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Istanbul vs Bucharest to live in
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Dancebiscuits



Joined: 03 Dec 2012
Posts: 63

PostPosted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 3:38 pm    Post subject: Istanbul vs Bucharest to live in Reply with quote

Hello all,
I've been offered one job in Bucharest and one in Istanbul. Both are fine for salary and accommodation and Ts&Cs so I wanted to ask your opinions on which is likely to suit me more to live in. I've been to Istanbul a few times for the weekend and love it, never to Romania.

My interests are, I suppose:
Vegetarian food - good markets and food shops and restaurants
A language that won't take me centuries to learn
Religious kitsch, flea markets, affordable and interesting clothes shopping (designer is way off the cards)
Cemeteries, crypts, bazaars and pubs
Castles, mountains, seaside, forests and modern art
Affordable motoring
Gigs in pubs and clubs - live music, dance performance, DJs and so on.

I'll also need affordable language lessons and I guess an English-speaking expat scene of some sort would be nice too, especially while I'm new

It's a toughie isn't it? Opinions welcome and thank you in advance. I'll be pearoasting this on the other relevant forums. Oh yeah, I'm British, female, no kids.
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oipivo



Joined: 02 Jan 2012
Posts: 163
Location: Poland

PostPosted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 3:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

1. Vegetarian food - good markets and food shops and restaurants

Almost nonexistent in Istanbul. They like their meat and they like it dry and salty. No clue about Romania to be honest.

2. A language that won't take me centuries to learn

Romanian is a Romance language, so if you know any of those it could be easy to puck up. Turkish isn't terribly difficult, but the grammar is very different. So...advantage Romania.

3.Religious kitsch, flea markets, affordable and interesting clothes shopping (designer is way off the cards)

Advantage Romania. Istanbul is crazy expensive and severely lacking in this area.

4. Cemeteries, crypts, bazaars and pubs

Bucharest's pubs seemed nice and they were cheaper and had better beer. Not sure about the rest.

5. Castles, mountains, seaside, forests and modern art

Romania wins in all of the categories except seaside. The seaside in Turkey is great. Everything else is far nicer in Romania.


6.Affordable motoring

....I'm American so I'm not even sure what motoring means...so..it's a wash?


7.Gigs in pubs and clubs - live music, dance performance, DJs and so on.

If you like bouncing around from pub to pub and going to live performances Istanbul isn't a great city for it. It has plenty of clubs, but they're mostly horrible. I would say again that Romania has the advantage.


I maybe someone could weigh in who has actually lived in Romania, since I only spent a couple weeks there.
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Dancebiscuits



Joined: 03 Dec 2012
Posts: 63

PostPosted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 5:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Motoring - as in buying and running a car Smile

Thanks for your opinions, very helpful - you seem pro-Bucharest. If you know any good photography websites or blogs where I can see a bit more of Bucharest, I'd love some links. Mostly I just find Communist architecture pics when I google image the city and I know for a fact there's more to any city than it's big buildings.

BTW, I found the vegetarian food in Istanbul plentiful and lovely last time I went - but I did feel I was missing out on the kebab front.
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cartago



Joined: 19 Oct 2005
Posts: 283
Location: Iraq

PostPosted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 7:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Istanbul has some great outdoor pubs around Istiklal in the Summer. Problem is, throughout Turkey drinking has become outrageously expensive.
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sedaa91



Joined: 07 Jan 2012
Posts: 34

PostPosted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 8:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Istanbul is #7 on the tripadvisor must visit cities. It's also safer from Bucharest (tried planning a trip to Bucharest and almost everyone I came across told me it was a bad idea). Istanbul is however, very expensive.
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Dancebiscuits



Joined: 03 Dec 2012
Posts: 63

PostPosted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 10:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

'...drinking has become outrageously expensive...'

That is a problem for me, I'm not going to lie.

Istanbul is a beautiful place - I've been many times, but only as a tourist, never had to live there.

Thanks chaps, keep it coming Smile
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Mike_2007



Joined: 24 Apr 2007
Posts: 349
Location: Bucharest, Romania

PostPosted: Tue Mar 26, 2013 5:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dancebiscuits wrote:
If you know any good photography websites or blogs where I can see a bit more of Bucharest, I'd love some links. Mostly I just find Communist architecture pics when I google image the city and I know for a fact there's more to any city than it's big buildings.


I've answered some of your other questions on the Romania forum but regarding the architecture, Bucharest does have a lot of interesting buildings. A lot of people bang on about how Ceaucescu levelled most of the city to put up his concrete monolithic blocks. That's not quite the case. Aside from new block-dense neighbourhood he put up on what was then the outskirts of the cities, he mostly just laid down some wider roads through the city (much as Haussmann did in Paris - except with uglier blocks) and lined them with apartment buildings. Behind those blocks the streets still contain a very eclectic range of architectural styles.

You can see some pics here: http://romphoto.blogspot.ro/2009/02/bucharest-str-corbeni-armeneasca.html

Quote:
It's also safer from Bucharest (tried planning a trip to Bucharest and almost everyone I came across told me it was a bad idea).


I'd agree that Istanbul (when I lived there, at least) is safer than Bucharest, but Bucharest is still a lot safer than most western capitals such as London or Paris.

I think, having lived in both cities, if I were to spend a year somewhere, I'd probably choose Istanbul. It's far more impressive. However, I find living long term in Bucharest a lot easier.
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scot47



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343

PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2013 5:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I replied over on the Romanian thread that you started.
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Sirens of Cyprus



Joined: 21 Mar 2007
Posts: 255

PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2013 5:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Motoring? Turkey has the highest gasoline prices in the world.
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massiveg



Joined: 14 Mar 2013
Posts: 36

PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2013 8:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It is higher in the UK
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Sirens of Cyprus



Joined: 21 Mar 2007
Posts: 255

PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2013 8:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not according to this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline_and_diesel_usage_and_pricing
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massiveg



Joined: 14 Mar 2013
Posts: 36

PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2013 9:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

it is wrong. Just looked out the window at the petrol station priceboard and its more expensive than that.
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Sirens of Cyprus



Joined: 21 Mar 2007
Posts: 255

PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2013 9:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Can you see Turkey from your house?

2.53 Istanbul
2.13 London

http://www.numbeo.com/gas-prices/city_result.jsp?country=United+Kingdom&city=London&displayCurrency=USD
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massiveg



Joined: 14 Mar 2013
Posts: 36

PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2013 9:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

no can you? But I saw turkey from my house last week when I was there. Petrol prices in London are around 2.56
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Sirens of Cyprus



Joined: 21 Mar 2007
Posts: 255

PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2013 9:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

What were they in Turkey?
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