Day 12 - Bucharest, Romania

6-9 Sunday

from the OAT itinerary:

Day 12:

After breakfast, disembark your ship and begin your transfer via motorcoach to Bucharest, Romania.

Upon arrival, enjoy lunch at a local restaurant and then explore the city by motorcoach. This is an old city that has served as the capital of Wallachia, and later Romania, since 1659. Today, it is noted for its broad, tree-lined boulevards, well-kept parks, and mix of architectural styles that combine Neoclassical 19th-century structures with monumental 20th-century edifices (the latter built for the most part to satisfy the late dictator Nicolae Ceausescu). You'll view the Arc de Triomphe commemorating the exploits of World War I soldiers and drive along Victory Avenue to Revolution Square, where recent events in history are inscribed. You have some time in the late afternoon to relax.

Tonight, dinner is on your own.

* * * * *

Breakfast as usual between 7 and 9 am. We were asked to have our one big piece of luggage out in front of the door at 7:30 am. No problem.

We had a check-list: by 9:15 am

- empty the save, leave it open

- make sure that you took all your belongings from the cabin

- collect your passport by handing in your room key at reception

- turn in the receivers and earphones at the Front Desk

9:15 am buses depart for Bucharest ... again color coded. 

I must say that the days on the MS River Concerto were very very nice. The crew seemed genuinely happy to try to give us all a great time, including the captain. 

When we were leaving the ship, Captain Titi stood at the bottom of the gangway to shake everybody's hand. When we were in the bus and it was pulling away we saw crew members waving good-bye. I know it is all business for them but nevertheless it was nice.

I think we were told that it was a 3-hour drive. Plenty of things to see. We crossed the canal.

James of course had his gadget.

Potty stop. Never seen flavored water with lemon or cucumber slices in it before.

James found the Magnum ice cream. As if we didn't have enough sweets the past two weeks.

Bucharest. Not what I had expected. It started with the "Bulgarian Champs-Élysées". Forgot how many fountains there were. (Note from James - 42 fountains)

Lunch time.

It was a nice restaurant and I liked the food. The coffee in that flimsy cup was very disappointing. 

Afterwards we were led on a walking tour of the old city center. What can I say? Very charming.

The old castle was under renovation with a fence around. Monica pointed the bust of the king (having the reputation of being Dracula) you could see through a little hole.

A lot of the buildings were incredibly ornate. 

Check-in at our hotel. It's a Sheraton. Why have most hotels almost no place to get your things organized. No shelves. No drawers. Two nights out of the suitcase. Surprisingly even the ship was better. This is not a complaint though but just an observation. 

After that we had free time and we were on our own for dinner. We were each given a ticket for the underground though. We decided with Shirley, David, Glen and Joyce to use the underground to go to the old town. We had a lot of fun. When we went down into the underground we didn't know which platform was the right one. You know I believe in asking. A young lady gave us directions (she even went into the train with us) but it wasn't the right one. I don't know whether she had fun with us or misunderstood but we got out and took the next train back and one further stop. This was the right one. 

When we started walking we were not sure about the direction again. The old town is not THAT small. I thought asking a policeman was a good idea. The first one didn't speak much English. Neither did the second or third but the fourth was very helpful. David and Shirley had fun with them.

We came to a restaurant we thought we would like and sat down. The hostess had been very nice. The waiter was terrible. When he took our order he was not nice or helpful. When Glen asked him to please come around the table because he could not hear him, he rolled his eyes. That was too much for us and we left. There were plenty more restaurants around. No need to be insulted. 

We ended up at the Big Ben Pub. Not very Rumanian but the waitress was nice and helpful even though communication was a bit limited too.

James and most of the others.

I enjoyed a caesar salad with chicken very much.

No trouble finding our way back.

After the underground we parted though because I wanted to buy something at the supermarket (which they didn't have) and when we passed this restaurant/cafe with outdoor seating we could not resist. Gosh, we were thirsty.

But ... there was something on the menu (and on the next table) which was so intriguing. 

"Clātite cu brānzā de vac în sos de miere"

Oh, it was good but plenty to share between us.

Another lovely day!