ROMANIAN TRIP 2024 – Travel Day

I was looking forward to sleeping in a huge Premier Inn bed, which is super comfy. Did you know you can buy Premier Inn beds, pillows, mattress covers etc? The room was sweltering and a lot was going on in my head so I did toss and turn a bit.

It’s now 4.38 am and I’m wide awake. I make a coffee, have a long shower and pack my little suitcase ready for the flight.

We all received a message from British Airways to say that there was an air strike so be aware of possible delays. Great! We are a bit jinxed with air delays!

8.59 am – All boarded, no delays (phew!) and it was great to meet Abbie & Maddie for the first time. There are now 10 of us on this trip as one person had to cancel at the last minute. Time to relax and read my book. The flight is full of Rugby players wearing matching shirts. They drank the plane dry of alcohol, needless to say, the trip was a bit entertaining.

The lovely Marius greeted us at the airport and then we all hopped on the noddy bus! (It took forever to get through passport control).

We are greeted at the Rembrandt Hotel by a guy called Eddie! It’s a very tall, thin and quirky hotel that has one of those elevators in the centre that can only fit one person. It’s more like a little cage. Luckily, Maddie and I are on the first floor and take the stairs. Lou & Allie are on the 7th floor and also decide to take the stairs (a bit of puffing and panting was happening! ).

4.45 pm – We meet in the breakfast room for complimentary drinks and Marius talks us through the itinerary for the next few days. I’m exhausted listening to the jam-packed schedule! I can’t wait!

5.30 pm – A walking guide called Mara meets us in the hotel lobby and our tour of Bucharest commences… in the rain. But we are Brits and hearty walkers so the rain didn’t put us off and it was more of a drizzle than anything else. Bucharest is a real mosh mash of different cultures and controversial projects. There are influences from France, Turkey, Russia, and Hungary and this is reflected in the buildings and churches. It was really interesting and Mara included some personal stories which made the talk more real.

7.30 pm – Dinner time! Our tour ended at the restaurant where we were to have dinner. Romanian dancing, unusual sausage dish, massive 1L beer and then the most amazing pudding which was like a doughnut with sweet cottage cheese inside. I’m stuffed!!

9 pm – but now I’m ready for bed. It’s 9 pm here but we are two hours in front so my body is screaming at me…. Go to sleep! I’m out like a light as soon as my head hits the pillow.

We are off to see the Bears tomorrow and I can’t wait!!