Bucharest Beginning

We decided this  morning to just finish up our granola bars from home because after today we will be feasting like kings on the Viking Embla!  I didn't want to pay 15 Euros for a hotel breakfast and really we just wanted coffee and tea in our room and snacks!  It worked well.  a relaxing morning.  I am finishing a very good book.  The first time I have ever read an entire book on my phone.  Not bad and it was a First Reads from Amazon so tomorrow I can get another free read!  It is called Beyond the Shadow of Night by Ray Kingfisher.  I seem to find a lot of good World War II books about various aspects of Nazi terrorism.  This had a bit of a different twist and kept my interest.

At 10:00 we checked out and the called a cab.  For $2.35 we had a taxi to our hotel.  I gave in five and he seemed delighted. This is a very nice J.W. Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel.  Directly across from the Parliament Palace, Ceausescu's Palace, it hosts the delegations from visiting diplomats.  Today, down the hall from us we have a guard protecting the Canadian Delegation.  Or maybe they are protecting us from them!  Either way there is a lot of police presence all around us and many, many large black limousines!

This is a really beautiful and very fancy hotel.  It has the most beautiful bathroom I have ever seen in any hotel anywhere.  Separate shower and tub, more than enough towels, soft rug by the sink, large tub.  But pictures will have to wait until tomorrow except for the ones in the hotel link.


We were able to come to our room which was nice.  Elva took a nap and I read.  We did connect up with Elva's brother, Allan and his wife Mary who are joining us n this trip.  They were on the pre-trip to Brashoff and Bran to visit Dracula.  We tried to have lunch in the hotel but the casual restaurants were closed for the holiday.  The garden one was closed because it was 'chilly.'  The three of them went off to find a pretty park and some lunch and finally found a place where they each had a slice of Pizza.

I declined and am glad I did.  I got well caught up here and besides, before they returned, it rained.  Just as I was winding down on my laptop, which is at least co-operating now, Carol texted me that she had arrived.  I went down to her room and after much hugging and a quick catching up we got her signed up for her preferred included tour.  Back in the room by now, Elva dozed and I read.

We all met at about 6:00 and went to the recommended Italian restaurant across the street.  It is the only hotel Viking could recommend.  Romanian Italian isn't really Italian but the place was pretty, and clean.  The dishes all appeared to be hand made.  The bread sticks were filled with peppers but warm  The bread was sturdy!  The  butter was mixed with anchovy paste.  The Coke Zero was good.

Mary and Allan Sanders, Elva Sanders Smith, and me.  Sweet Carol took the picture.

Back in the room now as tomorrow the actual Viking trip begins.  Nine o'clock and Elva is sleeping.  I hope Carol is as she has been awake more than 24 hours due to flight cancellations and changes.  The good thing is that by 11 this morning she had already had two breakfasts and a lunch!

Surprising Transfer to Eastern Europe Exploration - PArt 2.

Monday we rose early to have breakfast before our 7:35 shuttle bus pickup to go to the airport.  We were checked out, paid our 9Euros each, and just sitting down to wait when our Taxi showed up showed up early.  Sweet.  We shared the ride with a student from the Netherlands going to meet here friends at the airport.  A delightful young lady studying Occupational Therapy because there are too many physical therapists in Holland!

The rain yesterday must have been snow in the mountains because the Alps were dusted like sugar cookies!

Only 45 minutes after leaving the hotel we were having 'a coffee' in honor of all our tour guides.  Having a coffee is the social thing to do and can take a couple of hours even if it is only a tiny cup of Espresso!  I emailed Tina to let her know we arrived safely and all was well.  She could check us off her list of responsibilities!

We went up an escalator when we finished and through a police passport control and went down to our gate.  Air Serbia had small planes for this flight which we changed to another small plane in Belgrade. 

When was the last time you looked out an airplane window and saw this?

I wish the video would post because it truly amazed me but it is on both my Instagram and Facebook pages.  The phone camera actually allows you to see the individual blades as they spin!

We arrived safely and found a taxi to the Sheraton Hotel which is now a Marriott Bonvoy.  If I had not booked a non-refundable rate when Viking said this was our hotel we would have missed out on the free ice cream at the nearby McDonald's! Our short walk did not make the neighborhood seem inviting which is why, possibly, Viking changed locations when the J.W. Marriott Budapest Grand Hotel became available. The room was nice but the pool was out of service. 

Elva and I sort of rearranged our packing and I moved my lighter weight and summery looking clothes to the top.  In the morning we move to the correct hotel to meet up with out Viking River Cruise, Elva's brother and sister-in-law, and our friend Carol.

Rainy Day Sunday

I have been having a combination of bad hotel connections and a Microsoft issue with my laptop so now wil try to catch up.  For the third time in two days I have had to re-register my Windows Key ID.  So I will backtrack now to the cold, rainy, soggy last day of our first tour!  Outdoor pictures will not be very good but you saw most of the local pictures already as well as the beautiful Lake Bled area.  One rainy day for this whole central base trip is not bad.  But it was cold!  45 F at noon!

Rita, Vicki, Connie, and Rich, Elva and I are always gathered early for tours.  City Hotel in Ljubljana was very nice.

We took a ten a.m. boat cruise on the Ljubljanca River.  We will go anywhere in any weather for a sip of sparkling wine!  We has a beautiful wooden boat and the only wood boat on the river.  This was the 'guide.'  He and the Captain were very good.

The sports club rows on the river.

Perfect weather for ducks, as they say.

The Butcher's Bridge, near the open market, is exactly what it says.  Butcher's used to set up their stalls here.

The church actually looks better from the river because you can't see al the construction like in the photo from the first day.

The boat took the river's name.  As I mentioned before I don't have access to all the pronunciation marks but the dragon's tale is acting as one so the C is soft and the word ends as sounding like 'saaa.'

The Dragon Bridge is called the Mother-in-Law bridge by locals.  They love their in-law jokes!

Everyone except Vicki went on to the castle.  She had gone yesterday when we all went to Lake Bled.  Today she stayed back to pack for her flight home to Kentucky Colonel land!

This spun silver dragon met us at the castle entrance.

The castle experience that we chose was quite interesting but much of it was outside in the drenching rain!  The costumed presenters though di da great job under the circumstances and did not skimp on telling their story.  Of the six parts, two were interior.  The other four were done under  cover rather than precisely where they would normally be.  I think this was more to protect the somewhat elaborate costumes than us!  Lara, the guide leading us, used her umbrella but managed to get almost as wet as we did!

 

 Our Roman soldier met us at the well which was oddly outside the castle walls.  But an artificial hill had been built to protect it from those who might besiege the castle  The 'goddess' was there and the interplay was well done.

 

St. George slew the dragon to save the town and the last virgin, only one had remained!

You might notice that the entrance is high above the ground. That is because the artificial hill reached that height but is gone now.

Not really easy to discern here but this was about a ten foot deep pit that would have had these iron gratings over the top.  This was a jail cell for the common townsfolk.  They were lowered on a rope until their sentence was served and fended for themselves.  Not sure how as it was just a hole in the ground.

Rudolph of Habsburg took control of the castle in 1278 although it was first constructed in sometime in the 11th century high above the existing town.  Castle of Ljubljana

As often happens, he had the money for the castle because she had a large dowry.  She was not real happy with him!  Arranged marriage.

This demonstrated that the original castle was more brick but in later years got a new coat of stone.  No one was sure when.

 


We met this young lady who spent 10 months in the nobility penitentiary and all she did was tell a friend, while in the open marketplace, that she thought the mayor was an 'ass!' They could go out occasionally into the courtyard to walk around which was like heaven.  But the worst thing was that the meals in the jail repeated.  Every Wednesday and Saturday was barley soup that was really just watery broth.  Corn meal served on Thursday.  The longest sentence served here was 10 years.  That is ten years of twice a week barley soup!  No thanks!

Here we have a soldier of Napolean's Army telling how they bravely took the castle and used it for their headquarters.

He generously allowed the nuns to stay and tend to the wounded soldiers.  They even allowed the good sisters to teach the Slovene language to the military men.

She Tsk Tsked a lot and told the 'true story!'  The art int he background has nothing to do with the castle.  We were in the Pentagonal Tower. It is used for exhibitions just as the courtyard hosts festivals and outdoor movies.

 

The Mayor, not the ancient one who was an ass,  told us how he saved the castle and turned it into a wonderful place to have visits and host diplomats.  Meanwhile a 'scribe' would write your name in Calligraphy for a 5 Euro price.

We met the Mayor in the Chapel of St. George which was beautifully decorated.  Note though that it is not saints you see here but Coats of Arms.

I thought the pews were very interesting and different.  And there were heating vents in the floor so I stood on one to try to warm up a little.

There were several museums included in our 10,50 Euro ticket so I visited four of them.  One was the puppetry museum as this part of the world loves puppets as we have found out all along the way. 

 

 

One museum had a tiny model of every castle in Romania and pretty much it seemed like every town had at least one. 

Another museum had all kinds of armor and this interest interactive piece! 

The note says you can try on the chain mail shirt but it will be itchy and may cut you!

 The most interesting thing was a copy of the famed Dance with Death in the hall of the National Museum.  The original fresco is in the Hrastovlje Church and was done in 1490.  This copy, however, is also done in a fresco style and is complete but I believe on a slightly smaller scale.  Danse Macabre

The message is clear.  From baby to old age, no matter your calling or no matter you wealth, Death is the final partner.

We were done! Mission accomplished so to speak so we took the Funicular down to the city and made our way back to the hotel to try to dry out and warm up before setting out again for a Farewell dinner.

I did stop long enough outside the puppetry theater to take a picture of the dribbling Kangaroo.  When you pushed the plunger in his paw a stream dribbled out of his mouth.  Cute!

Marketers still tried to sell their goods.  The berries looked delicious but we leave in the morning.  And five Euros for a basket of blueberries seems a lot!

We crossed the famed Triple Bridge which was designed by the pride of the city, Architect Joze Plecnik, so that carts and traffic could dross in the middle and pedestrians on the sides.

 

The quilt-like sidewalk pattern was fascinating as we walked to our typical Slovenian restaurant for a typical Slovene dinner of Flying Chicken.  The name is a 'joke' by the waiters.  It was fried chicken!  The wine was good, the food delicious and plentiful and the entertainment was especially for us.  I am sorry this site is picky about videos so I will try to add just a snippet.

This guy was very good but the host never credited him although he provided perfect musical accompaniment to all the festivities.  It was kind of like being at a Chicago wedding!

Delicius and of course our welcoming brandy!

The costumes represented different regions and differing classes of wealth.

 

The  petticoats and pantaloons were all authentic as were these costumes.  Really pretty.  This woman was a person of probably middle class wealth.  Her outfit had a colorful embroidered sash to hold the keys to all they owned.

 

Sorry, again, no luck with the video of the lively dancing.
But here is a link to typical Slovenian dancing.

Flying Chicken and mashed potatoes with pork in mustard sauce on the side!

 The dancing took place while we ate but before the dessert we played the hat game.  Hats were passed from head to head until someone dropped one or they all ended up on one person's head!  You might have played this at Scouts or a children's party. 

Margaret, who is short, and Jim made it to the end but then Jim won!

Our host was welcoming and very good and we determined he was about 6'7" tall!

A quick, wet walk back to the hotel, hugs and farewells all around and Eastern Europe Part One come to an end.