The stay at the Radisson Blu was comfortable if not memorable. By 9:30 we were on our bus—Gabriella’s bus, the number 1 bus—first for a tour of Bucharest and finally for our trip to our home for the next 25 days, Uniworld’s River Princess (I’ve posted photos on facebook of our room and what will be our “kids’” rooms).
Bucharest is a beautiful city, lots of wide boulevards and beautiful old buildings. And one very large Parliament building that looks as if it were built in the 1680s but in fact was built in the 1980s. Yes, the 1980s by Nicolae Ceaușescu not too long before he and his wife were executed. It is one of the worst examples of excess I’ve ever seen! We couldn’t take photos with paying a 10€ (nevermind that the money of Bulgaria is the Ron or Leu [3 Ron/$]) “Photo Fee” which I refused to pay!
We drove and drove around Bucharest and then wandered about the Old City on foot for a while and then went to lunch. All in all a not terribly interesting day. I think our guide, Gabriella, was told to keep us away from the boat—uh, ship—until at least 4:30. When we finally arrived we were greeted the way we should always be greeted: we were taken to the bar to wait until the “queue” got shorter. I mean is that civilized or what!
The boat—uh, ship—is very nice if very, very GREEN. I don’t mean that they are environmentally friendly (although they are), I mean they are GREEN in color. Green, green, GREEN! One of the carpets is black, GREEN, and white. I may never have anything green ever again.
OK, we’re in the bar right now and halfway through a martini. Did I mention that we have unlimited booze?
The tours are all included but neither Randy nor I wanted to go on an all-day tour, especially in the rain. And it is raining. And raining. And thundering and lightning. And hailing. So much fun, I’m not sure I can stand all this fun. Anyway, Randy did go on the afternoon tour and said it was pretty good and didn’t rain too much. He got back before the deluge, luckily. I stayed in and did housekeeping on some of my photos. Tomorrow’s weather is not much better. Oh well, life could be a LOT worse!
Yesterday was departure from Giurgiu, Romania, to Rousse, Bulgaria, a journey of approximately 15 minutes. Essentially we went from one shore to the other. Today (May 15, 2014) we are travelling to Vidin, Bulgaria and will not arrive until about 1:30pm. And it’s still raining. And quite cold, about 12C or 13C.
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| This is a panoramic photo of the Parliament Building, built in 1980s. What a waste of resources! |
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| Children make a living in Bucharest instead of going to school. |
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| Our guide, Gabriella |
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| Part of old Bucharest |
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| Still want to smoke? |
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| Some artists have a weird idea about the female body. |
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| It's hard to see but the red sign to the left of the L in Libraria says the building isn't safe in an earthquake and will probably fall down. It's occupied nonetheless. |
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| Our first sight of our new home. |
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| A little better view of the River Princess |
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| According to Gabriella this was voted as the ugliest sculpture in Bucharest. |
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| True craftsmen |
The rooms in the River Princess. These are in the 300 block.
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