Saturday, January 01, 2000

Romania

May 24 - May 30

Day by day:
  • Wed May 24 - arrive in Bucharest around 07:00, take a cab to hotel but find it full so walk to another, have to wait until 10 to check in so go out for breakfast then retire to lobby to wait and watch TV, back out for beers and a snack, return to hotel, others arrive around 02:00
  • Thu May 25 - up around 11:00, pack the car and have breakfast at nearby bistro / cafe, hit the road, stop once along the way in a little town to see a castle, press on through traffic to brasov, stop at park to get oriented, have a cocktail at fancy hotel before heading on to our own digs, out for fancy romanian dinner, over to pub called "saloon", play celebrity drinking game then move down to club below for a bit of a pole dance, retire around 2 or so
  • Fri May 26 - up around 10:00, check out and drop bags at hotel, head down to central square to have breakfast, check out city history museum, walk over to main cathedral, jason heads over to internet cafe, others walk across down and go up the hill on a cable car, have a coke at the top and take in the view, all reassemble at hotel and split town, decide to take northern route rather than via bucharest, this ends up taking much longer than expected, enjoy mountain scenery and nice villages, are forced to stop in buzau (sp?) for the night, stay at a hotel near the train station, dine and drink at a pizza place helpfully indicated by a local that we threw ourselves at, in bed for about 0:30
  • Sat May 27 - janelle and mike up around 07:30 to have breakfast, others lag about an hour behind, head out in the car through more countryside, take a ferry across the danube and drive south through the delta to the coast, arrive in time for a few drinks and a walk before sunset, have a nice seafood dinner than retire to a beachfront bar to drink beer and dance in the sand, most kids turn in around midnight, but jason stays on until sunrise in the company of some romanians
  • Sun May 28 - some up early and some up late, pay for one more night a double room so we can store bags and have a place to shower, leisurely beachfront lunch, spend a few hours sitting in the sand making fun of how white iain is, clean up and pack the car, get going for around 16:00, miss the connection to the motorway and end up taking a bit of a detour through the country again, finally make it to bucharest around 21:00 but spend a good bit of time finding the hotel, settled and ready to eat at 23:00, dine at a late pizza place around the corner, sleep
  • Mon May 29 - iain splits for airport around 05:30, others up around 11:00, check out at noon and drop bags with hotel, head out to internet cafe so girls can check in for their flight, over to city grill for al fresco lunch, walk back to hotel to get bags and put the girls in a taxi for the airport, the OC is now all alone again, back to internet cafe for a few hours, walk down to parliament building (second largest structure after the pentagon) to take some pictures and are surprised to find the tuborg international beer festival in full swing, enjoy some skol (horrible brew from brazil) and some bbq and some live pop groups, do a lot of people watching, head back to hotel for around 22:00 to grab bags and a taxi to the train station, do a bit of shopping and eat some macdonalds before boarding first class (our own cabin) zagreb-bound service (via budapest), hit the hay after a bit of reading and looking at new photos
  • Tue May 30 - wake up with train at an extended rest apparently close to the hungarian border, chill and blog and such, pass into hungary on the train without incident

Photo Albums
Romania