Our Final Day: Train Trip to Sinaia, Romania and Back

 

Day 30 - We rushed from breakfast to the room to check in online for tomorrow's flights home.  Then, we walked to the train station that's near our hotel.  We boarded a 10:00 am train which was going to Sibiu in the Transylvania part of Romania.  However, as this was our final day, we didn't want to spend our entire time on a train.  We had purchased tickets to the mountain resort town of Sinaia, Romania 

The city of Sinaia was a royal summer residence before 1947.  That was the year that Russian troops occupied this country and deposed the royal family.  The city is the site of a famous Orthodox Monastery built in 1695. 

 

The train station was in the narrow valley and in order to get to the town centre, a hike was involved.

We walked through a famous park and continued climbing to the site of the Monasterio de Sinaia.  We went inside the old church dating back to the start of the site.

We also did a lot more walking.  We thought we might get a glimpse of Peleș Castle, even though we knew that it is closed on Tuesdays.  Rather than a taxi, we started walking up.  The 1.6 kilometer walk didn't sound too far, but in the end it was.

Today's temperature in the mountains was only 26C while the numbers in Bucharest were to hit 36C today.  Still, the incline and the pressure of a time limit prevented us from going all the way up.  We did enjoy the views nevertheless.

In order to be back in Bucharest by 4:00 pm, we had to catch a 2:20 pm return train.  By the time we got back down to the town center, we didn't have enough time for a proper sit-down lunch in a restaurant.  Instead, we bought super large, frozen, chocolate ice-cream cones for lunch!

The train back to the capital had a broken a/c and as we got down out of the mountains it got really hot inside.  The train was designed for air conditioning and did not have ordinary windows.  No air was moving and it got really hot.  We were very happy when getting out in the station near our hotel.  We picked up premade sandwiches and assorted items in the station to go.  Our lunch was at 4:15 pm.

We'll go out tonight for a proper dinner.  Oh, and have to pack.  We don't have to leave for the airport until 9:30 tomorrow morning, so we will have our last leisurely breakfast at the buffet.

Making Plans for Our Final Day of This Trip

 

Day 29 - We realized that tomorrow is the last full day left of our trip. So we went immediately back to North Station after breakfast and bought roundtrip, train tickets to the mountain city of Sinaia, Romania for tomorrow. It is the former summer palace for Romanian royalty. There's been no Romanian royalty since 1947, but the mountain town has maintained its connection through tourism, a few castles, and an important monastery. 

Tomorrow's weather is forecast to be 37C in Bucharest, so we thought a trip and lunch in Sinaia would be welcomed as the temperature will be a whole 10C cooler by the gain in elevation.

   

We had a rather lazy Monday and spent more time on the Metro Subway system. Once we got on the wrong car and went to the end of a line we'd never been on. It took us a while to get back on track.  We ended back up near old town and watched cats even lazier than us.  We sprawled on a park bench but they lazed under the trees.

 

I find it comforting at lunch, in a restaurant, beer cost about the same as water.  I have certainly tasted a whole number of new beers on this trip.  Like this one, most have been simple lagers accompanying lunch.

We revisited the Bucharest Fountains.  Unfortunately, at this time time years, it gets dark too late to really catch the LED water colours.  We are lucky in that the entire square will be under renovation from July this year.  If we'd come a few days later, we'd not have seen the existing configuration.  

This video lasts just 35 seconds.

Travelling to Constanța for Lunch

Day 28 - "Let's go back to the Black Sea for lunch," we agreed.  The new intercity express trains can make the trip to Constanța in two hours and seven minutes. Well the train going did.  Jay and I didn't have seats together and I sat with a young, bright local girl who eagerly spoke English with me for most of the trip.  She was already well-travelled and well-heeled and just finishing junior high school.

Our train which had left at 9:29 arrived just a bit after 11:38.  Jay and I used Uber to get a ride to the main tourist port area.  Our driver had worked in Saskatchewan for twenty years!  He returned to this city of this birth.  Of course, this city is the major Romanian port on the Black Sea.  However, the old town is actively setting up for tourism businesses as well.

It was a great Sunday and lots of visitors were out and about.  We walked around to the famous 115-year-old Constanța Casino.  It had been through five years of recent renovation, and opened just last month!  The stunning building impresses even if one isn't near it for gambling.

From the sea we walked up the small incline to the old part of the city.

We slowly enjoyed the scenery of the harbor, buildings, and a big public square.  I could easily get used to the view of this sea ...

   

We found a Lebanese restaurant and chatted while the shish taouk arrived.  The weather was delightful and the day perfect in nearly every respect.

We slowly walked retracing our steps to the Marea Moschee din Constanța, or the Grande Mosque.  That is where the old city proper ends.  Next, we walked to the busy high-level street and got another Uber back to the train station.  It all went swimmingly and we got out of the rideshare and directly into the station and onto the waiting train.

Our journey back to Bucharest was uneventful as we watched the scenery roll past our windows at up to 150 kph.  It did take us about 15 minutes longer on the return as we stopped at a couple of cities along the way.  As the train ended the journey right in North Station, we were only a five minute walk back to our hotel.

A Visit to the Arcul de Triumf in Bucharest

Day 27 - It was originally built in 1922 after WWI. The monument has been updated several times. We headed to it this morning after breakfast. We walked through some of the nearby King Michael I Park (Herăstrău Park) after getting out of the nearby Metro station.

Later, we got back on the subway and exited at the University Metro.  Apparently, this subway Metro station was not planned during initial plans for the stations.  It is very small and quite different as there was little room for the underground station.  We liked the area as there were lots of students hanging around on their weekend.  It's nice seeing young people who don't have to plan ahead when using the Metro systems to ensure they don't have to climb a lot of stairs by knowing the elevators and escalator locations.  I'm glad we started travelling when we were young!

We had lunch today at a restaurant in the North Station for trains.  This is where we will leave tomorrow for a day trip to the Romanian Black Sea coast.  We needn't get up early as our train doesn't depart until 9:39 am.  We will have lunch in Constanța and return to Bucharest by 5 pm.

On the longest day of the year, I should add that the sun set at 9:05 pm in Bucharest this evening.

Riding Around (and Under) Bucharest

 

Day 26 - We walked to the North Station and purchased tickets for Sunday. We got roundtrip rail tickets to Constanța. We'll go on a 9:39 train and return on a 15:20. So our plan is to lunch again by the Black Sea. We're on fast trains that cover the 223 km journey in less than two and a half hours. We were recently in Varna, Bulgaria and we have time to see Romania's main port city, so why not?

   

After bringing the tickets back to the hotel room, we ducked down into the Metro.  One station is right next to our hotel.  We tried travelling on a different line to get to the middle of Bucharest near the old town again.

 

We tried riding out on a new looking tram. For some reason our tickets didn't 'ding' when we touched them to the readers. We finally asked and learned that here our cards are only valid in the Metro system and not on the trams and busses.

 

As you can see, it was time for lunch, so we went into the old town area we saw yesterday and stopped at one of the small restaurants. We found the food a little expensive and Jay didn't really like his chicken and rice. My burger was delicious.

 

 

We had naps and walked around our neighbourhood a bit. We're near the North Station. So many of the buildings are derelict and empty in the streets surrounding this area. They were fancy old buildings but left empty. Strange. Years of Communist rule really screwed up the economy here, I guess.  Even with support of the EU, it's going to take a long time to get a functioning, up-to-date real estate market in this city.

A Start in Exploring Bucharest

Day 25 - We didn't get up early but went to the breakfast buffet at our hotel around around 8:30 am. We knew our nearby metro subway would take us to an area near the 'old town' so we got out at Piata Unirii and walked towards that area.

 

Walking through the area and learning about the buildings was interesting.  The last two of the Stavropoleos Monastery were a tiny respite from today's temperatures.  There was a heat warning issued because the temperature was due to reach 34C in the city.  The heat didn't deter us at all though.  We just bought a lot of drinks during out walks.

The enormous building now used at the Romanian Parliament was inspiring because of its size and its story.  It is reported to the heaviest building on earth and as a consequence is still sinking about 6mm/year.  Read about the man who initiated its construction as a personal palace but was executed before  completion on Wikipedia.  

Varna to Bucharest by Van

Day 24 -  Goodbye, Bulgaria and hello, Romania.

After our hotel's breakfast, we had the hotel call a taxi and paid almost US $7 to go to the bus station in the new part of Varna.  We waited and exactly at 9:30 am a van rather than a large bus showed up for us.  We got on with just two other gents.  We headed off and went back towards the north central town of Ruse in Bulgaria.  We stopped for one other young woman before getting to the city on the southern shore of the Danube River.  In the Ruse bus terminal, we filled up the other 11 seats.

When we got to the middle of the bridge we were in Romania.  It is called the friendship bridge and although small in the 1950s, it has grown in importance as a crossing after these two countries joined the EU in the late 2000s.  Although this was part of the Schengen area, on north side of the river a border checker made a cursory review of everyone's passport of ID card.  Then, onto downtown Bucharest we motored!

   

The Pegasus van dropped us off in front of the historical facade of the Horoscop Hotel near the old town.  I opened my phone and got an Uber to come to take us to the My Continental Hotel in the North Station neighbourhood.  It took about 20 minutes and cost US $7 with a tip to the courteous driver.

As soon as we'd checked in and unpacked, we walked to the station area and had Subway® for a quick bite.  Then we checked the Metro subway system and saw it has around five lines.  We found a machine where we discovered it was less than CA $14 for an unlimited weekly pass,  So, we bought two.

We tried them out immediately and, completely by fate, ended back near the middle of the fantastic fountains that we'd passed in the Uber.  We know we'll be able to get around using either method.  Bucharest seems larger than the cities we've been in recently.  Any city worth its salt has adequate urban transit options!

We went to a local neighbourhood Lebanese restaurant for a little dinner.  I am not quite sure why I feel so tired.  The day hasn't been especially long.  More importantly, the 6.3 kms that we walked is substantially less than most days in the last three weeks of our southeastern Europe galivanting.