R. Craig Collins > Web Page Design > Portfolio > Bucharest, Romania/Bulgaria

Christmas 2014, Bucharest, Romania/Bulgaria © R. Craig Collins, 2014,5

Click here to jump to the pictures in Bucharest

Reservation Number: 1894689
Rocket Parking
6875 Will Clayton Parkway
Humble, TEXAS 77338
Phone: (281) 660-2183

Expedia 178016847054
December 25-26: Flight info Delta GBNYXM
Houston- Amsterdam
Delta 9387 Operated by KLM ROYAL DUTCH AIRLINES KLM 662
IAH 3:45pm - AMS 7:45am +1 day 9h 0m
1 hour 35 layover
Amsterdam - Bucharest
Delta 9682 Operated by KLM ROYAL DUTCH AIRLINES KLM 1373
AMS 9:20am - OTP 1:05pm (Arrives on Dec 26, 2014) 2h 45m ...

13:05 Airport Transfer, Blacklane;

Fri Dec 26, 2014 - Wed Dec 3, 2014: Accommodations
Orhideea Residence & Spa Hotel Confirmation Code 5101
Calea Plevnei nr. 145B, Bucharest, 060012 Romania
+4 021.56.96.360
2 bedroom apartment, free wifi in room, breakfast included

Thursday, Dec 25, 2014: Activities
We got up and noshed on the kolaches and donut holes squired Christmas eve
Packed up cash to buy 144 Bulgarian Lev ($100) and ordered 2400 Romanian Lei/RON ($800) from Wells Fargo... gave some Lei to the girls for Christmas
The currency has clear areas that you can see through, and feel very plastic like.


9:00am Headed to Houston
11:15am Stopped at Buc-ees in Waller for some snacks ($6.52)
12:15pm Arrive IAH, stopped at Jack in the Box for Lunch ($15.20)
12:50pm, searched the Rocket Parking lot, and related lots without being able to find a parking spot, finally they
told us to park in an open spot OUTSIDE the gate. Too the bus to Terminal E, double checked at counter, and breezed
through security and go to gate D5.
2:20pm, Loaded up with snacks for the flight. ($10.59)
3:00pm, Boarded KLM 662, sitting in 42E-G, the middle 4 near the back.

3:55pm, departed 10 minutes late

I watched "X Men," "Railroad man," "the Expendables 3", and "A most wanted man."
Dinner was Chicken or Pasta, with cheese, crackers and a brownie. Later we had small cupcakes for a snack.
Close to landing we had focaccia with egg, cheese, and mushrooms for breakfast.

Fri Dec 26, 2014 - Wed Dec 31, 2014
Fri Dec 26, 2014
7:30 Arrives in Amsterdam early... had a stroll from D45-D22 where we queued up for security at the cramped gate.
8:05 Still waiting for pilots to arrive
Cattle Call boarding but managed to stow luggage, and took seats 27 A-D in the back.

9:40 depart 20 minutes late
Sausage Egg and Potato breakfast snack.
13:10 Slightly late (5 minutes) arrival, then on to customs.
13:30, met Mr. Ivan from Blacklane; tipped 5 RON
Enjoyed the drive into the Center, historically the Little Paris; passing the French school and embassies, and interesting mix of architecture.
The Russian Embassy looked like a bunker... then out to Orhideea; outside was clear and bright.
As we turn down the road to the hotel, it looked every bit the former communist country bread factory complex, but at the end were
the towers of the very new apartments and hotel.

14:10 Checked into room 5084 in the main tower... OMG. See http://www.orhideeaspa.ro/en/extra-large-apartment
First, you have to understand the deal we got with airfare and hotel was cheaper than just the airfare prices we had seen...
so the huge apartment we had for about a week was basically free!


This apartment has two bedrooms with individual balconies, XL living with fully equipped kitchen and two bathrooms
(one with a shower and one with bathtub). The effective surface with the wrap around deck was 186 sq.m, or 2002 sq feet!

We then unpacked, and wandered around the apartment. The windows of the bedrooms even had electric shutters.
Again, the room was basically free with the deal we got.

15:00 Walk behind Orhideea to gate, down the walk, to the right to the walk way, left to the street.
Cross the street at the intersection to the Metro, near large arched bridge with the purple lights.

I ordered the 4 weekly Metro passes (patru Abonament saptamanal) for 80 RON

We walked back across the Dambovita river to the Carrefour mall. Carrefour is called a hypermarket,
think Super Target on steroids.

There were also other stores in the mall, and several restaurants and
fast food places... we opted for KFC. (44.20RON) I
We got cookies and milk at the Carrefour and headed back to Orhideea.

18:00, back at the apartment we relaxed... and watched ski jumping for a bit, dead tired.

Checked the weather, noting our clear days were over, the temps were falling, and snow was coming.

20:00, the sleep deprived crew crashed.
22:30, awaken to a call from the front desk that our tour will pick up up a few minutes later in the morning.
Most of us woke up several times during the night.

Sat Dec 27, 2014
6:00 Coffee and showers, and snow just starting to fall.
7:30, up to the 11th floor for breakfast buffet, with eggs, sausage, cheese, meats, breads, and hot and cold drinks.
The space was on the other side of the building, so our view was of the old bread factory. PS Sunrise about 8:30, sunset about 4:30



The information we had for the tour: (ROBE335500) 3-4 hour tour of Bucharest, booked through City Discovery; hotel pick up for
8:30 tour by Travel Maker.   http://www.city-discovery.com/bucharest/tour.php?id=5517 Bring money to pay for entrance fees.
$38.94: The Arch of Triumph, Athaeneum, tour the Village Museum ($1.68), the Victoriei Square, the Revolution Square,
tour the Palace of Parliament ($4.00)

http://www.bucharestcitytour.com/shared_tours

9:00, picked up by Mr. Alex, then went to the hostel to pick up Mr. Williams from the UK, then tried a two hotels before
we picked up Brazilian ladies, then returned
to hostel so Williams could get his passport, and then we started the tour...
in just completely socked in conditions....snowing and gray... fairly hard to see anything from the VW minibus.
The first Hospital, built by Queen Mary was a neat red and white, but the Arc de Triumph was under renovation.
The Newspaper looked like a building looked like a Russian Newspaper building, and the Radio and TV facility was a mess...
carved up to be a mall and casino, but abandoned.

We got to the Village museum just to be told they decided to close... no one works on the Orthodox St Stephen's day!

Other buses arrived as we departed.
So, we went to the Peasant museum (20 RON); No pictures, but you can look at their web site.
http://www.muzeultaranuluiroman.ro/

The museum had lots of clothing, parts of buildings, a huge water wheel, wind mill, and even parts of an ancient church.

Alex spent a lot of time on the phone trying to figure out what would be open; sadly the Parliament was not one of those places,
but we headed over the the second largest building in the world (after the Pentagon) for a few pictures.
The place cost Billions of Euro, and costs a million Euro per year just to stay open.
It is actually square, so image this down the other sides, and it is as deep underground as it is tall above.


From here we went to the Patriarch's Cathedral, sort of the Romanian Vatican.


In the Romanian Church, there are just a few chairs on the periphery, most stand. The alter is private, behind the golden wall.


Some better shots of landmarks than I could get


14:00, back at the the hotel.
14:45, off to the mall and pizza at Azzurro's. (55 RON)

We then took the Metro, changed lines from Yellow to Blue, to the National Art Museum... walking up from University, through the slush.

Great old masters from the Monarch's collection, plus a good range of old to new art, mostly religious.

No pictures, but you can see the web site http://www.mnar.arts.ro/

17:00 Walk through even worse slush to the Christmas Market at University.

After strolling around, went to warm up around the corner at Infusion... (54 RON)
hot drinks and a soup before heading back to the market for music and Kürtőskalács (10 RON)
a Hungarian tube bread cooked on an open spit, bathed in butter as it cooks, then rolled in sugar.





The band stand




The pink lights has a laser show going on, with moving snow flakes, etc. The lights all around were great.

We then headed down to the river, to find some dinner..


We wandered through Old Town and finally decided on Dristor Kebap... more out of tired feet than anything else. (72 RON)
21:00 Took the scenic route to the Metro, and we shopped at the Carrefour for breakfast items (31.44 RON) before the icy walk back to the hotel.

Ate the Kürtőskalács and defrosted to some ski jumping. Many socks and boot, plus other items of clothing were left on the radiators to dry out.

Sun Dec 28, 2014

5:30, got up and had pastries

7:30 Front Desk ordered a cab to take us to the Athaeneum for our tours of castles in Transylvania (10 RON)



Met John form the UK, Andreas from Sweden, and a Sri Lankan employee of Air France who lived in England.
Picked up by Alex, our guide from the day before and headed out.

(ROBE335499) Two Castle tour, including Peleș and Bran castle (not really Vlad Dracula's, but neat anyway), booked through City Discovery;
Run By TravelMaker/Bucharest City Tour 8:00 departure from the Athaeneum
   http://www.city-discovery.com/bucharest/tour.php?id=8521
http://www.bucharestcitytour.com/Full_Day_Trip_to_Peles_Castle_and_Bran_Dracula_Castle
Planned expenses $89.56: Visit Sinaia Monastery ($1.41) Peles Royal Castle ($5.61), Bran: Visit Bran Castle ( $7.02), Walking tour of Brasov downtown

It was snowy, but better visibility than the previous day, so we got to re-live parts of the previous day's tour as we headed north. We went through Ploesti,
a refinery town that was heavily bombed during the second World War. Then into Sinaia. We were starting to see massive amounts of traffic,
so parts of the tour were abbreviated... so we just passed the Monastery, and headed straight to Peleș. (50 RON)

Peleș is a fairly new castle, started in the late 1800s when the Monarchy came to Romania, and was actually modernized over the years for the royal family.
It has heat, elevators, etc, and was a royal family get away spot until Communism. Outside, it has a fairy tale look, inside is wonderful ornate wood.
The guide seemed a bit embarrassed by the hokey shtick, but it was all very grand and cozy.

Then it was on to Bran, an old fortress from the 1300s that perhaps had a visit from Vlad Dracula. (70 RON)

Vlad III, called Vlad Țepeș by Romanians, was a real Prince of Wallachia, near Transylvania...
a historical region in the central part of Romania.

Vlad was a member of the House of Drăculești;
(it is said he called his father Drăcul (the Dragon), so he was son of Drăcul, or Drăcula.

Vlad is a national hero for defending against the Turks, often using fairly brutal measures
against the enemies of Romania, such as impaling... hence the name Țepeș, the Impaler.

One of Vlad's proclamations is the first recorded instance of his capital being called Bucharest.

Not many furnishing on the inside, but the outside, and keep were fantastic. Quite a walk up from the visitor area, on the ice.

Heading back to the visitor center, we explored near a frozen pond, and again waited for John.



We then ate Transylvanian fair, a bean soup in a bread tube, goulash, and chicken drums.

After getting some cards (6 RON), we then fought traffic heading to Brasov, the home town of our guide. We visited the Christmas market,
Black church (including the stature of the child who fell off the church during construction), and had some coffee. (16 RON)
Then tried to find John again, before the long traffic clogged trip into the approaching blizzard.

21:00 Alex dropped us at the University Metro, and it was REALLY snowing, so now looking for food tonight... off to Carrefour.
22:00 The only place still open was McDonalds... four happy meals (43.60 RON)
23:00 Got some pastry for breakfast in the morning, and fought the ice back to the hotel.

Mon, 29 Dec
7:30 Tour canceled due to blizzard, they said they would try again Tuesday..

At first glance, no big deal, just swap the Monday and Tuesday plans... but most museums in Bucharest are closed on Monday...
8:00 Breakfast upstairs.
9:00 Nothing moving, we all are a little under the weather, so nap time.
1:00 Off to Vlad's ruins, the Princely Court, via the Metro.
The streets are not marked, some streets end a block from where you are, the maps were not good, and even the locals sent us the wrong way,
but we found the stature of the real Dracula, Vlad III, the Curtea Veche (the Old Princely Court), built during the rule of Dracula in the 15th century, now a museum,
Dracula: Vlad III, called Vlad Țepeș by Romanians, was a real Prince of Wallachia, near Transylvania...
a historical region in the central part of Romania.

Vlad was a member of the House of Drăculești;
(it is said he called his father Drăcul (the Dragon), so he was son of Drăcul, or Drăcula.

Vlad is a national hero for defending against the Turks, often using fairly brutal measures
against the enemies of Romania, such as impaling... hence the name Țepeș, the Impaler.

One of Vlad's proclamations is the first recorded instance of his capital being called Bucharest.

Got some and some places to by souvenirs. (7.20 RON and 15 RON) The Church of the Princely Court was near by.



Then it was off to Starbucks to warm up. (51.90 RON)
Then we wandered old town again, and had dinner at the Embassy. Pasta, cheese, etc. (105 RON)



Stopped at the Carrefour Express (10 RON) then after several cabs trying to cheat us (50 RON for a 3 RON trip...) we used the metro
and fought our way up the ice to the hotel.

Tues, 30 Dec
Noshed in room. Light snow, but snow plows out and roads seem better.
7:30 Got a call that the tour would run, but the pick up would be late.
(GYG01641973 ) Bulgaria: Veliko Tarnovo, and the medieval village of Arbanassi... involves a real live border crossing, hotel pick up
  http://www.getyourguide.com/bucharest-l111/discover-bulgaria-day-tour-from-bucharest-t42702/ Booked via Get Your Guide;
http://www.bucharestcitytour.com/Experience_Bulgaria_Shared offered by TravelMaker/Bucharest City Tour

8:20 Picked up by Andrew; two girls from Malaysia already on board... Lee made sure her talkative cousin was up front.
Headed south, stopped for snacks (18.50 RON and 3.80 RON)


10:00 Ruse, Bulgaria, at the checkpoint we handed over our passports and waited until they were stamped, and returned.


We then converted $100 to 144 Lev and drove to Veliko Tarnovo.

12:00 Arrived, Veliko Tarnovo

Parked and took the long hike up toward the former home of the Bulgarian Tsars, and marveled at the layout that allowed
easy defense of the former capitol.






From the map, you can see how hard it would be to conquer this area








The steps were too icy to get up to the church, so we headed back to Ivan Asen, a Bulgarian restaurant, for Hot Bowls and Sach. (62.80 LEV)
www.ivan-asen.com

15:00 Bought some souvenirs and headed back to Ruse. (29 LEV)
17:00 Same game with Passports, and converted 50 Lev to $30
20:00 Back at hotel... took a cab to Carrefour. (10 RON)
Pizza at Azzurro, followed by Venetian Night and Tirimisu for dessert (130 RON)
Grabbed a few snack for the plane (4.30 RON), and headed back to hotel via cab (Rude Russian, 10 RON)

Tried to check in on Air France site, could not.

Wednesday, December 31
3:00 Found out Paris Houston flight canceled.

Left tip for hotel staff (50 RON)
4:15 Airport Transfer, Blacklane; again Mr. Ivan (4 RON)
4:45 Arrived at airport, but ticketing not open.
4:55 - 5:10 Got new tickets
Breakfast drinks (54 RON)
Sell 1000 RON for $240 (got ripped off, but illegal to take currency out of country)
Spent last 12 RON on snacks.
6:00 Boarding passes
8:00 Cattle call board of BA 885, seats 8BC and 9BC
Problems
9:00 Take off... our almost 2 hour time to get through Heathrow seriously cut
Omelet for breakfast
10:00 Arrive LHR 20 minutes late

Hectic transit from Terminal 5 to Terminal 2, more security, made it to an empty gate. Got better seats, 40 EF and 41 EF, and boarded.

11:40 took off
Lunch of Chicken, cracker and cheese, coffee cake.
Watched Bullett, Winter Soldier, Frozen, and Guardians of the Galaxy.
Ice Cream snack.
About an hour before landing, Turkey and Cheese pocket.

Arrive a bit early, took from 4:00pm-5:00pm to get through customs, even though part was automated.
Got the bus to parking ($43)
8:15 Dropped off Diane
8:45 Dropped off Gracie
10:00 Arrived at home.

What a great trip

Reservation Number: 1894689
Rocket Parking
6875 Will Clayton Parkway
Humble, TEXAS 77338
Phone: (281) 660-2183Reservation Number: 1894689
Rocket Parking
6875 Will Clayton Parkway
Humble, TEXAS 77338
Phone: (281) 660-2183

Reservation Number: 1894689
Rocket Parking
6875 Will Clayton Parkway
Humble, TEXAS 77338
Phone: (281) 660-2183Reservation Number: 1894689
Rocket Parking
6875 Will Clayton Parkway
Humble, TEXAS 77338
Phone: (281) 660-2183

Coffee with milk: cafea cu lapte
Tap Water: apa de la robinet Row be net
Not mineral water nu apă minerală
One two three four: Unul, două, trei, patru
Left Stânga
Right: dreapta
Hello: Alo,
Goodbye; la revedere
Please: vă rog,
Thank you: mulțumesc
Excuse me: scuzați-mă
I don’t speak much Romanian: Eu nu vorbesc prea română
Do you speak English: Vorbiți engleză?
Yes: Da
no: nu
Dah, new
5 cinci
10 zece
20 douăzeci
100 o sută

Four weekly pass: Patru Abonament saptamanal