Budapest to Bucharest 2019
Graham & Elaine
Last updated 27th September 2019
Photo's can be viewed here
Budapest (Hungary) to Bucharest (Rumania) Danube River Cruise- 12th to 25th August 2019.
We’re off on our travels again but this tour is slightly different for us. In April this year Graham reached his 70th birthday and in September his sister Janine will also achieve a milestone birthday so along with Janine’s husband Dave we decided this would be a good way to celebrate.
11th August 2019 – Home to Crowne Plaza, Heathrow.
Graham and I left home this morning (after trying to repair/replace the runner bean frame that had come down in Saturday’s high winds) and drove across to Leicestershire to pick Dave & Janine up. From there we had a reasonable journey down, stopping for lunch at a very nice café at a PYO farm. We arrived mid-afternoon and spent the afternoon/evening at the hotel where we had a very pleasant Indian meal.
12th August 2019 – Heathrow to Budapest.
We were up fairly early this morning as our flight departed at 08:50 and after a brief taxi ride we arrived at Terminal 3 to drop our bags before heading for the ‘Assistance’ desk. As they were short of wheelchairs we weren’t able to push Graham through security ourselves but were taken straight through and delivered to an assistance lounge. Once there I managed to purloin a wheelchair, albeit one which was a bit more difficult to handle that normal, and took a brief walk around and had a light breakfast before our flight. The flight was pleasantly uneventful if a little bumpy in places and we arrived on time to find a wheelchair waiting for us (we had to smile when to stewardess said “yes, there’s a wheelchair here for you unlike at Heathrow – oops, I shouldn’t have said that should I?). Once we had our luggage it was just brief push through to meet the Viking reps./tour bus. The journey into the city took around 35 minutes and were checked into our pre-cruise hotel in no time.
Once we’d sorted ourselves out we took a taxi ride to a very interesting bar that Dave & Janine had visited last time they were here three years ago. It’s essentially an old warehouse building with a multitude of small bars selling all sorts of drinks and a communal seating area in the middle. We spent a happy couple of hours there chatting to all sorts of people before we all got just a little too hot (it’s been 36 degrees here today) and decided we should take a taxi back.
As this evening seemed a good opportunity to celebrate the birthdays before we join our river cruise we pre-booked a restaurant before leaving home, it is said to be the oldest in Budapest and we’re now just having a bit of a cool off before we take ourselves off for what promises to be a very nice meal, here’s hoping.
Tuesday 13th August 2019 – Budapest.
We did indeed have a very good meal last night. To get to the restaurant we had booked we took a gently stroll along the promenade arriving in plenty of time to take the table they had reserved for us on the terrace. The restaurant itself was quite atmospheric and the food and drink, although a little on the expensive side for Hungary, were very good the only slight issue we had was that it was very hot in there despite the fans they had brought out. As well as providing good food the restaurant had a string trio (double base and two violins) playing for the guests and Dave decided to tell them that we were celebrating Janine’s birthday so we were serenaded with their version of ‘Happy Birthday’ and then presented with very large local dessert and four spoons!
We left the restaurant relatively early as we were all sweltering and took another stroll back towards the hotel stopping for what turned out the be a very expensive drink (by local standards anyway). Shortly afterwards Graham and I decided to call it a night and returned to the hotel and to bed but, unfortunately, we didn’t have a very good night as Graham suffered some pretty awful phantom pains overnight still, a couple of strong pain killers eventually sorted that out.
We were up fairly early this morning as we had a city tour booked. As they had been here fairly recently and taken a similar tour then, Dave & Janine decided not to join us taking the opportunity to see a few sights on their own. The tour turned out to be very good although much of the time was spent on the bus. One area we did have free time was on the Buda side of the river where we visited the castle area and the Mattaus Church which was very pretty.
Once we returned to the hotel we caught up with Dave and Janine and went straight out again. We started out by taking a short walk along the river bank to a monument which is in the form of 40 pairs of shoes made of iron. They are placed on the site where many Jewish people were executed during the Second World War and they make a very moving sight.
From there we took a short walk to a Metro station (Janine had very sensibly invested in a 24 public transport ticket for the four of us) where we took a short journey before jumping on a tram to the outskirts of the city and the start of the Children’s railway. This apparently dates back to the Communist era and was built specifically to be run by children who belonged to a group called the Pioneers (similar to the scouts we’re told) and today all of the jobs, except driving the trains, are fulfilled by children between the ages of 10 and 14. It is apparently considered an honour to be able to work on the railway and there are always more applicants than positions available. We were sold our tickets by two very helpful young men one of whom spoke very good English, the tickets were checked by a much younger girl and we were saluted by the ‘staff’ at every station along the way – very sweet.
Once off of the train we used the buses to get us back to our hotel where we had a brief rest before heading back out to eat. We had decided earlier in the day that it would be good to find somewhere on the other side of the river for dinner so that we could see the Parliament building when it was lit up after dark, so we were soon back on another bus and travelling back towards the castle area. After a slight false start (there were no restaurants in an area where we had expected to find some) we found a very nice eatery where we sampled more local dishes. It was then only a short walk to the overlook with some great views of the city (and the lightening) by night. Another short bus ride brought us back to the hotel where we parted company for the night.
We were actually quite lucky with the weather today as it was partly cloudy but very warm and the storms that were forecast to arrive mid-evening didn’t turn in to anything horrible, unfortunately the forecast for tomorrow isn’t great.
Wednesday 14th August 2019 – Budapest, Hungary.
We were up fairly early again this morning as our bags had to outside of our rooms by 08:00 ready for their transport to the river cruise ship that is to be our home for the next seven nights. We met Dave and Janine for breakfast and then sat in the reception area for a while as it had, by now, started to rain quite hard. Fortunately it didn’t last too long so we headed out at just after 09:30 and took a tram to the Central Market which is a huge indoor market with mostly food stuff on the ground floor and all manner of tourist stuff on the first floor. We spent a happy hour or two there before making our own way to the ship. We arrived at the ship at around 13:30 and as our cabins weren’t yet ready we went for light lunch whilst we waited.
Once we had checked in to our cabin and unpacked Graham and I joined some fellow guests at a cheese and wine tasting, not a tasting as we know it but an opportunity for a glass or two of wine and a chat with some fellow guests.
We will shortly (once we’ve changed) be heading back out as there is a welcome meeting/drink with some of the senior staff and it will then be on to dinner.
Thursday 15th August 2019 – Budapest to Vukovar, Croatia.
Last night’s welcome meeting was pleasant enough although the welcome meeting, through a necessity, went on a bit. Once that was over we made our way down one floor to the restaurant and to dinner where the food was very good and there was a reasonable selection of dishes to choose from. The only criticism we all had was the speed of delivery which was way too fast as the staff are definitely catering to the mainly American audience.
There was some light entertainment in the bar after dinner (a singing/piano duo) but after our early start we weren’t late to bed.
We were already docked near the small Hungarian town of Kalosca when we woke this morning and we up early as the included excursion set off at 08:30. The first stop on our trip was at the Kalosca Cathedral (very pretty) where we were treated to a 20 minute organ recital. From there it was back on the bus and onwards to our next stop in the Puszta region where we visited a horse farm for a riding demonstration by the very skilled team of riders and where we were able to try one or two local delicacies (including a glass of wine and a cherry brandy at 10:30 in the morning!).
A short bus ride then returned us to our ship and we were underway again by 12:15. Apart from a mandatory safety drill (which was not only a bit of a non-event but also over 24 hours after we’d been on the water) we whiled away a couple of hours sitting under the canopy on the sun deck. At around 16:30 we arrived at the Croatia border post at Mohacs where we were obliged to meet the customs officers face to face to have our passports checked. It was then back to what has already become the evening routine i.e. back to the cabin the freshen up, up to the bar for a pre-dinner drink, on to dinner then back to the lounge for whatever entertainment is being provided (tonight’s was a Q&A with the Captain followed by the resident duo). We called it a night fairly early again as we have another early start tomorrow.
Friday 16th August 2019 – Vukovar towards Belgrade, Serbia.
After another early start we joined a coach tour which included a visit to a local’s home where we were introduced to their homemade Cherry Brandy (at 09:30 this time!) and provided with a piece of apple cake, tea/coffee and soft drinks. The property we visited is actually a B&B and our host was very happy to tell us all about her life in Croatia, unfortunately it doesn’t seem that life had been particularly kind to her, either that or she was simply one of life’s pessimists, it was difficult to tell which.
Next on the tour agenda was the small city of Osijek where we visited St Andrew’s church and listened to a young lady who played the keyboards and sang to us all. Next was a short walking tour of the local monastery and old town square.
We arrived back at the ship in time for lunch and then as we were moored very close by, we took a fairly short walk to see what he town had to offer and the answer was not a lot. It was a pleasant enough place but there just wasn’t that much to see so we sat at an outside bar and had a drink to use up some of the Croatian Kuna that Janine had brought with her. The weather had been good to us all day but just as we returned to the ship it started to rain a little, let’s hope it soon blows through.
We’re now back in the cabin for a wash brush up before the evening routine kicks in again.
Saturday 17th August 2019 – Belgrade, Serbia.
Last evening’s early entertainment was provided by a local band made up of six musicians, one with a double bass, one a piano accordion, one guitar, two instruments like small guitars (but apparently they’re not guitars) and one a really tiny five stringed local instrument. They spent almost an hour playing and singing a range of very rousing songs and I for one could quite easily have listened to them for longer.
The entertainment after dinner was definitely a little different with two crew members telling us of their experiences living under Communist rule. One was Croatian and the other Romanian and their stories were really quite different which was, in itself, interesting. There was also an opportunity to ask questions and I could not help but be surprised by the insensitivity of some of the questioning from some of our fellow guests!
After another drink or two in the bar we made our way to bed hoping for a good night’s sleep before yet another early morning. We were due to dock in Belgrade at around 03:00 this morning but it seems that we were running a little late as we actually docked at around 04:40. This proved to be something of a bonus as once we’d docked we were woken by some very loud ‘music’ coming from one of the nearby party boats. I’ve no idea what time they actually finished but it was certainly still going on when our alarm went off at 06:00.
After breakfast we walked up on to the quayside to join an included tour of Belgrade. Initially we were driven through some of the more modern parts of the city before stopping at an enormous church to see the very ornate artworks on the lower level. The upper levels are still being constructed so there were only a limited number of areas we could visit. It is estimated that the building works/decoration won’t be finished for a number of years yet.
Out next stop was the Old city fortress which overlooks both the Danube and the Sasta rivers which converge here. It is obvious to see why throughout history this has been of such strategic importance as it is surrounded by river on three sides. Our last stop was the pedestrianised shopping area which is quite reminiscent of many European cities with a definite café culture going on. After a brief drink there Graham and I headed back to the bus which took us back to the ship whilst Dave and Janine stayed to have a look around before making their own way back.
We’ve now taken lunch and we’re sitting on the sun deck under one of the canopies (it’s too hot to sit out in the sun at around 28 celcius) drinking the last of the bottle of champagne we had with lunch so I suspect we’ll both soon be dozing off!
Sunday 18th August 2019 – Iron Gates, Serbia.
We managed not to doze off yesterday afternoon but instead returned to the sun deck to relax for a few hours. This evening’s entertainment was certainly very lively as we were visited by a local group of musicians and dancers who provided us with a folklore show and very good it was too. Shortly after the group left the ship we were underway heading for Vidin, Bulgaria.
Today has had a slightly different feel as we spent the day sailing through Serbia’s ‘Iron Gate’ which is neither Iron nor a gate but is an old boundary area between Serbia and Romania. During the day we also had to negotiate two sets of locks so that was interesting to watch from where we sat under the canopy on the sun deck. There were a number of other events we could have attended but we chose not to particularly as one of the lectures was all about the EU and we’ve heard more than we care to about that recently!
Another fairly typical evening followed with pre-dinner drinks followed by another very nice meal, a few more drinks and eventually bed.
Monday 19th August 2019 – Vidin, Bulgaria.
We had a whole extra half-hour to prepare for this morning’s excursion but we were still picked up at 09:00 so breakfast was still pretty early. We were met on the dockside by our buses/guides and driven out in to the countryside which is absolutely filled with fields of sunflowers awaiting harvest; these were interspersed with the ruins of a number of abandoned communist era factories which can only be described as eyesores.
In total the journey to our destination took around 45 minutes but we stopped en-route for coffee and cake (I’m guessing it was largely to put a bit of money into the local coffers as we really didn’t need more food). After our coffee stop the coach climbed through the mountains and there were some lovely views over the surrounding countryside. Our final stop was at the Belogradchik Rocks and Fortress which is exactly what it sounds like, a natural rock formation which has been used as part of a Fortress built by the Ottoman’s when they invaded this area.
We had been warned that this might be a more strenuous visit so Graham and Janine had already decided that they would sit out the part of it which required climbing around 190 steps to get to the best views from the top. Dave and I both decided to take the walk up and the further we went the more I was glad that Graham had stayed where he was as the steps were very steep and uneven in places. The view from the top was worth the effort but I decided not to hang around for too long as I wanted to start back down before the multitudes decided to leave.
Once back on the bus we had the return journey of around 45 minutes and that was followed by a brief tour of the town. Dave & Janine had agreed with the guide that they would leave the bus in town and make their own way back so that they could take a better look around at their own pace. Graham and I stayed on the bus and came straight back to the boat for some lunch and another relaxation session on the sun deck. After around 1 ½ hours it got rather too hot to stay out (around 34 degrees and no wind) so it was back to the cabin to start sorting out a few photographs before going along to the lounge to watch a performance by the Vidin’s Bulgarian Children’s Ensemble later this afternoon.
Tuesday 20th August 2019 – Vidin to Russe, Bulgaria and on to Giuorgio, Romania.
We were docked in Russe before we awoke this morning and were up early again as we had a whole day tour booked. This tour was described as taking us to two “cultural gems” the first being the town of Veliko Tarnavo where we initially stopped for a comfort break. Now this would have been fine except all of the buses from the ship stopped at the same restaurant and the hotel only had four toilets for four bus loads to use so the half hour break was really just a chance to queue for the toilets. Granted there was quite a nice view from just outside the hotel but it would have been much more sensible to at least stagger the arrival times.
Next we had two options; we could either visit the town’s fortress or visit the small street full of artisan shops. We decided on the latter as the fortress would have meant a lot of walking, the only issue with this was that we had to wait for the guide to take a large group to the fortress entrance and then get back to us to take us to the shopping street which meant we sat on the bus waiting for her (and wasting time) for around 20 minutes, this meant that our shopping/browsing time was cut to around 35 minutes. Things weren’t helped by the fact that part way through our walk one of Graham’s shoes decided to fall apart, so much so that the sole was almost hanging off. Luckily we found a very helpful man in a woodworking shop who had some super glue and he stuck to sole back on for us as a temporary fix.
From here we joined back with the other buses and had lunch at a local restaurant in Arbanasi which was very nice but way more than we needed at four courses of the robust food they favour in this neck of the woods. Feeding everyone four courses also took quite some time and personally I would rather have had less food and more time for our visits.
From the restaurant we walked a short way to visit a very old church full of frescos and an old Merchant’s house. Both were nice to see but neither of us were convinced that it was worth the almost two hours each way to get to these towns, as Graham said it was a long way to go for lunch.
During the fairly long ride back to the ship most people, including us, dozed off as there wasn’t that much to look at as it seems that most of the area is agricultural and many of the crops have already been harvested.
Part of this evening was spent packing our bags as we have to leave the ship tomorrow at 08:15. That done we joined a (very) brief Captain’s cocktail party before dinner and whilst we were there we made the journey across the river to Giougiou and when I say that I mean exactly that, we untied, crossed the river and moored up again! A quick drink was all we managed after that and we were in bed pretty early after what felt like a long, hot day (36 degrees again).
Wednesday 21st August 2019 – Giourgiou to Bucharest, Romania.
As we had to disembark early this morning and the drive to Bucharest would not take more than a couple of hours Viking cleverly included a whole day tour so that we would be able to check in as soon as we arrived at our hotel rather than spend the day sitting in the lobby.
There were two options for the tour today both included a visit to the Village Museum (an open air museum displaying old houses and other structures from around Romania) and this was our first stop. We were guided to see a few properties and then left with some free time to explore on our own but as it was really hot again we decided that we’d sit and have a cold drink in a reconstructed bar/café rather than trudge around in the heat.
We were then taken on a fairly short drive to another hotel restaurant where we had another oversized lunch (four courses again) and were entertained by some traditional dancers. This is where the two tours split the first, which Dave & Janine opted for, was to the Parliament Palace which was built by Ceausescu and which is absolutely massive. As this tour was not recommended for people with limited mobility we opted for the other tour which involved a short walking tour of Bucharest’s old town and an hour and a half of free time which I used to take a brief look around whilst Graham sat in a very interesting café (the decoration was all very Steampunk). The old town was an interesting enough place to visit but I’m not sure there is enough there to draw us back unless it is to eat.
Tomorrow Graham and I are off on a holiday extension to Transylvania. Unfortunately Dave & Janine didn’t manage to get on it so they’re staying on in Bucharest and will be taking a day trip out to see Bran Castle. We will then meet up with them once were back in town and before heading home.
Thursday 22nd August 2019 – Bucharest to Brasov, Transylvania, Romania.
After breakfast this morning we set out on our overnight excursion to Transylvania (we had been advised to take some Garlic with us but decided to take our chances). Our final destination for the day was the city of Brasov but we stopped en-route to visit Peles Castle which is actually more of a very ornate stately home than a castle but well worth the visit. The only slight snag with it was the walk from the coach park to the castle as it was a 10+ minute walk downhill across very uneven cobbles so it wasn’t an easy walk for Graham but he managed it. There were also quite a few stairs inside the castle and then there was, of course, the walk back up the same uneven fairly steep hill which was quite an effort for everyone.
Once we’d returned to the coach we were driven a short distance to the ski resort town of Sinaia where we stopped for lunch and a walk around before re-boarding the coach for the drive to Brasov. We had been told some time ago that Brasov was worth a visit (by a young Romanian waitress we met) so we were looking forward to seeing the town but unfortunately for us there is a very big music festival on in town starting today so a sightseeing tour from the bus was the best we got. We could have taken a cab into the old town but we’d been warned that trying to get in to any of the restaurants would be something of a challenge and we were also concerned that we might not be a able to get a cab back so we did the sensible thing (boring but sensible) and spent the evening at the hotel. The restaurant there was perfectly okay but nothing to write home about.
Friday 23rd August 2019 – Brasov to Bucharest, Romania.
We were picked up at 09:00 this morning and drove through some very pretty countryside to the town of Bran where we joined the multitudes visiting Bran Castle (of Dracula fame). We had been warned that there was a bit of a climb up to the castle and that it would be busy so we might have to queue to get in. As it was we jumped the first of the queues as we already had tickets and we made our way slowly up a steep incline to the castle entrance and joined the end of the line around 50 metres from the entrance but it was slow going to get in. Our guide did a great job of keeping us all together where possible and she was heard to have a real pop at some locals who tried to push in to the middle of the group at the entrance to a very narrow staircase. In all the visit only lasted around an hour and, personally, I wasn’t as impressed with this castle as I was with yesterdays but we can now say we’ve been here.
One other odd thing about this castle is that it has an elevator which you can pay to take you down but you can’t, for some reason, use it to go up! We paid the 20 Lei (about £4.00) and took the easy way down and I’m really, really glad we did as by the time we got to the bottom the queue to get in must have been a solid 200 metres long and we would have had to get through all of those people to get back down the slope.
Not surprisingly there were a number of stalls at the bottom of the hill and we had a brief look at all of the typical tourist toot that was on offer before finding a restaurant where we could have a snack before getting back on the bus. The bus left Bran at 12:45 and the journey from there was around 180 kilometres but because of the excruciatingly slow traffic it took over 4 hours to get back.
We’ve now just returned from a very pleasant meal at a local outdoor restaurant (it’s still very warm here), it was absolutely chock full of mostly young people out for the evening and there was a very nice atmosphere and some gentle music you really wouldn’t associate with this age group, the only drawback is that smoking is still allowed in restaurants over here and they seem to have a very strong smoking culture.
We’ve been in touch with Janine during the day to see how their tour was going and it seems that their itinerary was changed to include a trip to both Peles and Bran Castles so they’re going to have a really long day with an estimated return time of 22:00, lets hope they think it was worth it.
During our text conversations Janine also suggested that as we have a whole day free tomorrow we could take a train ride out to the Black Sea coast so we plan on meeting up at the train station and heading out for the day. Should be interesting.
Saturday 24th August 2019 – Bucharest to Black Sea and back.
Unfortunately today’s plan A didn’t quite work out as when Dave & Janine arrived at Bucharest station they discovered that all of the trains were fully booked until well into the afternoon which meant it really wouldn’t have been worth making the trip so they arranged to come to our hotel to meet us so that we could decide what to do instead.
Whilst we were waiting for them to arrive Graham & I took the opportunity to speak to the local Viking guide and she gave us a number of alternatives to consider one being to hire a car & driver for the day to take us to the coast. She made a few calls to find out timings, prices etc. so we were prepared with the information by the time Dave & Janine arrived and, although it was a bit on the expensive side, we decided to go with that option.
Our driver, Lawrence, arrived just before 11:30 and we set out for the coast; having made one fairly short stop en-route it took us around 3 hours to get there. We had been told there were two distinct areas to visit the first being the city of Constanta and the other the resort/seaside area called Mamaia. We decided between us that we would prefer to visit the coast first as we all wanted to say we’d been to the Black Sea so Lawrence, who knew the area having been here on holiday recently, dropped us at a parking area quite close to the promenade.
A short walk later we were greeted by the sight of hundreds of parasols on a very nice looking beach. There were also wooden walkways to allow you to walk most of the way to the water (as the sand was really hot) and which conveniently stopped at small cafes. As we hadn’t eaten for quite some time we made our first stop a restaurant on the promenade and we followed that with a walk down to the water (with Graham waiting for us at one of the little cafes). Now I know it’s called the Black Sea but I was still a little surprised to see that once you got closer to it it really did look black. With our sandals kicked off, Dave, Janine and I went in for a paddle and discovered that what makes the sea so dark is a form of seaweed/algae that is really dark green and as a consequence it felt rather like paddling in spinach soup. Despite the muck in the water there were masses of people enjoying their day at the coast and they accepted the need to wash off the goo at the nearby taps as just part of their day.
Next we moved a bit further down the prom where Janine and I had an ice cream before leaving Dave & Graham to have a drink whilst we went to look at the souvenir shops. There were a number of stalls/shops selling local merchandise but there were others selling what appears to be exactly the same tatt you can buy in Skegness or Mablethorpe (think turtles, dolphins and picture frames made from shells). As time was now getting on and Lawrence (having been called out unexpectedly) was hoping to be home in time to make his evening out with friends we decided we’d ask Lawrence to drive us through Constanta and then start to make our way back so that’s exactly what happened. We arrived back to Bucharest at 21:30 and were dropped at Dave & Janine’s hotel as it was much better positioned for the old town. After dropping our bags in their room we took a walk into what was a very lively and loud town and we visited one of the oldest beer halls/restaurants there was. As it was, by now, pretty late we chose to share a platter of food but it was still more than we really needed. Once we’d finished there Graham and I (once we’d recovered our bag) took a taxi back to our hotel whilst Dave & Janine went on for a drink elsewhere.
Sunday 25th August 2019 – Bucharest to Home.
As we weren’t being picked up until 15:00 for our flight home Graham and I checked out of our hotel after breakfast, put our luggage in storage and took another taxi back to meet Dave & Janine. The next few hours were spent happily wandering around the old town, having some lunch and then trying to find something to spend the last of our local currency on. Another taxi then took us back to our hotel to pick up our transfer.
Now I know I’ve previously complained bitterly about the handicapped services at Heathrow but I can honestly say Bucharest airport is a total shambles (not just for the handicapped) and it is probably one of the worst we’ve encountered and that’s saying something. We arrived at the airport almost three hours before we were due to fly and as the check-in desks weren’t open we had to hang around for almost an hour. As there was nowhere for anyone to sit (one tiny café that was rammed) Graham and I approached the ‘assistance’ desk and were told that we couldn’t get a wheelchair until we’d checked in but we could wait in one of their seats for a while so that’s what we did. Once the check-in desk (yes, just one) opened Dave, Janine and I went and joined the queue leaving Graham to sit it out. Once we got nearer to the front (after they’d finally opened another two desks) Dave went and fetched Graham which meant a bit of a route march through an absolute mass of people. Once we’d checked in he then had to do the same route march back to the assistance desk where we were told we’d be collected shortly. Dave and Janine very sensibly went ahead and through security without waiting for us. In fairness it wasn’t that long a wait but because the check-in process had taken so long we were getting quite close to our boarding time when a surly ‘gentleman’ came to take us through.
Once he’d started off, making no allowances for me trying to keep up, he quite literally barged his way through to the security area where Graham was pulled aside for his leg to be checked which is fair enough but a little courtesy whilst they’re doing it wouldn’t go amiss. As I went through the scanner with our bags I was told I needed to open our small suitcase which I naturally did, the miserable bat of a security officer then proceeded to unceremoniously drag various bits out of the bag including Graham’s travel crutches. She also took a dislike to the plastic box we use to keep all of our chargers etc. together and took the top off of that so she could have a poke around. That done she literally shoved the bag and its contents aside waved her hands at me and left everything in a heap which really wasn’t helpful as the crutches only go in the bag one way and they have to go in first so getting everything back in the bag was a real game.
By this time Graham still hadn’t been seen as they had been taking their time with the previous guy who was paralysed from the waist down and who was made to leave his chair so they could pull it to pieces. I gather he was perfectly accepting that his chair needed to be checked but was not at all happy with the manner in which he was treated. Thankfully we weren’t too much longer before we got moving again but that’s when things started to get really unpleasant as the guy pushing the wheelchair took no account at all of anyone who was in his way he simply barged them with the chair and I followed on apologising to people on his behalf. He genuinely was dangerous to those around him.
We arrived at the departure gate shortly before we were due to board and I asked if there would be a pre-board for Graham as the wheelchair had been taken away, I was told there would. Unfortunately that didn’t materialise either so I just had to be a pain and get in people’s way to give Graham the space to board in safety (it didn’t help that there was slight delay to boarding and we had to wait halfway down the ramp). The poor cabin crew on the aircraft made the mistake of asking how we were so we told them of the problems we had and they said they’d speak to us about it later.
There was also a slight delay to our take off time as there was a thunderstorm close by which meant the air traffic controllers were changing the direction of take-off etc. Once we were underway we had a pleasantly uneventful flight until just before we touched down or, in this case, didn’t touch down. We got almost to the ground and the aircraft suddenly started to accelerate and climb and the cabin crew made a brief announcement to the effect that, for whatever reason, the captain had decided to abandon the landing and would provide us with more details shortly. It turns out that he had been told by air traffic control to abort as there was another aircraft that was taking longer than it should have to clear the runway. Our second attempt at landing was successful and we were on the ground by around 19:45.
Having been bitterly disappointed with the service at Bucharest we weren’t too hopeful that Heathrow would be any better so we agreed that Dave & Janine would go ahead to collect the luggage and wait for us at baggage reclaim.
Whilst waiting to disembark I had quite a long conversation with the two stewardesses at the rear of the aircraft and they told me they had already included a complaint in their report about the general service at Bucharest as they had received a number of complaints from passengers about the whole experience and that they too had had problems getting through and only just made the flight themselves. They asked me for more information about our experience so I gave them the details and they assure me it will be fed back. Whether it will do any good remains to be seen but not by us as we’ve said we’d never fly out of that airport again.
As our conversation went on one of the girls checked and told me that there was actually a wheelchair and pusher waiting for Graham and we were met by a really pleasant, cheerful, courteous little Italian man who stayed with us the whole way through passport control, baggage reclaim, customs and he even took us directly to the taxi line. We were really impressed with the service we received this time and I never thought I’d be saying that about Heathrow!
It was then a brief taxi ride back to the car and we were on the road by around 21:00 and heading for the M1 to take us back to Dave & Janine’s. We arrived there at around 23:00 and after a quick coffee decided that we were fit enough to drive home. Thankfully the traffic was pretty light and we were home here by 01:00 on Monday morning to find that Bob & Sue had very kindly left us a loaf and some eggs, great, breakfast sorted!
All in all it’s been a good holiday but we’ve all said it wasn’t perhaps quite what we expected. There was more night time sailing than we expected which meant we didn’t get to see that much of the countryside going by, the tours all started pretty early even when there didn’t seem to be a need for them to do so, the ship wasn’t as luxurious as we might have expected either bearing in mind the cost of the trip so although we all had a good time I’m not sure any of us will be taking another European river cruises in the near future but you never know.