On this trip, I’ve been writing postcards as I go. Initially I thought I’d hang onto them all until I get to Australia and post from there, but then in Budapest I decided I’d give the local post office a go. And since then I’ve done a post office trip in every city I’ve stayed in. Here are my reviews.

(“Did the card actually get to its recipient” — arguably the main function of the postal system — is not a criterion, because it’s far too early to judge that. I’m still in Istanbul for goodness sake.)

Budapest

This was my first post office, and I approached with trepidation. Would there be some obscure queueing system that I would get yelled at for misunderstanding? Would I be waiting all morning? Would I be able to explain that I would like a stamp for this postcard to the UK?

Lol. There was one person ahead of me in the queue. The lady behind the counter both smiled at me(!) and spoke perfect English. I regretted having only 2 cards to send, given how successful the exercise was.

Budapest, again

Buoyed by that first success, I immediately went and bought some more postcards, sat down at a cafe to write them, and headed to a different, more central, post office to send them.

This one, being bigger, had a take-a-number system, with options and sub-options, but I managed to switch the language to English and pick something plausible sounding, and then was at the counter within 30 seconds. Once again, the lady was kindly and English-speaking.

With my extensive data, I can safely award Budapest an overall 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Brasov

The post office has a cute display at the entrance of postcards from around the world. The lady behind the counter was friendly, spoke English, and handed me a glue stick to attach the non-self-adhesive stamps. She pointed out where I’d missed a corner with the glue. The whole experience was so great.

I would give Brasov 6 stars out of 5, but I have to mark down slightly for Brasov itself not having a great selection of postcards — only a few shops had any, and they were all the same half dozen slightly unexciting photos. So, 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Bucharest

Google maps was fully convinced there was a post office on a residential side street near Union Park. There fully was not, and it looked like there never had been.

Total score: 0 stars as a post office, but a solid 4 stars as a push to explore a side street I never would have been to otherwise. There were trees and a little park and a tiny church, all hidden from the main road by a string of apartment blocks. I guess that averages out to 2 stars ⭐⭐?

Sofia

This post office had a guy sitting on a plastic chair just inside the door, acting as a bouncer. I don’t know if he was actually employed by the post office, or if he had just taken it upon himself to question everyone who came in and remind foreigners like me it was cash only and also that it was nearly closing time.

The lady at the counter spoke enough English to explain to me that my card to Australia needed 3 of the big stamps from the sheet she gave me, and the UK ones needed 2 big, 1 small. She passed me a damp sponge that had seen better days, and I shuffled off to the side to try and tear off the right number of stamps, sponge them up and then somehow fit them onto the cards without covering everything I had written, all before closing time. Obviously this was the post office I’d brought 5 cards to, seeing as I had a surplus from Bucharest. Halfway through my ordeal, the bouncer gave everyone a cheery “ciao” and went home. (In retrospect I should have recruited him to help me, we could have had a little production line going.)

While I truly do wonder when the cards from Sofia will arrive, by my own criteria I have to give this 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Istanbul

The first place I tried was very much closed for renovations. 0 stars.

The second place, I happened to walk past and I had some postcards with me, so why not, I figured.

It was a tiny suburban post office, so the queue of 5 people ahead of me was enough to stretch out the door and into the street. Evidently everyone being served had complicated postal issues because after a solid 10 minutes the queue hadn’t advanced at all. It was lunch time and I was hungry and hot and thirsty. I gave up.

I have to give this at least 1 star because maybe the experience would have been great if I’d persevered, but I’m not giving it more than that: ⭐