I slept far better than I imagined I might and arrived in Romania’s capital bang on time, despite the length of the journey, something that would be unheard of in the UK. I took a bus closer to my apartment, then stopped to grab some lunch in cafe that just happened to have a geocache behind the counter!
I’d arranged to meet my new host at 2pm to drop my bag and grab the keys. After that was done, I explored the immediate area, stopping for a drink and grabbing a few caches before jumping on a bus to the airport to meet Bethany who was flying in from Stansted for a few days. Sadly, it didn’t look like Lottie was going to be able to make it during this trip, but I was sure we’d do something exciting together soon to make up for it.
I made my way to the arrivals gate and was amused by a group who were welcoming every addition to their party with a song as they came through the sliding doors. They were each wearing a lanyard with an oversized laminate ID, and we’d see them all over the city that week with their massive ID and collection of swapped badges. No idea who they were.
It wasn’t long before Bethany arrived and we were back on the bus heading into the city again and dropping her stuff off at the apartment. We headed out for a walk and to explore the area. We went in search of the ‘big square’ because every European city has one. Bucharest, apparently, had several but the largest one seemed to be closed for major refurbishment, so we kept walking until we came to the ‘old town’ with its narrow streets, bars and restaurants begging us to choose theirs. After a while we relented and sat down for a drink, a meal and a proper chat.
However, there was a point later in the evening when the music suddenly changed, the lights dimmed and there was a different mood. I mentioned to Bethany that there was a woman behind her dressed bizarrely, then another. Then they started dancing and gyrating in unison, and I realised that I was now inadvertently in a strip bar with my daughter! Despite our both seeing the funny side of this, we decided to move on, noting that a similar transformation had taken place at most other bars and restaurants in the area.
Eventually we came to a road junction where a fairly decent busker was entertaining passers-by with a guitar and a looping pedal against the backdrop of the neo-classical National Bank building. We sat for a drink and watched him play, followed by an electric violinist. It had been a long day for both of us though, so we headed back (via a couple of caches, obviously!) for a well earned sleep.
We’d booked another walking tour the next day, and this was one of the best I’d done so far on this trip. Our host was knowledgeable and entertaining and took us around some extremely interesting parts of the city, but telling us its history and development as he did. The old caravan buildings were fascinating, as was the beautifully painted Orthodox church close to where we’d been l been last night, and the gargantuan marble parliament building.
But for me the most incredible part was seeing the presidential building where Nicolai Ceausceau gave his ill-fated final speech from the balcony in December 1989 before temporarily escaping from the roof by helicopter before his summary execution just days later. As with my visit to the Berlin wall a week before, and my previous visit to Tiananmen Square, I’d watched these historical events almost live on TV and it felt incredible to see these places for myself.
After the tour, we found a local cafe and had a traditional Romanian lunch before heading home for an afternoon nap. It was going to be a late night; England were playing Croatia in their opening world cup match and it was going to be a late finish. First we found a rooftop bar and had a cocktail before accidentally gatecrashing a posh party to take in the panoramic views of Bucharest at night. After that we found a steak house that we’d spotted earlier and shared what soon turned out to be an eye-wateringly expensive meal, but the less said about that the better!
Once we’d finished our steak, we wandered back down to Revolution Square where a huge four-sided screen had been set up, along with a bar, to form a secure fanzone. Bethany grabbed a beer each for us and we sat on the floor among a diverse mix of international fans (sadly Romania didn’t qualify this time) to watch England kick off their World Cup campaign with a 4-2 win before heading home for a late bedtime.
The next day incorporated a mixture of things. I set out early to find a table at the cafe where I was holding my third and final Event of the trip. Other than one cacher moaning that I was clearly trying to avoid locals by holding it in the morning, no one had said they were coming. But then at the last minute one other chap logged, and another turned up unannounced. Over breakfast, we had a nice chat about all sorts of things, mainly the local caching scene but with a few pointers for other places to visit.
Once Bethany had joined us, we set off to find a post office (not always an easy task, I’ve discovered!) and to do some other tourist shopping. We then headed to Cismigiu Park, which we’d passed on our tour yesterday and had earmarked for further exploration. Of particular note was the presence of a boating lake and so after a couple of geocache finds in the park, we hired a pedalo and had a fabulous 30 minutes of messing about on the water.
After a video call back to my mum back home in Sleaford, we caught the bus out to the magnificent but unfinished National Cathedral of Romania.
We soon learned that it was still not open to the public and so after a walk around its huge exterior we jumped back on the bus and headed to Caru’ci Bere, the country’s oldest brewery. A fabulous carved and vaulted building, it was just the place to try the local beers and cheeses before catching the end of another football match and heading back home to prepare for our mutual onward journeys tomorrow.
The next day we both had mid afternoon departures to plan for so after checking out and depositing our bags at the nearby baclava shop, we went for a wander and had a final lunch together before saying our goodbyes. Bethany was heading home to Lincoln, and so took the same bus to the airport, and I got to the station very early indeed for the overnight train to Vienna in Austria. This was also to be a couchette and this time I was sharing with a family of three. Apart from the rock-hard bed and not even a bottle of water to drink, all was well and I was on my way to yet another new country.
A Wright
June 2026
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