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