Please don't buckle up! About the taxi ride in Satu Mare

I was from 15.0-19. February on business in Satu Mare, Romania on the way. And as it is in a city where one does not know each other and a country, whose language one does not understand, we are there a lot with the taxi drove. And that was a lot of times a real adventure! "Please don't buckle", that was the first thing my colleagues told me when we got into a tax. Excuse me? Heard right. So here are my seven lessons learned to take a taxi in Satu Mare (which, as I am from an old colleague from Romania, is not supposed to apply to the whole country).

1. Taxis come faster than you can pronounce the word taxi. No idea where they all park or drive around, but a waiting time of 5 minutes was long, mostly they came within two to three minutes, whether we were still at work or in the hotel or in the city.
2. All taxi drivers are nice. There was none who was in a bad mood or rude, quite the opposite. When we asked for the address of a particular Burgerladens, the driver called the Central office and asked for it. Some also tried to speak a few words German with us, alternatively English. Of us unfortunately no one could more than thank you or goodbye in Romanian.
3. You do not open doors or trunks yourself. This usually makes the taxi driver, he always gets out, runs around the car, opens all the doors and helps to invite luggage.
4. Please do not buckle. You just never strap in, the drivers wouldn't like it, my colleagues said. Some riders have even led the belt behind the driver's seat and plugged it in so that it does not dangle around. I really didn't feel like it, I hate to ride anywhere and not be able to buckle. By the way, I have not tried it, what the driver would say, if I fasten myself, the nakedness I did not want to give to my colleagues!
5. All the taxis smell. It's a miracle tree or a Raumerfrischern. Where fragrances are not really the right word, stinking is more likely to hit.
6. Taxis fit through every narrow gap. Very quickly. Where in Germany every rider would go on the brakes, because on both sides between the exterior mirrors and the obstacles left and right are only 10-15cm square, the taxi drivers in Romania undeterredly continue at full speed.
7. Taxi driving is cheap. The kilometer costs 2.20 lei, i.e. about 50 cents. And that even though the gasoline prices were not significantly cheaper than ours. About four lei per liter, so almost one euro you have to pay.

One of the drivers really hurt me. In his car, every lamp has flashed and lit, which can only blink or light up. Apparently, his car was totally broken. And after a pothole, the front apron was also damaged. But as I understand it, he is reliant on the car and therefore cannot bring it to repair because he would not earn money in time. At least it was what I heard out of his bad English…

Have you been to Romania? How were your taxi rides? Do my experiences really only apply to the Northwest or is it a typical phenomenon in the country? If you liked the report, I'd be happy if you let him have a like there or share. And if you follow me on Facebook or Google +, you won't miss the other reports about my first business trip to Satu Mare!