ABOVE: Came across old mate Vlad. He'd made a real mess of himself last night and somehow managed to get into his coffin upside down!
ABOVE: A real Vampire's cape!
ABOVE: The castle actually housed royalty until relatively recent times. This is a kitchen area.
ABOVE: In the castle gounds where we had a cup of hot tea, it was 1C!
We got the bus back to Brasov (pronounced Brushoff) and walked to the town centre. We were having a beer when a large group of people started singing and making speeches. I asked our waiter what was going on and he explained that they were celebrating the uprising against Ceaușescu in 1987. Nicolae Ceaușescu was one of those communist dictators whose idea of communism was that he and his cronies could live in opulent luxery while his subjects got to live in poverty. Our waiter explained that after local elections the workers at many factories went on strike and gathered in the town square, they discovered that despite there not being enough bread to feed the local population the political leaders had a well stocked party planned for when their candidates won. Whilst no one was killed it was the first time that Ceaușescu faced any sort of popular revolt. Our waiter told me "it was terrible, the shops even ran out of bread, I was 8 years old" Two years later Ceaușescu was overthrown and him and his wife were shot on Christmas day 1989.
Day 29 Brasov (Romania) to Bucharest (Romania)
We had planned to go deeper into the Romanian mountains by visiting Sibiu or Sighisoara but the Saturday timetables just didn't make it feasible so we decided to get the train straight to Romania's capital, Bucharest, a 3 hour journey.
ABOVE: Our train is docked up to the platform at Brasov by this ancient looking shunting loco.
ABOVE: We walked around the old town at Bucharest and had a strange experience. There were many bars/restaurants that had touts out the front trying to get people into their establishments. Three times we went in, sat at a table and then were ignored by the waiters. We gave them 5 minutes after which we left, bizarre!
ABOVE: A tram just sitting, probably awaiting departure time, in Bucharest. Walking around Bucharest presents several challenges. There are often cobble stones missing resulting in deep holes or cobblestones sitting up waiting for someone to trip over them. Then there are these things that look like cannonballs set into the footpath that seem to serve no purpose. I'll get a pic of them tomorrow.
Google Maps had a restaurant a bit away from the tourist area that had fantastic reviews. I had pork ribs for about the 3rd time this trip and they were amazing. I know there are some ethical issues with eating pork but it's the pigs fault, if they didn't want to be eaten they shouldn't taste so good! Kris had a chicken/sausage/potato dish that she said may have been the best meal she's had on this trip, Big Call I say!
ABOVE: At the restaurant where we had dinner these ladies were out for the night. The one on the right asked me if I'd like to dance but I said I couldn't as my bone spurs are acting up.
ABOVE: This is the view from our 17th floor balcony at the Grand Hotel Bucharest. I haven't used the tripod much on this trip so I got it out to get this of the big roundabout near us.
Day 30 Bucharest (Romania)
Sorry train lovers, I didn't see a train all day so this blog will be 100% train free! We got a bit of a late start and got a coffee just here. In yesterday's blog I mentioned the tripping hazards everywhere you walk here. I wonder how many people have tripped over these cannonballs placed precisely in the centre of the pedestrian crossing?
Above we walked along a grand boulevard that had six traffic lanes and these tree lined footpaths leading up to Ceausescu's palace.
ABOVE: The palace has to be seen to be believed, photos do not convey its size. It is 330,000 square metres and has more than 3,000 rooms. Construction was started in 1984 and it is the second largest administrative building in the world after the Pentagon. It is now home to the Romanian parliament. We couldn't do a tour as we left our passports at the hotel, which are required to gain entry. Apparently the inside is outlandishly ostentatious.
ABOVE: We walked along the Dambovita river and I liked this relection of some old buildings on the water. BELOW: Another reflection shot from our hotel balcony.
ABOVE: This building is part of the university, it also contains the library. During the 1989 revolution it was badly damaged by fire. Libraries from all over Europe have donated books to help it get back on its feet.
ABOVE: We went to national art gallery where we saw a huge collection of very old European paintings. Most of them were not my cup of tea, being those dark paintings of mainly religous subjects but Kris liked this one titled "The Knitter"
ABOVE & BELOW: The building that housed the museum was amazing! It had been an old palace and I've never seen so much marble.
ABOVE: There are doorways and then there are DOORWAYS! Betcha can't get one of those at Bunnings!
ABOVE: If you know any electricians, tell them to get over here, looks like they could do with some expert electrical help.
BELOW: At the end of the day I thought I'd have a bit of fun with my tripod and the timelapse feature on my iPhone!
Day 31 Bucharest (Romania) to Craiova (Romania)
It was cold, 0 C and very foggy when we awoke in Bucharest. We had to get the metro from our station to the main country train station, Gara De Nord during peak period with our backpacks!
ABOVE: At Bucharest Gara Du Nord.
ABOVE: This was our train from Bucharest Gara Du Nord to Craiova, a three hour ride.
ABOVE: Craiova is apparently well know for its christmas market and decorations.
ABOVE & BELOW: The food section had few vegetarian options, meat, meat and more meat.
Day 32 Craiova (Romania) to Sofia (Bulgaria)
It didn't look far on the map but todays travel was an ordeal. We only had one train to catch from Craiova, a 07:20 departure to Vidin, the border, where we would catch a train to Sofia. We left our hotel in darkness, we were too early for breakfast so the hotel made us up a take away breakfast. On our walk to the station it was -2 C with heavy frost on the cars and the puddles of water were frozen solid. My eSim, without warning, had run out so I had major problems validating my Eurail pass.The station was bizarre, it only had 4 platforms but our train was departing from platform 28! Turns out platform 28 was a little dead end platform near the station building. Our train was a sorry sight. A little 2 car train covered in graffit with shattered windows and no heating. The toilet was unspeakable. But it got worse, the track conditions were so bad that the train trundled along at about 30 km/h almost all the way to the border at Vidin.
ABOVE: The stations between Craiova and Viden were as sad as the train. This station is actually in use, the train stopped at it and passengers got on! BELOW: Believe it or not this is an "in use" station. We stopped here and someone got on. I think those are the foundations for the old station building behind the station sign.
ABOVE: This goods shed, at Motatai Gara, has seen better days but it was in much better shape than most of the station buildings on the line.
ABOVE: Their railway stations are sad but their rivers put ours to shame. Here we are crossing the Danube, the border between Romania and Bulgaria.
ABOVE: Our train arrived here on this fenced off platform. Bulgaria's border control met us as we got off the train and took our passports into the building on the right. After about 10 minutes they came out and handed our passports back and we were in Bulgaria. We went into a coffee shop near the station and who should we run into but a 100% pom that is married to a Bulgarian. He explained that he used to own a car but because it was a nice and shiny new car he kept getting pulled over by the cops who wouldn't let him continue until he paid their bribe and anyway, the roads are shit in Bulgaria so he sold his car and catches the bus or train whenever he needs to go anywhere. He explained that he was waiting for his wife to finish work so he was at the station cafe eating "cheap and nasty" food. He did tell us where a good place to eat was that had amazing views of the Danube, we had two hours to fill in before our next train.
ABOVE: The view from the restaurant across the Danube river, over the other side is Romania.
ABOVE: After our brunch on the Danube we walked back to the station to catch our train to Sofia. This train was only marginally better than the one we had just got off! The Bulgarian loco looks very Soviet era!
ABOVE: Our train arrived at the major junction station of Mezora where it changed direction. Almost the entire train detarained to have a smoke as we were here for 20 minutes.
ABOVE: Prize for the saddest train on our trip must go to this poor wreck of a thing that arrived and connected with our train at Mezora. The scenary for Mezora to Sofia was quite nice as we followed a river most of the way. For some strange reason trains do not go into Sofia, they stop at a station called Sofia Sever. There you change onto the worst wreck of a train ever for a five minute ride into Sofia's main station.
Bulgaria really looks dilapidated and there is rubbish everywhere especially near railway lines. The people rarely make eye contact and most hospitality staff are stand offish. We did find a nice restaurant in Sofia but even there the staff were definitly not overly friendly. Maybe being beaten down by decades of communist rule takes its toll?
Day 33 Sofia (Bulgaria)
I'm composing todays blog from the sleeping compartment of our train from Sofia to Istanbul. I've got the top bunk, AGAIN, but it is Kris's birthday.
We checked out of our hotel but had about 6 hours until our train left for Istanbul so we explored Sofia in Daylight. We had gone into the centre of town last night for dinner but it was dark. Oh and did I tell you that Google maps got us hopelessly lost trying to get back to our hotel last night?
ABOVE & BELOW: Sofia has a decent tram system so I thought I better include some tram shots for my tram mate gunzels.
ABOVE: The Sofia national museum.
ABOVE: When Sofia were building their underground about 20 years ago they discovered extensive Roman ruins. Thankfully they preserved them and are now a tourist attraction. They were quite extensive and even showed things like the lead pipes buried under the streets. There were many interpretive signs and one of them suggested that a reason for the demise of the Roman empire was because fertility dropped due to lead poisoning!
ABOVE: I'm not suprised he only ruled for a year with a diet like that!
ABOVE: This photo shows three cultures/religions. In the foreground is what I think is an ancient Greek orthodox church, in the middle are the Roman ruins uncovered when they were building the underground and in the distance is a Mosque, as we walked past the mosque we could hear the call to prayer chants which were quite moving.
ABOVE: This is the national assembly building (parliament) for Bulgaria.
ABOVE: We walked back to the station to catch our train and walked past this shop. Now I'm the first to admit I'm no disability access expert but I can't see how old mate is going to get his wheelchair into this shop! The funny part is that it is selling disability aids!
We didn't know if our overnight train to Istanbul had a dining car, it doesn't, so we thought we better have a meal before getting on the traiin. The Google review was good but it looked like a bit of a dump. Anyways, the food was fine and we had the nicest waitress so we were glad we ate there. When we left we gave her a tip and she was genuinely embarassed "For Me?" I think only locals eat there and she doesn't get many tips.
ABOVE: Our train from Sofia to Istanbul, retracing another leg of the Orient Express. After our previous experiences with Bulgarian trains we were a bit apprehensive of what lay in store for us. Turns out the carriages are Turkish railways and the sleeping compartments are fantastic. We have a private room with a wash basin and a fridge! We have been told that at about 2:00am we will do Turkish customs which involves getting out of the train with all our bags. Sounds like fun!
Day 34 Sofia (Bulgaria) to Istanbul (Turkey)
Day 34 bagan with us on the train on the train from Sofia to Istanbul. Suprisingly for a long distance overnight train there was no buffet/restaurant car so we were glad we had eaten before we got on the train. Our conductor warned us about when and where we would do customs. It was still a suprise to be woken by our conductor about 1:00am for customs at the last station at Bulgaria, about 20 minutes later we crossed into Turkey and we had to get out of the train with all our luggage at Kapikule and first line up in this dingy little office to have our passports looked at, then we had to go to another building and our luggage was put through an XRay machine. Funny thing about this station was that there were cats everywhere. Once every compartment had been inspected we were allowed back onto our train and we set off towards Istanbul.
ABOVE: Our train having just arrived at Halkali. For some reason the train does not go into Istanbul but dumps you at a place called Halkali which is a 10 stop commuter train ride into Istanbul. The ticket machine to buy the ticket seemed a bit confusing but there was a security guard that was cheerfully helping everyone to figure out the ticket machine. We got off at the metro station Sirkeci which is the same place as the international trains used to terminate at. After a really good Turkish coffee we walked to our hotel. Every business in Istanbul seems to have a cast of thousands. And there is always help at hand if you ask for it from "my friend will show you" I don't know how many people actually work in Istanbul because everywhere you see blokes sitting around in groups at cafes drinikng tea and smoking cigarettes.
ABOVE: After a short walk around we had brunch near our hotel. We are smack bang in the middle of the toursist area so prices were quite high but I had my first non meat meal in a while. Lentil soup followed by the plate of dips with bread. It was exactly what we needed. I also had my first Turkish tea which was amazingly good!
On of the miniarets at the huge mosque near where we are staying. Every few hours you hear the call to prayer.
One of the smaller markets near where we are staying. Never have I seen such a high density of shops or cafes, every direction, every street, there are endless places to spend your money, its insane but great!
ABOVE: Near our hotel we found a nice place to sit outside and have a beer at the Red River Pub. It had been raining as you can see in this photo of a tram passing by where we were having a drink.
Day 35 Istanbul
We walked to the grand bazaar which was an amazing place. We had to go through metal detectors to get into the place. Once inside it was like an endless rabbit warren to shops, passageways going off in every direction with more jewellery shops than you could imagine. We purchased a few things and apparently got a special deal because we were the first sale the bloke had made for the day and he said that is good luck for him and his new found friends, us! The price magically came down from 700 lire to 500 but then he upsold us so we walked away about $200 lighter. I'm sure we got had, but hey, they have to make a living!
ABOVE: Inside the grand bazaar. Apparently it is 64 streets undercover, it was a rabbit warren. I thought a grand bazaar in Istanbul would be an incredibly noisy place but it was actually fairly quiet.
ABOVE: Did I mention that everyone seems to smoke in Istanbul? Even the dolls are known to have a puff! Ciggies are about $4.00 a pack!
ABOVE & BELOW: Just outside the grand Bazaar.
Today we decided to be good little tourists and signed up for a boat ride around Istanbul. Before the boat ride we were met at our hotel by a seedy looking bloke who was to take us to our bus that was to take us to our ferry. We were wondering if this is when you get taken to some place where a kidney gets removed, it all looked a bit suss! Anyway, it was all legit and we were on a bus that spent more time stopped in traffic than it did moving. The boat went out into the harbour and all of the sights were explained in Eglish and russian. Then we got dumped on the Asian side for an hour of shopping.
ABOVE & BELOW: I've been investing in boating and educational institutes in Istanbul so I got to see how my money has been spent lately!
ABOVE: Mosques are two bob a dozen in Istanbul but you kinda have to photograph them when you see them.
ABOVE: This was inside the mosque near were they let us off to do some shopping. Before entering a mosque you must remove your shoes.
ABOVE: On our return trip on the boat the workers threw bread off the back of the boat which attracted these seagulls. This photo reminds me of those figureines that 70's houses used to have on their living room walls.
ABOVE: After we got back to shore we walked over this bridge where there were hundreds of fisher people hanging their rods over the bridge. I thought this was an ingenius use of space, builing retail areas under the bridge over the water. BELOW: a view from below of the fishing poles.
ABOVE: Just next to the "new" mosque I went into.
ABOVE: A bit of traffic madness near the mosque!
ABOVE: It's a tight squeeze between the shop fronts and the trams. This tram was doing about 40 km/h and there was about a metre between the trams and the shop fronts!
Day 36 Istanbul (Turkey)
Sadly it rained all day today, often quite heavily I eventually decided that the walls of the hotel could be stared at no longer and ventured out.
Quite close to us was the station where the Orient Express arrived and departed from. There was an unremarkable museum there which I had a look in. The ABOVE photo shows the waiting room. BELOW, the platform where the Orient Express arrived and departed.
ABOVE & BELOW: two views inside the grand bazaar.
I had lunch at a little hole in the wall near the grand bazaar, it was a place for locals, no signs in English and certainly no English spoken but I got a very nice wrap with chicken and spices in it. It was strange, it was a small cafe but it had about 6 wait staff plus a very serious looking old bloke who you took your ticket up to, to pay. The whole meal cost about $10.
ABOVE: A bit of video showing one of the many shops that sold these beautiful light shades. I wish I could bring a few home!
Tomorrow morning we fly out of Istanbul to Doha and Melbourne so this is the end of the trip. Hope you've enjoyed the blogs! Happy Travels. :-)