Shopping in Bucharest: Souvenirs
We start with that because it's of larger interest. Let's see what is representative for Romania and pleaaasee don't say Dracula, again! It's more than we can stand.Clothes, traditional clothes are very beautiful, hand-made by peasants just the way they used to wear long time ago during celebrations and so on. They are not cheap - today it's become a rare thing to see people in villages working on cloth waving, there's no raw material for that anymore, so what still exists on the market is no cheaper than 40 EU a blouse - "ie" as we call it in Romanian.
Some people find these blouses and waistcoats as curiosities, but some actually wear them and somehow reincluded them in the modern fashion cycle. You can buy "ie" (ii - plural :)) at Romanian Peasant's Museum or at the Village Museum - especially during traditional fairs. These are the only places where you can be mostly sure the garments are originally made by a craftsman's hand.
Then there is the Romanian pottery - also hand made and painted in a specific way, that you can also find in the two named museums. Potters' Fairs happen in Bucharest in autumn or in spring and many craftsmen from around the country gather to exhibit and sell their merchandise.
Still you might want to go directly to the source and buy awesome pottery objects in Horezu (near Ramnicu Valcea) - the place is famous all around Europe for the quality and style of the decorations or - if you have enough time, you can even go to Marginea, in the northern part of the country for black pottery.
Image from here
Since you are in the Peasant's Museum you have to try the ginger bread. :) Delicious. And then, there are a ot of hand-made bags made of straw or ropes, whistles, small sculptures and paintings, carpets and blankets, all of them related to the Romanian traditional (often shepherds') way of life.
Don't forget the Linden Inn Galleries full of wonderful antiquities, books, drawings and so on. In the Historical Center there are also a few small shops you'd certainly like to visit, selling hand-made jewelery, glass-made decorative objects, and vintage stuff.
Avoid (as much as you can) buying things having inscriptions with Dracula and Transilvania Vampires' Castle... it's such an un-Romanian kitsch that has so little to do with our culture and customs... just forget about it! :)
