Weather: cloudy but fine
Last night we had dinner at a Greek restaurant in the Old City. Most old cities in Europe
are called that because the buildings are very old, but charmingly beautiful,
and there's some very old Roman buildings or ruins in evidence. While Bucharest
has some old ruins in their old city, the remainder looked old through decay
and neglect. There was nothing that
looked like it had any historical significance, having been thrown up, rather
badly, during the communist era. Certainly not charming especially since it was covered with a coating of
dirt and dust. The concrete cancer in
some of the buildings looked quite serious and terminal, slightly scary when
walking under or near them. It's going
to take a massive effort across Romania
to correct this common problem. Oh and
there was nothing particularly Greek about the food in the Greek restaurant
except the decor and the language on the menu, unless of course they mainly eat
grilled pork chops and chips in Greece. After saying we wanted to sit at a particular
table (near the cash register) away from some smokers, we then had to breath
the second hand smoke of the cashier, who was one of the people at the table we
were trying to avoid when we walked in. She stood at the register and chained smoked nearly the entire
meal. It is very hard for non-smoking
Aussies who are sensitive to second-hand smoke to get used to the idea of
people smoking just about everywhere. We have noticed a few places where smoking is not tolerated and now this
country is part of the EU they will have to start introducing non-smoking
restaurants etc in accordance with EU regs. However we all came away from the restaurant with our appetites
satisfied and the whole meal was nice, if not particularly Greek.
Up fairly early after a great sleep in a very clean and well maintained
Ibis Motel room. The standard of the
Ibis chain around the world is excellent and predictable. Cleaned the bike and then ate a hearty
breakfast with some excellent coffee to wash it down. A single room including buffet breakfast
A$29, great value.
Wheeled our loaded bikes to the station and after establishing which
platform our train would arrive on, we bagged them ready for the trip to Istanbul. Our folded bikes in a bag ends up about the
same size as a large suitcase and can fit easily in the sleeping cabin on a
train, which we had pre-booked, paid for and got our tickets. However when we went to board the train the
sleeping car official said "no, no, not possible to put bikes in sleeping
cabin they are for sleeping". We
insisted that we don't mind and it is our cabins alone and there was plenty of
room. But when I told him I booked the
whole cabin so I would have room for my bike, he reluctantly agreed it was okay
for me to put the bike in the cabin. So
much for the no bagged bikes in cabins. He wasn't finished with the other two couples who each had a cabin and
he insisted they must use the spare cabin and it would cost Euro65. Then we realized that he was just another
corrupt train official trying to rip us tourists off. This was the second time we had encountered
corruption on the tour, both times on Romanian trains. However Bob and Fred were awake to this guy
and just said to him they were not paying and they were going to put their
bagged bikes in their cabins. They did this and everything fitted nicely and
they were all comfortable. To prove a
point we all sat / stood in Fred and Heather's cabin, with the bikes and
luggage, and had a drink as the train was leaving. It feels good not to cave in to corruption,
but it's not always possible. The same
conductor came back later and charged Fred, Heather, Bob and Kerry Euro10 each
for their bikes, but this time it was official as he wrote them a receipt. He didn't ask me, maybe due to the extra
berth I have in my cabin.
The train is reasonably modern with the basics, although the shower at the
end of the carriage is broken and cold. What is also a bit strange for a train that takes 24 hrs is that it has
no dining car. Our mate (we made up to
him) did tell us that he sells beer and chicken soup. And you can't get off and buy stuff at any
of the stops. The sleeper is nice and
comfy and had plenty of room (even enough to store your bike) and a hand basin
for a wash. But all night I kept getting
a whiff of sewerage. I suspect that the
hand basin didn't have an S bend. Although the train was ok the line was rough which caused the train to
rock violently. After about 10 hours I
wasn't feeling too good and was glad for the bunk bed to sleep. By the time I got to Istanbul 24 hrs later (1200h) I was feeling
ordinary. Luckily the motel was only a
350m walk from the station and after throwing my gear in my room I went to bed
and slept off and on till 0700 the next morning. I wasn't able to even get up for dinner. I think it was a combination of the train
ride and some dodgy food I had at the station in Bucharest.
Anyway I'm much better this morning and very
much ready for breakfast. Today we
explore Istanbul.
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