ikea welcome pack containing two dinner plates, two smaller plates, two bowls, basic cutlery, a cooking set and some linens.

We spent the first couple hours or so in the temporary accommodation unwrapping and opening the Ikea things, washing them and putting them inside the otherwise empty cabinets and on the beds.

Furniture-wise, the house was full. We had a beautiful, large dining table, two couches, a warm rug, television set, mattresses and bed frames. WiFi was already setup and functional, too.

This is our first tour so we’re still learning what it’s like to arrive at a new post.

Next time, we’ll be sure to bring our own hair dryer, paper towels and probably a roll of toilet paper with us too so we don’t need to run to the store immediately after landing.

The first week in Bucharest was filled with more essentials—ordering a new cage for our rabbit Maxwell, ordering a new crate and beds for the doggies—just trying to re-establish a home base here.

We’ve made progress.

We have the right food delivery apps. We know how and where to buy groceries, either in-person or online. We’ve even got a rental car to get around town on our own without needing a taxi.

Six days ago, we moved into what is supposed to be our permanent housing. “Permanent” as in, the next two years.

Unfortunately, due to a variety of health and safety issues, we’ve decided to appeal this apartment and location with the housing board.

We’re hopeful that we will be reassigned to a different apartment (possibly similar to our temporary accommodation) that better suits our needs.

Our housing situation is unexpected and unfortunate because it means prolonging this state of flux and change that we’ve already been in basically the entire year.

But I hope that in the end, the waiting and uprooting and moving again will be worth it.  

We should have an answer from the embassy housing board within the next week or so.

Bucharest itself has been great. I could not ask for kinder people.

Everyone has been so friendly and welcoming. Most residents speak at least some English, which I really appreciate.

And the food—the food has been incredible. Better than both Washington, DC and London in my opinion.

I love how common seafood is here. Lots of sea bream, octopus, calamari and shrimp/prawns on nearly every menu.

I’m also enjoying how popular soups are with Romanians. I’ve eaten more soup in the last two weeks than probably the last two years combined. It’s great.

We still have many hurdles to tackle.

Buying a car. Getting our air and sea shipments. Requesting our furniture from storage in Belgium…

Lots of work ahead.

Wish us luck!
Michelle

The day we’ve been planning for since we left London in January is finally here.

Really, it’s a day we’ve been thinking of for years, since we first entertained the idea of joining the Foreign Service.

Andrew has finished his job training in Washington, D.C. Our nine-month stay is over and we’re now off to our first post in Bucharest, Romania!

We’ve spent the last couple weeks ending things—returning the car we leased, terminating our apartment lease and packing up the house.

The movers came last week. In preparation, we divided all our belongings into four categories: things to ship via air (limited to 450 pounds), things to ship the slow route via sea, high priority items to either mail or bring in a checked bag and things to give away or toss out.

This time around, the move itself felt easier. Most of our belongings are in storage in Belgium anyway. They were shipped there straight from London after our first pack out in January.

I feel a sort of indifference now for things I once cared more about. Household things like my kitchenware, wall décor or home accessories.

Months ago, I wrote how it seemed that in order to succeed in the Foreign Service, you had to be devoid of physical attachments—mementos, home accessories, items with sentimental value, etc.

I guess I’ve just come closer to reaching that point.

As I write this, I’m sitting on a plane with Andrew, my sister, our two doggos and bunny rabbit. We’re headed to Rome.

We’ll be spending a few days there to give the animals some time to rest and recuperate after a very long travel day.

Then we’ll take the final flight into Romania with all the critters early next week.

Hope you’re well. Stay tuned for an update on the journey!

Cheers,
Michelle

Full disclosure: I wrote this last week but am just sending it today. Keeping it short and sweet.

International moves are hard, yall! Thanks for following along.

Never have I been happier for summer to end, pools to close and the weather to cool. It means we’re in the last season before we ditch D.C. and head back to Europe.

We’re now in the thick of making arrangements for our move to Romania next month. Getting from D.C. to Bucharest may sound simple, but when you have two doggos and a rabbit, it’s truly anything but!

My sister is flying in from Texas to help with the pets. The plan right now is for us each to take one critter and fly from D.C. to Rome, where we’ll spend a few days recuperating before making the final flight into Bucharest.

I’m particularly concerned about the well-being of our nine-year-old rabbit Maxwell. This will be his third transatlantic flight and boy, those-long haul journeys are exhausting.

It took ages to find air carriers who accept rabbits on board and fly into Romania. For anyone else with a similar problem (ha!), Ita Airways and AeroItalia are both rabbit-friendly.

Putting the animals through the stress of a big move is always the hardest part.

What I’m Watching

We have been loving the new Nicole Kidman series out on Netflix—The Perfect Couple. It reminds me a bit of White Lotus.

A woman is murdered during a lavish wedding weekend in Nantucket. The show follows the quirky detectives and eccentric wedding guests as they try to work out whodunit. Very bingeable!

What I’m Reading

The Eiffel family is threatening legal action against Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo after she unveiled plans to leave the massive Olympic rings in place on the Eiffel tower until at least 2028.

The consensus on social media seems to be that the rings need to come down at the end of the year. What do you think?

North Korea announced plans to reopen for tourism in December. Would anyone consider visiting?

The State Department lists the reclusive country as a Level 4 “Do Not Travel” region due to the “continuing serious risk of arrest and long-term detention of U.S. nationals.” Yikes!

On the Blog

I just completed my three-part blog series on the Golden Isles in Georgia, USA. Andrew’s family lives in this region and it’s a place we visit often.

You can read all about the best beaches in Georgia, the best things to do on St. Simons Island and lastly where to stay on Jekyll Island.

That’s all for now! Feel free to comment on anything I mentioned or whatever has been on your mind.

Cheers,
Michelle
@AmericanExpatAbroad

“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”

― Eleanor Roosevelt

— Philip Guston, artist

Life Lately

A few days ago, we attended a garden party celebrating Romania–America Friendship Day at the Romanian ambassador’s D.C. residence. Andrew and I had to run to the mall last minute to find something for me to wear. Poor planning, I know, but all my dressier clothes are in storage in Belgium, and I still haven’t replaced hardly any of the 12 pairs of shoes the movers lost somewhere between London and D.C. *sigh*

The party was fun! All three of Andrew’s Romanian teachers from the Foreign Service Institute were in attendance. They introduced Andrew to their friends so he could practice Romanian. We even met the most recent U.S. ambassador to Romania Adrian Zuckerman, who was born in Bucharest.

The current Romanian ambassador Andrei Muraru and the former prime minister of Romania Nicolae Ciuca both gave speeches outside around the pool.

Afterward, we tried the embassy’s signature cocktails—the Black Sea with cognac and the Carpathians cocktail with whisky. There was a beautiful buffet with traditional Romanian and American foods. I had to sample the little hamburger slider, of course! 

Earlier this month we officially submitted our applications for our diplomatic passports. We lucked out and found a nice gentleman at a café downtown who took our passport photos with his DSLR. We’d tried the photo department at a nearby CVS before, and the images were dark and blurry. Much better the second time around.

What I’m Watching

Andrew and I recently streamed a British documentary from the 90s called One Man, Six Wives, 29 Children. The film is available on YouTube and focuses on a polygamous fundamentalist Mormon family living in the Utah desert. Quite the alternative lifestyle!

Travel and Culture News

• Eleven tons (24,000 pounds) of garbage were removed from Mount Everest in a cleanup mission that will take years to finish. The Nepalese government hired sherpas to remove the debris, mostly comprised of old tents, food packaging, oxygen bottles and ropes from older expeditions.

• A former Nazi bunker in Hamburg, Germany has reopened as a hotel and lifestyle destination after a €100 million renovation. The structure, originally built by a thousand slaves over just 300 days, has 3.5-meter-thick concrete and steel walls, and formerly featured massive anti-aircraft guns on the roof. Now, The Hamburg Bunker has a Hard Rock restaurant, coffee shop, plenty of guest rooms and a rooftop oasis.

• The printed guidebook isn’t going anywhere. Sales of travel guidebooks have nearly reached pre-pandemic levels, despite predictions that technology would destroy the industry. Not only is the printed guidebook handy for scribbling notes and avoiding ads, printed guidebooks also attract less attention from pickpockets compared to an expensive phone.

Expat Observations

On Threads, I asked British and Scottish expats living in the U.S. for their opinion on American culture. Most said they enjoyed the friendliness and optimistic attitude of most Americans, while others said they felt society was fake, shallow and vain. What do you think? Weigh in here.

On the Blog

I wrote about the Palio di Siena horse races in Italy and how best to attend as a tourist. Andrew and I went last year and are so sad to be missing the festivities this time around. Perhaps in 2025 we’ll return.

In Other News

The paperback version of my handy little wine window guide to Florence is now available on Amazon! I’ll be forever grateful to anyone who buys a copy and writes me a kind review. :-)

That’s all for now! Feel free to comment on anything I mentioned or whatever has been on your mind lately.

Cheers,
Michelle

Quite a few things have happened since the last time I wrote. Andrew and I (and the doggos) took a little weekend trip to Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. For anyone who hasn’t been, this is a beautiful area with expansive beaches, an old-fashioned boardwalk, tons of restaurants, an arcade and some carnival rides. President Biden even owns a home in Rehoboth. It’s the quintessential East Coast summer for me, and only three hours away from D.C. I love escaping there.

The last time we visited Rehoboth was in February, days before receiving our first Foreign Service assignment. This trip was more enjoyable, considering both the warmer weather and our improved circumstances (not having our entire lives weighing in the balance).

We ate Kohr Bros frozen custard, sampled Thrasher’s iconic salt and vinegar French fries and devoured some personal-size pizzas from Grotto Pizza along the beach. Life in Rehoboth is good. Even the doggies went for a sandy stroll.

Fast forward a bit to last week. Maple was scheduled for a dental cleaning. These cleanings are quite serious, as she has to go under anesthesia and needed at least two teeth removed. Mentally and emotionally, there’s a lot of buildup to the day of the appointment. But we felt ready.

Unfortunately, during the initial exam, the veterinarian discovered Maple has a heart murmur—a complete shock to us as she’s seen vets and had exams on a regular basis her entire life. Due to the murmur, the vet was not comfortable proceeding with the anesthesia and cleaning until she saw a specialist.

We called around to different veterinary cardiologists in the area. Some told us their next available appointments weren’t until October. October! Thankfully, we were eventually able to schedule an appointment for Maple with a cardiologist about an hour away for the very next day.

She had her appointment on Friday, and we were happy to learn her murmur doesn’t require medical intervention at this time but rather continued monitoring. There aren’t any veterinary cardiologists in Romania, so it looks like little Maple will have to take a trip to Italy or Germany to have this procedure done in about nine months.

All in all, I’m glad my baby girl is mostly okay, but I feel exhausted and emotionally drained. The last five months living temporarily in D.C. have not been easy.

I am more ready than ever for this purgatory of “in-between” to end and our lives in Bucharest to begin.

Apologies if I sound like a broken record on this.

What I’m Watching

We have been binge-watching Ripley on Netflix. It’s seriously so good. The plot:

“Tom Ripley is a grifter scraping by in early ’60s New York. He’s hired by a wealthy industrialist to travel to Italy to try to convince the man’s son to return home. Accepting the job is Tom’s first step into a complex life of deceit, fraud and murder.”

You really ought to watch.

What I’m Reading

The Mercer 2024 Cost of Living analysis came out recently, ranking the most expensive and least expensive cities in the world. Four Swiss cities landed in the top ten, with Hong Kong taking the number one most expensive slot. Bucharest is rated number 155, so very affordable—good news for our pocket books!

Expat Observations of the Week

Over on Threads, I shared how I often saw unmarked police vehicles racing around London with sirens on. I compared this with the highly-visible police presence in D.C./America. The Brits had lots to say in response.

On the Blog

A couple weeks ago I published a guide to fun day trips from DC. Harpers Ferry, Annapolis and Baltimore are all within a short drive but feel a world away from city life.

That’s all for now! Feel free to comment on anything I mentioned or whatever’s on your mind.

Cheers,
Michelle

“Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life—and travel—leaves marks on you.”

— Anthony Bourdain

— Craig Storti, Why Travel Matters

Life Lately

We had family in town the weekend before last. It was fun showing everyone around Georgetown, getting ice cream and spending time with our little niece. I can’t believe it’s officially summer! We went to another baseball game and even visited our community pool for the first time.

It’s been about five months since we left London, and we’re now truly only about four months away from the big move to Bucharest. It’s funny to think that next summer our lives may revolve around the American embassy pool—an unexpected but delightful feature of the compound there.

We’re really beginning to envision our lives in Bucharest now. I have about 20 or 30 restaurants and places saved in my Google Maps that I’d like to try. I’ve found a cute coworking space, a beautiful swimming facility and some delicious-looking burger joints and restaurants with traditional Romanian food, all close to home.

Andrew and I are also starting to research what kind of vehicle we’d like to get. We’ve been told not to buy used cars in Romania because there’s really not much of a vetting process and you’re liable to purchase a lemon with a battered and bruised accident history. So new it is!

We’ve been put in touch with the current occupant of our future apartment—which is so incredibly lucky. This means we’ll be able to get a much better idea of what the apartment looks like, any quirks, etc. before we arrive on the ground. We’ve been told it’s the best unit in the entire building, but I have a sneaking suspicion they tell that to everyone… We’ll see. :-) The only photos we have now are from 2005 though, so some newer pictures will be amazing and help us plan out which furniture we’d like to pull from storage and ship over.

On the Blog

Last week I finally published my new digital download! I’ve been working on this for months and it’s so nice to finally be finished. “Hidden Italy! The Modern Traveler’s Guide to Wine Windows in Florence” is available for download on my website. Within the next couple weeks it will be available as an eBook and as a paperback! Can’t wait to share more when that time comes.

Expat Observations of the Week

On my Instagram this week, I noted how Americans (women especially) seem hypersensitive to being perceived as rude. They’ll go out of their way to ask permission to take things (like an unused chair at the public pool) or to ask permission to order (like in a line at a food counter). I never remember experiencing this in London.

I realize they’re just being polite, but I find it somewhat annoying when women ask permission to do things we really ought to just do.

From Instagram

You guys really seemed to enjoy this photo I shared of my sister and I as kids. Quite the throwback. This picture was taken in the Glamour Shots of our local mall in the early 90s.

That’s all for now! Feel free to comment on anything I mentioned or whatever has been on your mind.

Cheers,
Michelle
@AmericanExpatAbroad