Mid-Trip Relocation Day

-

The relaxing time in Austria is over and I'm now in Bucharest. This is the staging city to meet up with friends and the cruise group for what I hope will be a successful Danube cruise. Brief history, I was supposed to be on the Bucharest to Budapest cruise in 2018 but due to historic water levels, the cruise was cancelled and we ended up flying to Vienna and cruising the Austrian Danube. Then before a redo could happen, Covid happened. So here's today. What does one do on a travel day? It's fairly boring with airports and immigration and simply going from Central Europe to Eastern Europe.

Upon arrival to the hotel I spotted the most wonderful sign on the elevator "Guest Laundry." I was going to hand wash clothes and instead the hotel offered free self service wash and dry!  I pack really light so that I can hand carry all luggage to this was a traveler's dream!

Once that was complete then it was time for something a bit better. Dinner and a beer.
A lager but what are you going to do? I can't be a picky beer drinker here since choices are limited and it was cold and refreshing on what was a really hot day. As I enjoyed my meal I got a message regarding the cruise. Due to even more historic low water levels, the cruise ship was not going to make it the the port of Giurgui after all. Instead of a 1.5 hour bus trip to the port, we are now facing an 8 hour bus trip to Vidin, Bulgaria, plus another overnight in Bucharest and losing one night on the ship. UGH.

Here is the planned cruise.
Both Giurgiu, Romania and Rousse are lost. Even with rain today, I can't see that there's enough water coming down that could raise the Danube water levels enough to salvage this situation. I'm so glad I was halfway through that beer before the news came in.







































Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

-
Most Hobbit minded people have already seen the latest installment so this is for those of you waiting for the crowds to go down. Part 2 is much better than part 1. This applies to all viewers. Where the gap happens if you have not read the book (including the appendices) you will probably like the whole movie. If you've read the book and taken the time to read the appendices, then you'll appreciate the back story that's presented here. The spirit of Tolkien is present and Desolation of Smaug fits well within what will become a 6 part movie. What I liked....The opening sequence. This is not in the book and I had to look it up in the appendices and sure enough, Gandalf and Thorin did meet in Bree. Thranduil and Legolas father/son relationship. I liked it. While only a mere mention in the appendices, in this movie we see Legolas loyal to his father. That Legolas doesn't mesh with the person he becomes and it will be interesting to see what happens to Legolas in the nex...
Read more
-
COASTAL AREAS OF CALIFORNIA - OREGON - WASHINGTON - BRITISHCOLUMBIA - AND ALASKA....THE TSUNAMI WARNING AND WATCH STATUS IS CANCELED FOR CALIFORNIA - OREGON - WASHINGTON - BRITISH COLUMBIA - AND ALASKA... It's good to know that today's media is so excited for another tsunami, that newscasters managed to panic coastal residents for thousands of miles. My neighbor came rushing out her house to call out "tsunami" in 3 hours! She was ready to evacuate. We could not convice her that while we are near the beach, it is a good mile away, with a major freeway inbetween us and a nice rolling hill. She was still ready to go to higher ground, bathrobe and all. Luckily, the Weather Channel has announced the cancellation of the alert. I guess I can sleep now and not have to worry about being washed away.
Read more

Iron Man 2

-
Iron Man 2 starts off the traditional summer movie launch when we are still filled with hope of what is to come before being beaten down with crap. The second weekend in May is the the home of The Mummy, Van Helsing and the like of which Iron Man 2 now belongs. IM2 is everything that is cliched in a sequel. If the audience liked explosions in the first move, make more explosions. Flying super hero suits? Make more! Not enough hot women and wrestlers? Add in cheerleaders and Mickey Rourke and you have a popcorn movie! The plot is not hard to follow. One dimensional bad guy Mickey Rourke wants to make Iron Man suffer for family honor. Dweeby jealous Justin Hammer wants respect. (His whiny voice was overdone and I found myself wishing for a remote so I could hit mute). Tony Stark/Iron Man wants a life. So why was this so hard for people to grasp?  This is one of those movies where if you have a friend who always is asking you "what happened" or "why" during the mo...
Read more