Monday July 15 2024
We left Phoenix for Houston on United Airlines at 835am. We were anxious to board the Lufthansa 747 in Houston, to continue our journey. Looking forward to the Business Class seating. We changed flights in Frankfort 10 hours later. Arriving Bucharest around noon on the 16th.
Tuesday July 16, 2024
After locating our Viking reps at the Bucharest airport (OTP), we loaded the bus to our hotel for the evening. JW Mariott.
It was nice to lay back and rest after 15 hours in the air plus transfer time, and a full day to look ahead to Wednesday. So enjoyed a Romanian beer and some snacks before bed.
Wednesday July 17
Viking had us place our luggage outside our room and saw to it that it was transferred to our stateroom on our ship (River boat). After breakfast, we loaded back on a bus, hosted by Roxanne, our fantastic guide for the day.
Roxanne pointed out many interesting highlights of Bucharest, not the least of which is the incredible Parliament building, the second largest administrative building in the world. It was ordered by Nicolae Ceaușescu (1918–1989), the president of Communist Romania. It has eight underground levels, which includes a nuclear bunker. We found the history of Romania and the four other former communist countries we visited to be a reminder of the freedoms we have in the USA.
Typical Romanian home from 17th century.
Roxanne took us to the Muzeul Satului Museum. Basically a park with many Romanian structures/homes from past history that were relocated and reassembled to help keep Romanian history alive. We were told the blue window casing help ward off mosquitoes. Huh?
After touring a bit more around Bucharest, we embarked the Ullur at the port at Giurgiu to get settled in our stateroom for the first time. Afterward we were welcomed and had a safety drill in the lounge, followed by dinner in the restaurant dining room. That evening, the Ullur sailed up the Danube to Port at Ruse, Bulgaria.