Off to the Airport

If you read yesterdays blog you will know that we booked a taxi to the airport where the driver told us that “God willing” he would be outside our apartment at 5:55am for our 6:00am pick-up time.  God or the driver was a little late as he arrived at 6:05am and we quickly made it to the airport on the empty roads.

We have a 9:20am flight to Bucharest from terminal 1 and Emily & Vince have a 10:30am flight to Toronto via Istanbul from terminal 3. We say goodbye our good byes as we get out first at terminal 1.

At one point, I have trouble scanning my passport at the machine and the security man turns my passport in the scanner. I open my mouth to say, “oh” and the machine takes my picture which makes me look like a crazy person with gaping mouth and bulging eyes.

While waiting for our flight, John hunts for a place to spend our last few shekels. There are many food places including a kosher McDonald’s.

The flight is uneventful except for a guy, up and across one aisle who is non-stop sneezing and blowing his nose.

Arrival in Bucharest

The plane arrives in Bucharest at 1 2:30pm. Its a beautiful warm and sunny day (22 degrees). The hotel has a driver waiting for us. The  driver is friendly and tells us a lot about the sites we see on the way into the Old Town. The hotel allows us to check in early.

Old Town

We are staying at the Concorde Old Bucharest Hotel in the Old Town. Before World War 2 Bucharest had many old areas but the war resulted in this area becoming the defacto Old Town as the other areas were so badly damaged.

Prices here are so much more affordable than in Israel…and we are in the touristy part of town.

We walk around the Old Town enjoying the gorgeous architecture. A man plays the accordion and sings on the street.

We check out the small but exquisite Stavropoleos Church, built in 1724. The courtyard is filled with ancient tomb stones. Inside the church has beautiful frescoes. An elderly nun dressed all in black keeps a close eye on the visitors. A beautiful place.

We walk under the yellow stained glass roof of the Macca Vilacrosse Passage. It is filed with shisha cafes.

Where to Eat

We head to the highly recommended and one of Romania’s best known  restaurants ,”Caru cu Bere. It is totally booked tonight for supper so we make reservations for tomorrow night. I am really looking forward to trying some classic Romanian dishes.

The nearby Manuc’s Inn which was built in 1802  with a large courtyard in the centre of two levels of rooms is where we decide to go for tonight’s supper. It is now a restaurant serving traditional Romanian and Balkan food and has music and folk dancing in the evenings.

Our meals are good and we enjoy the entertainment. Click here to see the dancers and here to see the singer and violinist.

One other bonus is that the whole meal including drinks came to $50 CAD, which is refreshing after the high prices in Israel.