Blogs from Bucharest, Muntenia, Romania, Europe - page 2

On this the final day of our tour of Romania, we were given a free morning to do as we pleased. After last night's festivities, it looked like everyone was in need of a free morning. The storm that rolled in the last 2 days and brought an early glimpse of winter snow to the town had passed. This morning we were greeted with a cloudless sunny sky, perfect weather for our final day. After breakfast, Shea and I joined Erin and Angie for a walk back into the town to do a little shopping in the markets. There were a good number of other visitors here this morning to do their shopping and enjoy the sunny morning skies. Nothing really caught my eye while I was exploring the markets. I did purchase a few magnets ... read more

We started our day with breakfast at what is quickly becoming our favourite spot: Paul. Very popular cafe about a block away from our hotel with magnificent pastries and gorgeous sammiches. Also, the ladies who work there are the friendliest in Bucharest! It’s nice to start your day with a smile (a rare enough commodity that we notice when we get one). Gold star, Paul. You are excellent. My must for Bucharest was the Village Museum (an open air museum with historic homes and structures from different parts of Romania that were relocated to Bucharest and restored). To get there we took a lacklustre HOHO which took us by the Parliament (ridiculously huge) before swinging northward to take us to the museum. The museum was Ah-Mah-Zing. We spent 4 hours there (including lunch at a cafe ... read more

A short entry this time (I hear many sighs of relief), but before my return to the daily grind there was time to fit in a last-minute city break, hmm, where to go? Rolling the dice of European destinations, the city of Bucharest was the winner. Although August in Bucharest is usually quite hot anyway, our visit coincided with heatwave covering a large swath of Europe, still I’d recently come back from the heat of the Gobi Steppe, so I was sure I’d manage. We flew out from Luton airport, not one I usually fly out of and I quickly realised why, it’s a bit of a shed, still we managed to struggle through (First World Woes) and arrive at our destination without too much hassle. We touched down at Henri Coandă Airport and caught an ... read more

"Always catch a bus if you can", said the guy at the hostel in Veliko Tarnovo. Shame there no buses to Bucharest then. Only trains. Thus, I was on my first train journey for first time in a month, when I was in Italy/San Marino. And it was nice crossing a border with company, especially a long, 7-hour journey with so many stops. With me were three others from the hostel in Veliko Tarnovo; American Maura and fellow Kiwis Tom and Louis, who despite their rather contrasting appearances, are quite astonishingly, brothers. It was nice to hang out with some Kiwis again for a longer period of time - I haven't met too many on my travels to be honest and many of those meetings were rather fleeting. Only Andy in Havana springs to mind in ... read more

12 juillet J'attend mon bagage à l'aéroport de Bucarest, assommé par mon vol Québec-Roumanie et son trop court transit à Londres. L'aéroport international de la capitale roumaine est quelque peu délabré, minuscule et plutôt démodé. Devant les carrousels, quelques étagères longeant les murs remplacent les hors-taxes clinquants des gros hubs. Une pyramide de boîtes rouge en évidence propose aux voyageurs les ''Dracula's Magic Pralines''. C'est donc confirmé: je suis de toute évidence dans le bon pays pour chasser le vampire. Autour de moi, les roumains de l'aéroport m'ignorent. Ça cachent bien leur jeu les vampires! Il est 17h00 à Bucarest et minuit tapant à Montréal. Lorsque vous dormez, les Roumains, eux, s'activent. Vous savez, c'est bien connu, les vampires vivent la nuit. Voilà: moi je dis que c'est louche. Je quitte l'aéroport dans u... read more