Bucharest
A full collection of photos from this trip can be found in Romania photo album
The Guinness
The pub of choice for the Guinness was The Dubliner, the oldest Irish pub in Bucharest. A message the previous day confirmed that they served Guinness so there was no need to look any further. We had a warm welcome and a free pint. Many thanks.
The next country picked out of the hat by the staff at the Dubliner was San Marino. I wonder if there is any Guinness available there?
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| Receiving a warm welcome at The Dubliner |
We happened to arrive on quiz night and enjoyed our attempt at failing to upstage the locals. One of the picture rounds was on famous bridges. You would have thought I would have recognized the Second Severn Crossing given that I had visited and photographed it the week before but no.
Team make-up
I had a new travelling companion this time, Ian. We know each other from a trip to the old USSR back in 1987. A lot of water has passed under the bridge sine then but we have stayed in touch and suddenly found that in retirement our hobbies coincide. Ian likes travelling by train in as many European countries as possible and Romania was one still on his list so it seemed a good idea to team up for this one, especially as I like train travel too and Ian likes a beer!
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| Me and Ian enjoying a Guinness at The Dubliner |
The Sights
I didn't know much about Bucharest and admit to being pleasantly surprised by the city. It is full of fine historic buildings, something I wasn't expecting at all. Everybody tends to associate Bucharest with the giant Palace of the Parliament building but there is so much more to see there.
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| Library of the University of Bucharest |
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| Palace of the Parliament that evokes mixed feelings. The heaviest building in the world. |
Transport
We flew with Blue Air from Liverpool to Bucharest and returned with the same airline from Cluj-Napoca. We spent just the one night in Bucharest before travelling though Transylvania by train spending time in Brasov, Sighisoara and Cluj-Napoca. Booking the trains online before we went was straightforward and inexpensive. The electric trains were comfortable and slow, just what was needed to admire the lovely scenery of the region. The buses, trams and metro were also experienced and relied on buying single trip tickets from kiosks before boarding, again straightforward, especially if you rely on Ian kindly doing the purchasing.
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| Sighisoara station (before the flood) |
Away from the Capital
Brasov, with its ancient town square reminiscent of many fine European squares lies between the hills. The medieval walled town of Sighisoara was the opposite in that it is built on a hill surrounded by flat plains. Cluj Napoca is a larger university town. The town of Transylvania had a very distinctive Germanic appearance reflecting the history of the region. For the most part we were blessed with fine autumnal weather apart from a bit of drizzle that greeted us on arriving in Bucharest and leaving in Cluj-Napoca.
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| Brasov Town Hall |
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| Sighisoara Clock Tower |
Accommodation
We used booking.com and Ian's discerning eye to choose our accommodation and some fine choices he came up with too. In Bucharest we stayed near the station in the Hello Hotel where the rooms were larger than I was expecting. In Brasov we stayed in an apartment very close to the centre, again fine once we'd overcome the problem of finding it in the dark. In Sighisoara we were in the excellent and very old Pension am Schneiderturm adjacent to one of the town gates.
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| Pension am Schneiderturm, Sighisoara, dating back from 1797 |
Finally in Cluj Napoca we were in another apartment in the middle of town, the excellent Matei Corvin Deluxe Apartment where we felt more like film stars than backpackers.
Food and Drink
The quality of the food throughout was excellent. In Sighisoara in particular we got some very good recommendation from the Pension as to where to eat and enjoyed some fine Romanian food. Soups followed by pork dishes with potatoes and a thick sauce were most enjoyable. The local Ursus beer was a good accompaniment.
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| When the menu said chicken in corn flakes I thought it was poor translation, but no. |
Quirky moments
Ian's attempt to use the public toilet in Sighisoara resulted in disaster when the cistern fell off the wall and water began to fill the room. Two of us ran around the station trying to draw the attention of an official to the impending problem i.e. that they were about to get flooded. I can understand their nervousness of being cajoled into a toilet by non-Romanian speakers but we had their own interest at heart. We beat an ignominious exit as our train was about to depart. So if you ever pass Sighisoara station and see it under water you now know why.
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| We were about to complain about the lack of towels till we discovered ......... |
Lasting Memories
This wasn't the country full of horse and carts and dreary buildings that I had half been expecting. This was a modern, vibrant country where we felt perfectly safe and welcome, even thought the UK had recently voted to exit the EU.
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| University Square, Bucharest |
