All this extra sleep eventually caught up with us and we found ourselves wide awake at 3 am. Why not break into the cheese and crackers for a breakfast in bed? We killed time relaxing until the breakfast opened at 7:30 am, and then had some avocado toast and a tasty veggie wrap along with the other buffet stuff – yogurt, cold cuts, etc. We were the only ones at breakfast this morning and there was no collapsing lady drama today.
Since we were leaving Belgrade today we did a final walk around town to enjoy the cool weather and the vibes of the city. We did a loop taking in Republic Square, and some of the backstreets lined with cafes that were opening up.
We packed up our stuff at the hotel and caught a ride back to the airport, again arranged by the hotel and probably the least stressful option. We’d heard that there are some pretty shady taxis in Belgrade, and rather than deal with that we spent some money and took the easy way out. It was an easy drive to Nikolas Tesla International Airport, and our driver this time was much quieter this time, although when he did talk he had a cool accent that reminded me of the bad guys in Bond movies.
As we waited in line to check in at the Air Serbia desk the systems suddenly went down, and so we stood in front of our check in counter with nothing to do but wait. It took about 20 minutes, and then we were able to check our bag and get boarding passes. We were there early for our flight, but the systems going down looked like it caused some stress for people leaving soon on a flight to Malta.
After security we walked around quite a bit to stretch our legs, had two sparkling wines at a bistro restaurant that was playing Eurobeat songs (including Rasputin). It was a lot cheaper than the Proseccos in Istanbul.
Our plane was delayed by 30 minutes, and we ended up sitting separately but since it was an easy one hour flight to Bucharest it wasn’t a big deal. Air Serbia had leased an Air Bulgaria plane for the trip, and I think it was the oldest jet I’ve ever flown in. Luckily it flew well enough to get us there safely.
So leaving Belgrade, Serbia we had a very good impression of the city. The people that we had met and talked to were all very nice and welcoming, using English was no problem and we really liked the size and quietness of the city. It is hard to take a measure of a place after only a couple of days, but we were more than satisfied with our visit.
Our plane descended smoothly into Bucharest airport, and immigration was a breeze since we were still within the Euro zone. As soon as we arrived at the luggage carousel we saw our bag so that was the quickest luggage pickup ever. We walked through the airport and found the platform for the train station, with a line of people already formed to buy tickets from a single ticket office window. Buying train tickets was not so automated here at the airport, but later we found that it is possible to buy tickets from the conductor on board – although we didn’t have any cash at that time. As the departure time was getting closer it was a little pressure to get the tickets, but in the end it was not a problem and we got on board with time to spare. As for the tickets themselves they were super cheap – just about $1 per person for the 20 minute ride into the city.
We sat across from a teenage boy who was caught up in playing music/videos from his phone at super loud volume – no headphones. He was trying to hold the empty seat next to him for more space, but a large woman pushed in and took the seat, and then started to speak loudly on her phone for most of the train ride. There was no air conditioning on board, so the sun shining through the windows made for a sweaty ride. You could tell the locals because they had brought fans to cool themselves down. I guess that’s what you get for a dollar a ticket.
As we traveled the scenery outside was pretty rural. We stopped at a few stations that seemed mostly empty, and occasionally we’d see other trains raining. We were on the newest train in Romania for sure – others seemed like they should have been retired from service a long time ago. The train staff didn’t really have uniforms – some men were bare-chested and the whole thing felt a lot different from train systems that we’d experienced in other countries. The train was running about 10 minutes longer than the schedule had said, and as we pulled into northern Bucharest the neighborhood looked old and run down like the trains passing through it. We got off at Gara de Nord station, where we could transfer to the city subway to take us the rest of the way.
But Gara de Nord station was quite different from other European train stations that we have passed through. It felt like a train station in South America or Mexico with cheesy advertisements hanging from the rafters and big analog train schedules on the walls. This was like traveling back in time, and made me wonder what the rest of Bucharest was going to be like.
At the subway station there were automated ticket machines that were a little strange – you could only buy 1 ticket at a time, but at least they accepted credit cards. There were no escalators in the station either, which seemed odd in a station that handles a lot of people passing through to/from the airport. But I carried the suitcase up and down some steps and it wasn’t really a big deal.
Inside the subway train again there was no air conditioning but when the train ran somewhere there were some windows open and they provided air circulation, not unlike the Moscow subway. I remember that the lighting inside the train was an odd color of orange/pink, but the cars weren’t too crowded and it was easy to get a seat.
It was seven stops to our station, Piatta Unirii, and since it was a more central station we were able to find an elevator. We came out of the elevator into a park and turned to see the spectacular, beautiful Bucharest Fountains. Not just a simple fountain, it is a network of fountains in the city center that stretches across the distance. The fountains are automated and timed to be pretty dramatic – we were mesmerized. We went from feeling like we were visiting a dumpy city to feeling like we entered a sophisticated one. The scale of the fountains is hard to imagine – they were an impressive introduction to Bucharest.
From there we crossed a few streets, dragged the suitcase down a few historic cobblestone avenues, past old buildings and some beautiful churches. We found our hotel (called The Mansion) in Old Town, among rows of restaurants and cafes. We saw many cats walking around on the street – in contrast to all the dogs in Belgrade – and it looked like a pretty chill neighborhood.
We checked in at the hotel, got a welcome glass of Prosecco, and I made small talk with the staff while Kuniko tried to remember her credit card number for the security deposit. Usually she’s got it memorized, but while we were jetting between countries and finding our way it slipped through the cracks. But she had a backup credit card ready to go.
Because the hotel was housed inside an historic building, there was no elevator so I had to carry the suitcase up two flights of twisting stairs – lucky we pack light. We stayed in the “Ottoman” room – each of their rooms had themes – and ours was sort of Turkish. There were also two ottomans in the room so that covered the literal side. It was a big, comfortable room.
After dropping off our stuff we walked around the corner and in the middle of the next street was a restaurant that we had seen on YouTube called Nomad Sky Cafe. It was on the third floor – not exactly in the clouds – but it was open and we wanted to get some simple food and drinks.
It turned out to be a slightly snobby place – sort of Instagram-focused and the prices reflected that strategy. The staff seemed like they were trying hard to look cool. But the food was good – we had a turkey schnitzel (we saw a lot of schnitzel in our first three countries) that had seeds fried into the batter – yum. We also had a smoked trout salad that hit the spot and some glass wine and a local beer for me. I was really impressed with both the wine and the beer, and was looking forward to tasting more over the next few days.
After we walked around the Old Town a bit, had some ice cream, saw lots of restaurants, and lots of cats. There were some gentleman’s clubs (which is typically a bad sign for an economy in my book) but there were so many beautiful old buildings and I was eager to take photos. The scale of the architecture here was bigger than Belgrade.
In the evening we went back out to the fountains to watch them while the sun went down. Once they lit up it was a different vibe – more Vegas than Europe – but still beautiful. With the cooler evening weather a lot of people came out – taking photos in front of the fountains and the city behind. While we sat on a bench and did some people watching a group of homeless (?) guys walked buy and tried to tell us something in another language – but they looked pretty drunk and moved right on to the next group of people so no big deal. There were security guards walking around too – they had whistles to blow if people sat on the edge of the fountains or tried to get in.
The fountains are so big that the streets actually pass between them so you could theoretically just drive around watching the fountains and enjoy them that way. It was a nice moment to sit out there, watch birds flying overhead against the setting sun, and just chill out. Finally we started to get a little sleepy and so went back to the hotel at around 9:30. Our street of cafes had more activity in the evening, and a lady standing in front of the Irish bar tried to get us to come in for dinner – we smiled and said no thanks, but that wasn’t the last time we saw her.
