|
Bucharest and Back - again, and again, and again
This months fun and frolics is a whole series of trips to Bucharest.
There is a very long back story to this which I will not bore everyone with but suffice to say that due to a whole series of youthful misadventures I have worn dentures for the past 40 years. A recent conversation between colleagues in Romania and the UK opened my eyes to the concept of dental tourism and after a bit of research I had a ‘now or never’ decision as to whether I should embark on what would effectively be a complete dental rebuild. Clearly given this trip report, the decision was ‘now’! Since March of this year I have been back and forth to Bucharest six times for many various procedures and remedial work, and the squeamish should skip to the next paragraph. In total I have spent at least 40 hours in the chair and have had 4 bone grafts - both natural and artificial, 8 implants, 9 root canals, 16 pieces of metal in my jaw, some of which were later removed again, many extractions, and various bits lasered, ground, scoured, sutured, reopened, re-sutured, and polished. I have had a team of six dentists doing this work including my overarching consulting dentist, 2 surgeons, a hygienist, an orthodontist, and a periodontist, plus all of the supporting personnel. Each and every one of them has been amazing. The intrusive work is now complete and we are on to the Hollywood Smile part :D All of this travel meant that I achieved BA executive club gold status organically before my tier year ended in September. This upcoming tranche of travel will give me BA gold status again through to September 2025. The trip report will cover all of these backward and forwards to Bucharest. The last three weeks will be predominantly flight and lounge reports, but there will be quite a bit of tourism next week if all goes to plan. That plan is: Return home Friday by train from Guildford as early as possible to get laundry, repacking, etc done after being away from home for the past 13 days BA Holiday Saturday-Friday with 2 planned dentist appointments Monday and Thursday (480 tier points) Normal flight booking the following Friday to Sunday, with one dentist appointment Saturday (240 tier points) BA holiday covering the following 2 weekends (960 Tier points) - Friday NCL-LHR-OTP, Sunday OTP-LHR/LCY-EDI EDI-NCL LNER with one dentist appointment Saturday - And finally Thursday NCL-EDI LNER, Friday EDI-LHR-OTP, Sunday OTP-LHR-NCL with 1 back-up/check-up dentist appointment Saturday In the last round of BA schedule changes a lot of my flights were cancelled and rescheduled so some of the flight timings will seem odd, it was not my first choice! It does, however, mean there will be at least one complete lounge safari in T3 which will be fun for me and, I hope, interesting to anyone reading the report. Signing off for now, see you all on Saturday Morning. |
Previous Trip Reports
Just hit the limit for signature size so here are my previous trip report links:
Krakow Kraziness Budapest long weekend Birmingham, Business, and Balti A Short Sibiu Sojourn |
1/3rd way into the lead post and suddenly I have a strong urge to pop into the bathroom for a quick brush.
|
Originally Posted by Fabo.sk
(Post 35655760)
1/3rd way into the lead post and suddenly I have a strong urge to pop into the bathroom for a quick brush.
|
Originally Posted by JapesUK
(Post 35655404)
This months fun and frolics is a whole series of trips to Bucharest.
...I have had a team of six dentists doing this work including my overarching consulting dentist... |
If this goes to plan I'll eat my hat. It will be interesting to see how you cope. The very best of luck.:tu::D
|
Originally Posted by rapidex
(Post 35657633)
If this goes to plan I'll eat my hat. It will be interesting to see how you cope. The very best of luck.:tu::D
|
Originally Posted by JapesUK
(Post 35658407)
I am an eternal optimist. I have also found a supplier of edible hats ;)
|
Originally Posted by Fabo.sk
(Post 35658753)
Does your supplier of, ehm, edible hats, have anything to do with the fact you need to travel to Bucharest so often? :D
|
And we’re off! The taxi was almost 30 minutes early and both fast track and security were quick and painless….
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...e10d50c19.jpeg …. except that the fast track security has a new mass scanner fitted on the left hand side and I think it need tuning as it was triggering for absolutely everyone! Maybe it was set up for skinny southerners ;) once past the pat down it was straight to the lounge and, as I had an hour to kill, I upgraded into Aspire Plus. Aspire have announced a major expansion of the Newcastle lounge into the old BA lounge space and that work is now commencing. As a result the plus lounge has shrunk and no longer has direct access to the lavatories. It’s all in a good cause and I’m looking forward to seeing the new 3 tier lounge product with table service promised for the top end lounge offering. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a09024560.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...41d99f886.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...0e164b0c4.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...33372f3f9.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...13842ff33.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...810ea9039.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...3b9c80d9d.jpeg |
It feels too early for breakfast this morning, but it’s never too early for chocolate and fizz ;)
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...57d87714c.jpeg The chap on the table next to me has just loaded three sealed bottles of Moretti into his hand luggage, the first time I’ve ever seen anyone doing a take out in the Newcastle lounge. Roughly thirty minutes before it’s time to go to gate so time to settle in and enjoy the ambience |
Our departure gate is gate 3 again and it must have opened fairly early as the priority lane was empty when I arrived, it was straight through and onto the plane. A younger crew this morning, remarkably cheerful for the time of the day, no doubly assisted by the fact that it’s their only flight today.
This is the first of my trips to fall victim to last months schedule changes and instead of being on the now cancelled BA1327 at 10:05 I’m on the 06:05 BA1321. This means two things, firstly I have lost the leggy luxury of row 1 and have been exiled into knee knocking row 6, and secondly that I will have roughly six hours at leisure in Heathrow T3. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...ed734b870.jpeg I have access to at least ten lounges in T3 through a combination of cards, status, and lounge schemes. I’m not going to try to visit them all today as I have a couple of even longer transits coming up, but I think a first class lounge safari may be the order of the day along with a proper tour of T3. I have not really explored all of the terminal before, normally heading straight to lounge and then departure gate. Everyone is aboard, the door is closed and we’re 7 minutes to scheduled departure. Next stop, LHR T5 and the unmitigated joy that is the trip over to T3. |
Some amusement during the safety briefing when the FA struggled to tie the double bow and was then four steps behind for the remainder of the life jacket demo. Had the plane gone for a swim I suspect anyone paying attention would have pulled the whistle to inflate and blown into the tube for attention :D
A full flight this morning, unsurprising given the previously mentioned cancellation of the 10:05. With 7 rows in business and well over ten minutes after take off before the in flight service started it was pretty rushed by the time they reached the back of the section with the pilot coming on to advise that we were over birmingham and starting our descent before everyone was served. Full English or mushroom omelette offered and so the full English it was, along with the morning trinity of coffee, orange juice, and fizz. No time for a top up, crew only just managed to clear the section before being called to their seats. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...99d5b878a.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...411f0e7c4.jpeg Some great views of london on the approach and we landed nice and early at 07:08 https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...42d173cf2.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...15f202f11.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c3603e39f.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...058c0099e.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...be971ee20.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...da7591dd8.jpeg |
T5 to T3 was a long run this morning, the bus took a while to arrive, there were a stack of people coming onboard at T5B, people were slow moving down the bus, slow getting off, basically just slow.
T3 security seemed to be particularly stringent too, took a while to get through as the scanner was backing up due to the time each body search was taking. From landing to arrival in the lounge has been 80 minutes with hand baggage only, not the worst ever but far from great. Which brings me to first stop of the day, the American Airlines First Class Lounge. The American lounge always seems to come last in any first class lounge comparisons but I think they all have their advantages and reasons for visiting and, with the American lounge, it is the breakfast pancakes which have become a habit for me when passing through T3 early. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...b7c77f7ee.jpeg Simple, but delicious, and decent coffee too. |
American Airlines First Class Lounge
The lounge itself doesn’t really feel first class, and the buffet options are also a bit average. Judge for yourself….
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...47753a6f1.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...1055e7046.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...5dc6f07d1.jpeg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c370ccc23.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...87850ddae.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...6a4033623.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...2d658464e.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...5a7694cac.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...36ab99eb0.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...993d09203.jpeg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...0881557ec.jpeg Gentleman’s facilities https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...e24b59de8.jpeg View from the lounge The portion sizes of the baked beans always amuse me, they clearly don’t get many Geordies visiting , based on my experience in the Newcastle lounge all of the AA bean pots would make half an average serving :D Some of the other things I like about this lounge is that the free pour Moët is situated immediately on entry, it is your welcome to the lounge, alongside the sweetie stall. I believe that pre-Covid they used to provide little sweetie bags on the sweetie stall for people to fill up, it feels a shame that they don’t do that any longer. I may have snaffled a couple of sherbet lemons for later! https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...afa51ca41.jpeg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...5b252be87.jpeg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...059e7986f.jpeg Another facet to the lounge is the at seat dining area where there are a dozen or so tables for two, and this is where I came for my morning pancakes and maple syrup. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...694810fa8.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...7191add8b.jpeg One final observation on the AA first lounge, the staff are unfailingly pleasant and apparently cheerful, not something I expect to say about the BA lounge when we visit later! And on that note it’s time to enjoy the fizz and the coffee for a little while before wandering off. Next stop, eventually, BA first lounge. |
BA first lounge, food
There a a First Dining section that I believe is reserved for those holding a first class ticket and also those with Gold Guest List status in the BA loyalty programme. Aside from this there’s a buffet that offers almost exactly the same food as in the business lounge and also the ability to order at table via QR code.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...7fe9b143d.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...f1326c4ef.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...4379905c7.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...9b0624de0.jpeg The at table menu has a few options not available at the buffet and as I was still peckish I went for the pancakes so that I could compare them against the AA offering. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...5e476deeb.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a01060b38.jpeg The result, they were good, in fact they were very good, but not AS good, I’d happily eat both, I did happily eat both, but I’d chose to order AA in preference of BA. Time to settle down and enjoy my drinks and then I might grab a quick shower as I skipped it this morning having showered last thing last night expecting to be time poor in the morning. |
BA Lounge showers
Well that was certainly a surprise. The showers are decidedly grotty! Mould, broken fittings, dribbling shower head, peeling varnish, cramped… the only good thing I can say is they achieved the end result. I honestly expected better having used the Lufthansa business class showers in Munich last week. If you want to see the difference take a look at my Sibiu trip report
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...b3f7c78b0.jpeg As the food team are switching from breakfast to lunch right now I shall hang around a few minutes to take pictures. The salads are done and the breakfast buffet is still in place so lunch is yet to make an appearance… I predict pies, fish cakes, pasta, and curry! |
Nailed it! No great surprise to anyone that frequents BA lounges, it’s been that same menu in first and business lounges for quite some time
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...8193478e9.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...3d373d6b7.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...996dbb0c8.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...756b6b2dc.jpeg |
Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge
Next up is everyone’s favourite lounge, the Cathay Pacific first class lounge. In retrospect I should have waited for that shower until I arrived here but lesson learned and experience gained.
The very understated elevator entrance leads up to a small reception then straight across to the First lounge. I always compare this to a gentleman’s club, leather, dark wood, panelling, understated elegance. The lounge looks a little untidy as they had just called boarding for the hong kong flight, usually it is very clean. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...45992f8e9.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...93d3656ae.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...07c38bd91.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...781dc1741.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...92f103c7d.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...4ee63ed01.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...fdf064038.jpeg Buffet food is available in ‘the pantry’ and there is also a table service dining area which I will eat at later https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...f250b7a0d.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...e2a0d56c3.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...69b692548.jpeg There’s a good selection at the bar, including four various fizzy offerings https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...32d4bee0a.jpeg |
And with that it is time to settle in with, you guessed it, a glass of champagne and a little bowl of some of the best spicy olives I’ve ever tasted. I love these olives and always start with a little bowl of them. And I forgot to take a picture so you get to see work in progress :D
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...ba4594306.jpeg |
Cathay Pacific Dining
No picture of the dining area again as it is full. Suffice to say that it follows the same theme as the rest of the lounge. There is about a dozen assorted tables available up to groups of four.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...1373feebc.jpeg Menu https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c27523ea3.jpeg Pulled Pork Bau https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...43d798e5a.jpeg Chicken Sambal https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c1620eb60.jpeg Artisanal Cheese A lovely meal and accompanied by champagne and a nice glass of port with the cheese. Time to wander back to the main lounge area, time for a coffee and a cognac |
Decided to wander into the Cathay Business class lounge as I know they have a good selection of deserts. Bartenders slightly confused by the concept of a single brandy :) Not taken any picture because I will be coming back for a proper stay during a subsequent trip.
very tasty chocolate ganache and just tidying up the coffee and brandy before heading off to the next stop https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...dac95124d.jpeg |
With roughly an hour to boarding it’s a short stroll to duty free to see what tastings are on offer today… always a dangerous visit as half the time I end up buying a bottle, or two, and today is no different!
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...fae5238e1.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...b30a3ea2a.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...6f6696795.jpeg The XOrdinaire Johnny Walker stand was unmanned, however I only recently tried that. The Delamain XO was very nice, the XXO a bit strident for my tastes. He almost had a sale when…. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...8d83d944d.jpeg Camus extra elegance reduced over £220, and Dufry Red reduced that even further. I already have a bottle of this at home, now I have an excuse to empty it :D |
And with the wallet emptying trip to duty free complete it’s time to visit the last lounge of today.
The quantas lounge is billed as a first class/business class lounge and when there are quantas flights scheduled the ground floor is a full service restaurant and gin bar. Today however only the first floor is open and that is a more business experience https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...db4acae8f.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...337355e3c.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...23d43941b.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a84cc305a.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a29df9516.jpeg The food offering makes me glad, as a carnivore, that I have already eaten elsewhere https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...17941530e.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...02d72c3fa.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...63f6499d3.jpeg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a6f75bb92.jpeg Settling in with a glass of Australian fizz and a coffee it is time to while alway the few remaining minutes until boarding https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c8af84490.jpeg |
A very small wander over to gate 11 and the group 1-3 lane was empty again. Into the holding pen and a minute later boarding was opened.
Row 1 for the remaining flights of this trip… yay! Legroom!!! https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...9bb935e23.jpeg looks to be 9 rows in front of the curtain for this flight so crew will be a little busy but flight is long enough that it shouldn’t ŷbe a struggle. with over 20 minutes until push back the odds are in our favour for an on time take off. The music is playing, people are coming onboard at a good rate, and therefore it’s time for me to buckle up and settle down for this short hop to Bucharest |
Nice creases in those trousers, Mr JapesUK :)
I take it the security construction work at NCL is now complete? |
Great catch on that cognac.
|
Originally Posted by Tocsin
(Post 35663089)
Nice creases in those trousers, Mr JapesUK :)
I take it the security construction work at NCL is now complete? Not sure about the security work, the construction next to the mass scanner didn’t look too permanent |
In the end we were roughly 20 minute late taking off. It was a very pleasant flight all around. The crew were excellent, addressed myself and my neighbour by name each time, attentive by not overly so, and kept the service flowing.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...1326e439c.jpeg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...7cb065709.jpeg I have ordered some special meals for most of these flights and this afternoons was the Hindu dinner which was a very tasty chicken tikka. Most of the rest of the flight I catnapped and stared out of the window. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...bb69f2af9.jpeg Expected landing was 20:15 and the captain caught everyone by surprise, including the crew, when he announced ten minutes to landing at 19:40. No idea how he made up roughly forty minutes on the trip but no complaints from me! despite a bus gate it was quick and easy through the airport and now playing ‘hunt the driver’ ‘hunt the driver’ turned out to be really easy, I hadn’t booked one! Bolt ordered, arrived in 5 minutes and we are on the way to the Hotel. |
That meal looks alright.
There's a pretty strong jetstream these days passing from UK towards east to southeast, I can imagine it taking a good bit of time of on a 3 hour flight. |
All checked in and Radisson did me proud once more. Upgraded to a junior suite, more than I need for the next 6 days.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a36b6625f.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...722918a95.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...88344f9d0.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...cb680c717.jpeg Great pool view but looking at the forecast after tomorrow the weather is on the change. That also means I need to rethink my plans as Tuesday was going to involve a fair bit of walking, may move that to tomorrow, that is a problem for breakfast time. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...f32a21cd9.jpeg Last stop of the night is the eighth floor executive lounge. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...1850082b9.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...5466452cd.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...e8246ae28.jpeg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c47ea3678.jpeg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...16c41406c.jpeg I’ve missed the food but I’ve had more than enough today! A couple of local beers and a few warm nuts will do me fine and then it will be off to bed after a pretty marathon day. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...93770593c.jpeg And with that it is time to sign off for the night, enjoy these beers and then off to bed. Tomorrow I’ll do a wander around the hotel at some point, it has some fantastic services and restaurants around the premises, and is absolutely huge. |
I've been very happy with Radisson recently.
|
I'm so happy that at least day 1 went without a hitch, and you got some decent lounge food. I bought my neighbour a bottle of Hennessy XO earlier in the year. He had never had an expensive bottle of cognac before, and once he got over his initial shock of not needing to put Coke in it, we've had a couple of pleasant nights sipping. Pedant note, there is no U in Qantas. Looking forward to the rest.:tu:
|
Originally Posted by rapidex
(Post 35664316)
. Pedant note, there is no U in Qantas. Looking forward to the rest.:tu:
Glad to hear you have converted another to the fellowship of the cognac |
After what has been a ridiculously long nights sleep for me, well over ten hours, it is 10 am in a bright and beautiful Bucharest.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...09bd8976f.jpeg The first order of the day is Coffee! The business lounge has some very nice pod coffee machines and a shower can wait. Breakfast buffet is part of the Lounge package and this morning is a fairly typical offering. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...46fe0f230.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...9680aeb9d.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...b54413ebf.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...4929c8db6.jpeg There is also a small al la carte offering https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...df864fad8.jpeg The weather forecast is looking a lot more forgiving than it was yesterday so I might not need to reschedule my itinerary, will look at it once caffeine levels are returned to normal https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...0059a173e.jpeg |
The lounge has turned into Fawlty Towers, never seen anything quit like it, staying out of fascination of what comes next. Firstly, eggs Benedict, McDonalds style
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c3c3c600d.jpeg This was rapidly followed by a group with a baby who are currently having a full volume nursery song contest in one corner. Next came the whisperer who was talking so quietly the lounge attendant couldn’t hear him, let alone understand him, especially with the infantile song background chorus. No sooner had the attendant gone off to place Mr Quiet’s order than Mr Angry arrived at the buffet station and instantly started kicking off about anything and everything. No salad.. which appeared in seconds as it had obviously just been removed to be refilled… dirty table.. there were many clean ones… and so on. Much muttering and grumbling. A few seconds later he is banging on the service door and when the chef appeared, berated him for having to wait 15 minutes to talk to someone… I’d like to think he confused seconds and minutes.. but I think he is just an ...! Latest complaint ‘you need to bring more water’, there are still 6 bottles on the counter! Free sideshow with breakfast ;) |
Just seen loads of people running along the road, Google tells me that it’s the Bucharest marathon this weekend.
One of my Romanian colleagues often complains of jet lag after the two hour shift from Romanian to UK time, which generally results in my mocking him unmercifully :D. Normally I’m up at 5-6am so having slept for so long last night, and with the time differential, this morning I am feeling completely out of synch with the day. It feels like it should be 7am when in fact the morning is almost gone. As he is reading this trip report let me categorically state that it is not jet lag, it is bed lag ;) Time for that deferred shower and then onwards and outwards for a purposeful wander around the city. |
As you may have guessed if you’ve seen my previous reports, if I have only a short time in a location I like to use structured tourism to maximise that time. As I have spent so much time in Bucharest recently I’ve taken most of the tours and now it is the much more unpredictable method of tourism by wandering around. This normally involves me following my nose into areas I have not visited before with very mixed results. It also means that the routes taken can be highly bizarre to an outside observer with many twists and turns, backtracking, and walking in circles, which is exactly what has happened today. After a two hour strollI found myself a few meters from the Radisson which was all the excuse I needed to stop off for a beer.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...3b2f12d5c.jpeg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a58ff5242.jpeg One of the things that never fails to strike me in Bucharest centre is the juxtaposition between the older architecture and the more brutalist buildings from the recent past. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...56d1002bb.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...23aae459d.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...3ff1700a0.jpeg And a small flavour of other parts of this lovely city https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...37f946581.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...381bacb7c.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...efd05df06.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...54bcf03b2.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...d38b85aaf.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a602e86c4.jpeg |
I am also a fan of street art and the route I took wasn’t particularly prolific, there was a lot of graphic art and tagging and an enormous amount of stickering.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...636fac6d0.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...7650590f8.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...713cb9c8c.jpeg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...029c42a08.jpeg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...494beaae4.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...f1a1e6c2b.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a18052219.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...92eff88a3.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...16906c69a.jpeg |
| All times are GMT -6. The time now is 3:55 am. |
This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.