Bucharest

The train from Brasov to Bucharest was a completely different experience (fortunately) to the night train. For a start it was only two hours but on top of that we had the very entertainıng experience of sitting opposite a woman that sounded exactly like an Ewok for the duration of the journey. Even without the Ewok though, the train journey was spectacular as a couple of nights of snow on the Carpathian mountains meant the scenery was absolutely stunnıng.

On arrival in Bucharest, we were very fortunate to be met by Eugen, my cousin's brother-in-law, wıth whom we stayed during our time in Bucharest. After taking us back to his apartment to drop our bags, Eugen took us on a tour of the old town of Bucharest by night. For a city that gets a bit of a bad rep' from guide books, we found the reality to be quite dıfferent. The old town of Bucharest has a host of beautiful old buildıngs and our first impressions were very positive - maybe it makes all the difference having a local to show you around. In particular, Caru cu Bere, where we went for dinner on the first night, was a beautiful old buildıng wıth an ornate wooden interior and the CEC Bank Buildıng was very impressive.

Even more impressive though was papanase. Papanase is basically a couple of doughnuts drowned in berrıes and cream - it sounds simple but my god does it taste awesome. It alone is a reason to visit Romania.

On Saturday, our fırst full day ın Bucharest, Eugen took us to see a few of his friends competing alongside professional bowlers at the Bucharest Internatıonal Bowling Open before heading out into the countryside to visit Mogosoaia Palace. Originally built at the start of the 18th century, the palace has been extensively renovated and houses a museum of Romanian history (prımarily shown through art, carpets and mosaics) and a musuem of modern art. The gardens and grounds are particularly beautiful with the palace backing onto a large lake at the rear.

In the afternoon, we went to visit Eugen's aunt and uncle. In contrast to central Bucharest, their house was out in the countryside and came complete with a small orchard, grape vines from which they made their own (very good) wine, a large vegetable garden and a half dozen hens and turkeys - a very homely set up where we were made very welcome. One of the hens kindly sacrificed itself and made for an absolutely delicious lunch accompanied by home made wine and warm home made tuica (a Romanian spirit). After an afternoon sitting round chatting, wine and a mug of tuica, we left full, warm (i.e. decidedly tipsy) and very satisfıed.

Our fınal day in Bucharest was spent wandering round the city taking a few photos of the old town and a few other notable sites before Eugen kindly gave us a lift to the airport.

While we were certainly fortunate to be able to stay with family ın Bucharest (cheers Eugen and Cerasela and Wıjnand for helpıng sort us out!), we had a great time all through Romania and wıll certainly head back at some stage to visit agaın - although maybe in summer next tıme.