Bucharest Henri Coanda (Otopeni) airport hotel, Chopin airport, Warsaw Poland

I am sitting in the Chopin Airport in Warsaw, Poland at 10:30am on Friday waiting for my flight to Newark, NJ that does not depart until a little bit after 12 noon. At the airports in Bucharest as well as here at Warsaw the government military helps guard the facilities with large menacing machine guns as well as a side arm. I remember after 9-11 in the US that it was like that; but I think most of the world’s airports have their military protecting the facilities as well as conduct the security. I forgot the one hour time difference between Romania and Poland, otherwise I would be back outside enjoying the cool weather they are having here today.

I think I only got about 3 hours of restless sleep last night because I had to get up at 2am in order to get the rental car back and arrive at the Bucharest airport with plenty of time to clear customs and security. The hotel I stayed at last night was nice except one big issue was the air conditioning was nominal at best and it was quite warm & humid yesterday in Bucharest. I had the window wide open which helped a bit; however there was a pack of stray, half-wild dogs that live in the big field next to the hotel and they were barking, fighting and frolicking about all night. I am beat! I fell asleep a few times on the Bucharest – Warsaw flight and caught myself starting to snore and then wake up. God, I hope I was not snoring too much. Those poor people! The girl next to me was from Bucharest and was on her way to Stockholm, Sweden for a short holiday. The great thing about living in Europe is you could visit a bunch of different countries and the cost is not too prohibitive and they are not too far away. Each country within Europe with their own unique cultures, beauty and people. That would be great to be so close to so many different countries; including North Africa and be able to travel to them at a reasonable cost. The airfare from the U.S is I think what holds most people back from coming here and the exchange rate between the US Dollar & the Euro.

I was worried I would have to throw away some clothes or my tripod or both at the Bucharest Airport because my bag was quite a bit over the limit and I did not want to have to pay their exorbitant fees for over weight limits. The woman with Lufthansa was awesome and let me put everything in my checked baggage even though it was over the weight limit and she did not charge me! Way cool! Even my carry-on she overlooked. The max for carry-on in most of Europe now is only 13 pounds compared to the average in the US of 35 pounds.

This guy behind me is talking so loud on his cell phone it is as though he is giving a speech in an auditorium! OMG, that’s what people around me must think, since I have a large booming voice…sorry. At the far end of this concourse a guy broke out his violin and started playing what sounded like traditional Polish music and people were joining in by clapping, singing and stomping their feet; quite fun!

I purchased two cool Polish Eagle/Crest t-shirts while I was here even though all I saw of Warsaw was the outside of the airport since I did not have as long of a layover as I thought. They just do not sell Romania t-shirts so I had to settle for Polish. I think I should start a merchandising company producing products for the Romanian tourist trade since now all they have is just trinkets. My original plans were to take a taxi to historic old downtown Warsaw. Problem is I did not want to take the chance of missing my plane. Oh, and I forgot and placed my camera in my checked bag; damn! So no pictures of even the Warsaw Airport or any of Poland.

I was stopped at Bucharest security because I left my fossilized shell from Brasov that Johann from Gergeschdorf (Ungurei) gave me. Oops! I totally forgot that it might be considered a blunt instrument and a possible weapon since it is quite large and heavy; however, they checked with their security team and it was decided I could bring it on board. Once I arrived in Warsaw I went outside to have a smoke or two and thought that it might be confiscated here. I took it out of my bag this time so it was visible and there was no problem. I have to remember next time to put rocks, fossils, etc. in my checked luggage. I am still worried about Chicago though; hopefully they do not take it away. I wanted to bring some Tuica, and Palinca (plum brandy) back for Father’s Day, but, “spirits” are prohibited on-board and in checked baggage. Damn it!

Well, I think I have rambled on enough at this point, so I will end this picture less blog now. I will post another, “final blog” most likely on Saturday.

Tom

A 5am visitor, morning drive through the Fagaras Mtns., 260km to Bucharest, nice hotel, sans air conditioning, driving the mad streets of central Bucharest and a beutiful, yet way oversized Palace of Parliment

I woke up early this morning and left Sibiu a little after 5am to avoid all the Romanian truck traffic; it worked, great drive and very few trucks. It took me only about 3hrs to drive the 260km.

When I came out to the car I looked down the small street my apartment is located on and there was Wally the dog. He saw me and ran like crazy down to me; its almost like he came around early because I never see him around until about 10am. i fed him the rest of my salami and dog treats and said one last goodbye to him and his friend.

The drive through the Fagaras was great with a beautiful sunrise and fog throughout the route. The forest and mountains look so much crisper and cleaner with the early morning light too and I was able to get better photos of them than I had before.

Once I reached Petresti I discoverd the A1; WOW! 130km an hour. For some reason on my way to Pitresti on my first day the GPS told me to take the DN7 which is much slower and only 2 lanes' but the A1 is 3 to 4 lanes and much faster!

Once I arrived in Bucharest I attempted to get to the hotel and somehow was lost even with the GPS for about 2 hours, driving through consttruction zones and around the city. Somehow I managed to do a loop of the northern part of the city and finally found the hotel. Thank God! Romanian city driving is for the birds! I prefer the country, "National Roads".

I checked into my hotel which is very nice and has a very comfortable bed; except the air conditioning does not seem to have any force to it. I still have to ask the front desk about that, because it is very hot and humid today; however there is a cool waterpark behind the hotel, one of europes largest, maybe I will see if they are open tonight.

Lastly, I visited the Palace of Parliment, the second largest building in the world behind the Pentagon! Talk about oversized! It is 12 storys tall and measures 270 m (890 ft) by 240 m (790 ft), 86 m (282 ft) high, and 92 m (302 ft) underground. It has 1,100 rooms, 2 underground parking garages and is 12 stories tall, with four underground levels currently available for the general public and in use, and another four in different stages of completion. The building is constructed almost entirely of materials of Romanian origin. Estimates of the materials used include one million cubic meters of marble from Transylvania, most from Ruşchiţa; 3,500 tonnes of crystal — 480 chandeliers, 1,409 ceiling lights and mirrors were manufactured; 700,000 tonnes of steel and bronze for monumental doors and windows, chandeliers and capitals; 900,000 m² (9,700,000 sq ft) of wood, over 95% of which is domestic, for parquet and wainscoting, including walnut, oak, sweet cherry, elm, sycamore maple; 200,000 m² (2,200,000 sq ft) of woolen carpets of various dimensions, the larger of which were woven on-site by machines moved into the building; velvet and brocade curtains adorned with embroideries and passementeries in silver and gold. WOW! Tke a look at the pictures and video and you will see what I mean.

I take off tomorrow and hopefully can see downtown Warsaw during my 5 hr layover there and the back home tomorrow evening. I will post a wrap-up final blog on Saturday with my views and thoughts about this trip, this wonderful country and the journey it has taken me on.


Tom

Wally saying goodbye.

The sunrise over Transylvania with the foothills of the Fagaras in the distance

The drive through the Fagaras Mountains

Entering Bucharest and exploring the streets

Told you the ambulances always have their blue, "K-Mart" special lights on Whether there is an emergency or not?

Cool old electric tram cars. I guess they have an extensive Metro or subway system here too!

Under the city traffic tunnel.

I know we have these mobile billboards at home too...but this one had audio too!

The Otopeni or "Henry Coanda" airport in north Bucharest (Otopeni)

The RIN 4 Hotel

Th Palace of Parliment, formerly known as, "The Peoples House" by Communist President and dictator, Nicolae Ceauşescu.

A little background info.

Built on the site of a hill variously known as Spirii Hill, Uranus Hill, or Arsenal Hill, which was largely razed for this megaproject, the building anchors the west end of Bulevardul Unirii and Centrul Civic. Constructing the Palace and Centrul Civic required demolishing much of Bucharest's historic district, including 19 Orthodox Christian churches, six Jewish synagogues, three Protestant churches (plus eight relocated churches), and 30,000 residences

Though no figures have been officially released, it is said that some 20,000 workers toiled in 24-hour shifts, seven days a week, to build the Palace at the pace at which it was being constructed. To finance the project, Ceausescu had to take on enormous foreign debts. In order to repay these debts he systematically starved the Romanian people, exporting all of the country's agricultural and industrial production as the standard of living in Romania sank to an all time low. Food-rationing, gas electric and heating blackouts became everyday norms; people lived in squalor and poverty as the Ceausescu's themselves exhibited outrageous extravagance.

The Romanian Revolution of 1989 broke out just as the People's Palace was nearing completion. Mass protests in December 1989 in Timisoara caused martial law to be declared, a Bucharest rally turned to riot and the Ceausescus were forced to flee the capital by helicopter. They were soon after captured by police in Targoviste after abandoning their chopper, were sentenced to death by an ad hoc military court on charges ranging from illegal gathering of wealth to genocide and were executed by firing squad on Christmas Day, 1989.

King Stefan of Romania

All of these large wooden doors recess into the marble walls

The diplomatic room where Ceausescu would meet other Communist leaders

The staircases were rebuilt 7 times so Ceausescu and his wife would not have to look down while coming to greet guests and were sized for their exact footsteps.

View from the mezzanine balcony of the "Socialist Victory" mall as Ceausescu called it.