In ,
Day 21 Bucharest Romania. 30 June

After breakfast we all boarded buses for a guided tour of the northern part of Bucharest.

It’s the leafy, wealthy part that includes the central administrative part as well as the older pre-Soviet buildings. Our guide was good but a bit hazy on some of the detail. What came through was the recency of the nation. Romania was only united after WW1 (from memory)  and then had a succession of occupations. They were a republic more or less under Soviet control until the late 1980s with the fall of President Ceaușescu and they have made rapid progress since then. 

Of course there was a Lamborghini SUV parked outside the hotel.
Symbolic monument of the democratic republic rising up from the darkness of communism
Still plenty of Soviet ‘architecture’
Some of the mansions and embassies in the leafy area of north Bucharest
A music concert chamber
Health and safety Romanian style. Ie climb carefully and hang on.

Our guide pointed out that all periods of history had their good and bad parts. Even under the Ceaușescu dictatorship most Romanians in rural areas and in smaller cities were ok as there is a strong culture of self sufficiency in gardening and animal raising. 

The building and square where Ceaucescu gave his final speech

It was very hot so we skipped the walking tour of the old town and did our own wander around, stopping at a barber shop and a teddy bear themed cafe. At one stage we seemed to be getting deeper and deeper into the red light district which was even seedier looking when closed!  

There were a group of buses picking up Avalon groups back at the allotted time and destination. Mike spotted Steve and Fiona getting on a bus following their tour of Bucharest at the end of the cruise. We get onto the boat they arrived on!  

The trip through the countryside to the port, Oltenitsa was interesting. Romania is very fertile and clearly the people have a culture of intensive gardening. Most homes had very impressive gardens with fruit, vegetables and flowers. 

These are from some random houses beside the gas station where the bus stopped

The boat is one of the longer ones and our cabin on the top level. It has exactly the same layout as the others and the food and service is excellent. 

The Danube is very low. So low that we briefly ran aground about half an hour after leaving the port.

There is a large contingent from Alberta Canada and a sprinkling of lots of other nationalities a king up the passengers.