Wednesday 17 June 2026 - Bucharest

 

An early start, and despite a few hiccups Sue and I were in Bucharest and reunited with our luggage by 11am UĶ time (1pm Romanian time)

On the 25 minute journey from airport to city centre we learnt a bit about the ridiculous cost of things here. The fare was £1.08 each.

A short walk from the station saw us in the apartment that we've hired for a few days.

Time to do some planning....

...if not distracted by the view from our writing desk.

Then we took a stroll in nearby Cismigiu Gardens, where Guy and Harriet Pringle spent time in Olivia Manning's 'Fortunes of War', set here in 1939.

Then a stroll around some of the town's impressive buildings before returning home for a cold shower. It's 30ºC here, and quite humid. Lovely blue sky though.

Apart from the odd Ferrari, drivers here are fairly sedate, so life as a pedestrian is fine. The place is however littered with (mainly) green electric scooters that bomb around with takeaway orders etc.

As in other places we've found an Umbrella Street.

There are some very impressive buildings, some of which are on the verge of collapse due to earthquake damage. 

After cooling down under the shower we ventured out to a traditional Romanian restaurant, Casa Romãneascã Ateneu, recommended by our apartment's owner, for an excellent meal. Less than £40 including plenty of rehydration fluid.

PS I sent out a programme of walks yesterday. I thought I had checked the links but some of them don't work. I tried to repair the links but I failed to get our old XP computer on which I rely to update the topwalks.com website, to work. It appears to have a hardware failure. So instead of using the links, readers will have to deploy Google or similar. 

Here's Sue's take on the day:

Weds 17 June 2026
3.10 alarm
3.30 taxi on a damp night/morning
Coffee and croissant at Starbucks before take off for Amsterdam at 5.55 for 50-min flight.
Fingerprints were taken as we transferred to gate D83 for the flight to Bucharest then long queue for passport control through electronic gates. Nearly last on the plane.
Left at 9.25, on time for 2h 10-min flight. Sandwich and coffee served.
Landed and our bags were already on carousel 5 so we walked 2 mins to the station where the 13.10 train was about to depart! Two tickets at 6.50R (£1.08) each.
Hot and sunny.
25-min journey to Gara de Nord then a half hour walk to Bucharestby apartment at the end of Luterana.
Opposite a church and the Park Inn.
Collapsed for a while then ventured out to Parc Cismigiu, the oldest park in Bucharest.
Lovely and shady, with lakes where boats could be hired and a few flower beds. Lots of moths, butterflies, dragonflies flitting around. Swifts heard above too.
Walked up Calea Victoriei to the Umbrella Street, where rainbow umbrellas hung above the narrow alley.
Admired sculptures and the Carol I statue before returning for a cool shower.
Ate 10 mins away at Casa Romaneasca Atheneu, which served traditional Romanian cuisine. Pork with polenta (M) and beef goulash (S) with a salad and beer. 207R with 20R tip. Returned for about 8.15. Still hot.
Air conditioning set at 18 overnight.