Passage To Eastern Europe Viking River Cruise
Day 2: Saturday, October 29, 2022 - Bucharest, Romania
The day's statistics:
- Weather: low 60s
- Steps: 5,249 Linda; 6,063 Steve
At 12:10 the flight attendant finally got to our seats with food. Since we already ate dinner, pizza, at home, and
we would NOT have normally eaten food this late, we opted for the dinner without the entree - so we got a tiny salad,
some crackers with cheese, a roll with butter, and a cinimon bar. Still some food, but not all that much. And of
course we also got a glass of wine to share (didn't want to drink that much because liquid intake equals middle
of the night wakeups...) Neither of us took any pictures of our meal for some reason - probably because we were too
tired. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
It didn't take long before we tried to close our eyes and get a little sleep. But we really didn't - maybe a couple
hours at most.
After a little while, and because we were traveling east, it didn't take long before we had sunlight.
En route, we spied some views out the window, mostly England. I was sitting in the middle seat so I had to
reach over my sleeping neighbor - an Albanian girl that lived in SC - to get any shots out the window.
The flight was seven hours, and we passed through five time zones. Before landing at Heathrow, we were fed again.
This time it was yogurt and granola, and at 10:30 local (4:30 US time) - so only 4 and a half hours after our last
food.
We finally landed at 5:20 US time (10:20 local).
We taxied, deplaned, gathered our luggage, and made our way to the next terminal for our 12:40 (local) flight to
Bucharest. Our flight was currently on time.
Before making it through customs, we had to have our tickets scanned. On that security line, the agent was attempting
to redirect people to one of two lines and used roping to differentiate the two. It was clear that there was something
awry as new arrivals were being fed into the line ahead of those that were there previously. Eventually she came
walking back and said "Somebody messed this up." I said soft enough for Linda and the couple ahead of us to hear
"Yea, it was you." Much laughter ensued.
The ticket verification was quick. Theeeeeeen we got on line at customs, at 5:50.
"All liquids, creams, hand sanitizer, [etc.] must be in one bag." (Not each, all together combined in one bag.)
"All electronic equipment larger than a cell phone - iPad, camera, laptops, power cells, [etc] must be taken out of
the luggage and placed in a bin." I had a camera and a laptop in my carry-on.
When going through the metal detector, shoes have to be removed, and all electronics, belts, and any metal items that
may be in our pockets. A little annoying after having gone through preCheck in the US, but understandable.
Let's just say that "someone" forgot to take off their Fitbit (OK, it was me) and had to get personally checked which
included a wand scan and a pat down. That took another five minutes.
When I finally got through all that, at 6:33, Linda was waiting for me. But I had to wait for the bin with the rest
of my items in it. Since I had something that they didn't like, ALL my toiletry liquids had to be "tested".
And I had to wait for someone to do that. It was another ten to fifteen minutes.
Our phones automatically synchronized to the new network.
We entered the "international connections" area. The tote board indicated "Gate to be posted at 11:55". I said to
Linda "We'll go to the gate in the middle and wait until the gate is posted." The entry into the connections section
was is between gates 20 and 21 of about 42. So we were already at about the middle point. The tote board eventually
showed "Gate 9" and we immedaitely made our way there. Somehow, there were already fifty - or more - people on the
line. I do not understand how that is even possible.
When we checked in, we were informed that we HAD to - as well as quite a few others before and after us - check our
carry-on bags because the flight was full and there wasn't enough overhead storage for everyone'. We were now 20
minutes late for boarding and finally got on the plane at 12:46, and at 12:55, boarding was complete.
At 1:08 we started moving and took off at 1:21.
We had a snack at 1:55 that consisted of water and potato chi- I mean crisps.
And once again I had to reach over the guy at the window to take pictures of the scenery below. But he was also
willing to take a couple pics for me, so I can't take all the credit or blame for all of these shots...
This time, the view was mostly mountains.
The flight to Bucharest was three and a half hours, and we passed through two more time zones.
To help pass the time, we listened to some of the book we downloaded from the library.
We noticed that the couple across the aisle from us also had Viking tags on their luggage. I talked to them and
found out that they were going on the same cruise as we were. And they - Susan, a teacher, and Jim, retired - were
from Newark, DE, merely 25 minutes from where we live.
We touched down at 4:04 and deplaned at 4:19.
We gathered our luggage, passed through customs, and made our way out to find our shuttle to the hotel.
In all, we traversed seven time zones, and flew for ten and a half hours.
We entered the airport and passed through customs.
Our Viking guide, Iliana, was waiting just outside baggage claim, though she found us more than we found her -
we had Viking stickers on our lapels to help identify us.
The group of us - about a dozen - boarded the shuttle at 7:05.
I captured some shots on the trip to the hotel. Our first view of the Arc d' Triumph - it is smaller than the Arc in
France.
And the giraffe statue at the zoo.
I took more pictures, but I was using my cell phone, on a moving bus, at night - so some of them were crappy.
As I was taking some pictures, the woman sitting across the aisle from me asked if I was the type of guy that takes
all the pictures of everything. I said "yes, I'm that guy."
We arrived at our hotel, the JW Marriott Grand Hotel in Bucarest.
We got our room key from the Viking local host, and made our way upstairs to our room.
After getting to our room, we dropped our luggage off, and went downstairs to the Cucina, an
Italian restaurant (like, duh), for dinner.
It was a little late for us for dinner, but we were hungry and decided to split something light.
We had some rolls with dipping oil as an [included] appetizer, salad, and buratta.
It was a long day, and we dind't get much sleep on the plane, so going to bed and getting a good night sleep should not have been that much of a challenge.