I am sitting in the airport in Bern right now although I'll be posting this from Munich (I hope) or from Booooocharest.

Like a North American, I got to the airport extra early. It's really small but you can get a flight to most big European cities, including Paris, which is quite convenient. I'm sitting here waiting for security to open so that I can go through and sit down again.

I'm sitting with my suitcase and my camera case. It contains a pretty nice, professional camera with three lenses. Two are pretty big and will make me look like a pro when I run around taking pictures of things.

I changed my plans a little bit. Originally, I was going to spend all my time in Bucharest but then was advised against it since there are really two Romanias - the east side, which is Russian-influenced, full of Gypsies of course and that part borders Moldova at to the east and the Black Sea. 

Bulgaria is on the bottom and the Ukraine on top. Then, there's the western side of the country, separated by the Carpathian mountains. This side is much more Western, with a strong Austro-Hungarian influence. Serbia is on the bottom left corner.

The country has a very pro-American administration.

I had planned to take a train across to Timisoara but it didn't work out because it would have been eight hours each way, so my office booked a flight, which takes one hour and 15 minutes.

I have most of my interviews lined up and am meeting with a journalist with Romania's international service, a film director and son of one of the country's famous movie stars, and an IT specialist who has worked around the world for Credit Suisse, including in Switzerland. They're all in Bucharest and I still need to set up things in Timisoara, but it shouldn't be a problem.

I go to Timisoara on Friday early evening and fly back Sunday morning.