My friends from Florida kept inviting me to Tampa, saying how great it is, how hip and cool and lots of other adjectives that didn’t really convince me. But I was in the area anyway, so I stopped by.

I shouldn’t have bothered. There is nothing going on in Tampa. It’s completely hyped up.

But see for yourself. This is the view as you enter Tampa. Not very promising, is it?

One particular bar had been recommended to me, but I almost missed it as I was cruising along the city’s only road. It seemed to have gone out of business already. Only a few boxes with empty bottles still indicated its former activities.

It’s all cozy and green – more so than expected – but really no different than thousands of other cities towns villages around the world. One thing I have to say though, for an American city, the people there had a surprisingly good command of foreign languages.

(The photos were taken during a hike from Targu Mures to Miercurea Nirajului in Romania.)