Successful Tour Launching
Trip Start
Sep 01, 2006
1
4
14
Trip End
Sep 11, 2006
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Bucharest,
Romania
Saturday, September 2, 2006
Successful Tour Launching
11:00pm Bucharest Time
Dear Readers:
My alarm goes off at 7:00am this morning, and I want to continue sleeping. I resist the urge, however, and get up to have breakfast with the others guys who arrived a day early. We have a fantastic time, sitting and talking over a leisurely meal for about two and a half hours! If only every morning could start in such a relaxed an unhurried way!
The conversation covers all sorts of fun topics. One of the guys has me in hysterics. He admits to being poor white trash born from a lumberjack and a roller-derby queen
01 Soran, Our Driver
. He is obviously brilliant in his profession (finance), but absolutely lacking in pretentiousness. Another has just come from touring in Bulgaria and has interesting stories to tell. All are curious about my recent trip to Russia.My goal of getting a good night's sleep is accomplished. Nine hours last night, in what seems like a record for any pre-tour night. So why do I feel so exhausted at the moment? Oh, maybe it is because I went to use the gym here at the Marriott, which is absolutely first class, with a huge variety of machines and free weights. I got as good a workout as I do at my gym back home, and now want to crawl back into bed (noon). But we have a tour of Bucharest at 2:00pm, so that isn't an option.
Five of us commence touring, with two still to arrive from the airport. Both are being picked up, and the driver has instructions to bring them directly to us wherever we are on the tour. We are at our first stop, seeing the history of Romania as carved into a wall in front of the Military Academy when the driver comes with one of them. The other isn't scheduled to land for a couple more hours, so we go on.
The city tour is a panoramic overview from our nice mini-bus, which will be with us the entire tour
02 Tiberiu, Our Guide
. We make many stops for photos, and a couple of walking tours. We see the Palace of the People, which we will enter tomorrow, and several of the major squares in town.Bucharest was founded around seven small hills (similar to Rome), and there are important structures on each. The Military Academy (our first stop) was on the top of one, and the Patriarch's Palace (home of the head of the Romanian Orthodox Church) is on another. We walk around the Patriarch's Palace, which has its own private church inside, and enter the nearby public cathedral. A priest is taking confessions. Instead of having the parishioners enter a private confessional booth, they kneel in front of him and the priest drapes a lacy cloth from his robes over their head so that they are speaking directly to him, but appearing to be cloaked in privacy.
The cathedral is ornate, but not so overdone as a Roman Catholic cathedral. The only music is the human voice, so there are no organ pipes. The frescoes on the wall have been darkened by years of candle smoke, and are difficult to appreciate. There are two large, throne-like chairs intended for use by the former Royal Family, or the current head of State. All other worshippers stand, except for the aged and infirm, who are able to use the few seats lining the walls of the Cathedral
03 The Palace of the People
. These people are used to suffering it would seem.We visit the Satului Museum, which is an open-air museum in a large park consisting of actual buildings brought here from all over the country that are representative of the various architectural styles to be found in various localities. There are large wooden churches; homes built underground to protect from winter's cold winds and summer's oppressive heat (they look like Hobbit homes), and amazing fences whose style includes a little roof at the top of the fence (you have to see the photos to visualize it).
Our last person to arrive joins us in front of the Atheneum Building, a large music hall that has become the signature building of Bucharest. We hear its history, and then take a short walk to the final stop on the tour -- Revolution Square. It was here that the rioting began in 1989 that brought down the Communist Regime of Nicolai Ceaucescu. The guide is passionate as he tells the story of the horribly difficult life in Romania during that time, and the heroism of the revolutionaries who just couldn't take it any more. I can sense the emotion in his voice and see the tears welling up in his eyes, and that gets to me too (as usual). Somebody pass the Kleenex!
04 Entrance to the Patriarch's Palace
The afternoon has vanished, and it is already 6:30pm. Our dinner reservation is at 7:00pm, so we drive directly to the restaurant for our Welcome Dinner. This is a "go with the flow" moment for me, because I am in jeans and a Toto t-shirt-certainly not how I would normally choose to dress for the welcome festivities on any tour. We have also dispensed with any sort of introductions and welcome greetings. Plus two of the guys haven't even checked into the hotel yet! But everyone is fine and we enjoy our meal at a restaurant that obviously does a big business in wedding banquets. There are parties seated everywhere, indoors and outdoors, and every once in a while the music system broadcasts Mendelssohn's Wedding March, and we know another bride and groom have arrived.
At 8:00pm the folk entertainment begins, and I am immediately captivated by the sight of dancers wearing costumes similar to what I once wore in my college folk dancing days. I can hardly restrain myself from getting up to join them when the music starts and I see them doing steps I can recall from so long ago.
The dinner is not anything remarkable, but more than satisfying. Romanian Plum Brandy came first, with toasts all around
05 The National Cathedral
. This is followed by a huge plate of typical Romanian hot appetizers, including chicken livers, sausage, fried cheese, cocktail wieners, and tasty red peppers stuffed with something I couldn't identify. The main course is fried perch fillet with potatoes accompanied by a plain lettuce salad with a strong vinegary dressing. Dessert is two yummy crepes stuffed with a berry jam and sprinkled with powdered sugar. I enjoy a cup of coffee as we watch the dancing and the musicians.We are all ready to return to the hotel at 9:30pm, quite stuffed from all the food, with two of the men very eager to see the hotel for the first time. I help get the two late arrivals checked in, say goodnight. It is a relatively early night, thank goodness, and we don't have to be out of the hotel at the crack of dawn tomorrow!
After touring tomorrow we leave the city for other parts of the country, and won't be back here for a week. Internet service may be spotty, but I promise to keep you updated as I am able.
All our people are here, and so is everyone's luggage. We have a good guide and driver. The weather is perfect. Everyone is bonding beautifully. What more could we ask for, as we begin our exploration of Romania?
Big hugs,
Dan
