Day 20 – to Bucharest, Romania. 29 June

We had a taxi booked for 8.15 and the driver was in reception when we went down. That’s the only good thing I can say about him. He was sullen, totally incapable of working out how to Jenga our bags into his enormous Tesla boot and refused any suggestions we had to offer. In the end 2 bags were put in the front. He then proceeded to drive in between constant txt conversations on his phone. He wanted cash at the airport. Needless to say I did not proffer a tip.

Check in took forever but we were in plenty of time.

The Austrian Airways cabin crew look a bit like Santa’s helpers

We bought a coffee and pastry for breakfast and had an easy flight to Vienna where we transited to Bucharest. Vienna airport is lovely and very efficient. I bought Mike and I a chicken and avocado sandwich each to have on the next flight. Pauline had preordered food for the plane as she was nervous about the relatively shot time we had in Vienna but it was so efficient we had loads of time.

The flight to Bucharest was great. Mike and I were seated near the front in a row with 2 seats on one side and 3 on the other. Because it is part of our star alliance package we got 2 good seats together as overall we are premium economy even though some airlines don’t have that specific cabin class.

We got a taxi to the Intercontinental Hotel which is the start point for our river cruise. Like the driver we got on our arrival into Nice, the Bucharest driver was great and full of interesting information.

The Intercontinental is very grand.

We found a pharmacy down the street to get more Sudafeds for Mike. It is very very hot in Bucharest.

There was a meeting for the cruise group at 6pm. We stay in the hotel on the first night, have a bus tour around the city in the morning and then some free time. Then we are driven about an hour and a half to where we board the boat. (The Danube doesn’t flow through Bucharest.

The taxi driver described it as a small Paris and it is easy to see why. Although there are plenty of ugly Soviet buildings there are also loads of very elegant buildings that look classically French. It is rather beautiful.

This one is being restored and is partly an artists gallery and workspace

We found an excellent restaurant around the corner.

No one was sitting outside and the staff were definitely encouraging everyone indoors!

It’s essentially a Turkish restaurant with loads of different skewers all displayed in the refrigerated cabinet. Pauline had the chicken and I had the salmon. Mike couldn’t resist the tagliatelle.

Tonight I had salmon with spicy potatoes and asparagus. Divine.