July 27 –Bucharest

Today we decided to dedicate to “work”.  The morning was spent working on photos and the blog and other stuff required for general living while on the road. 

We did decide to explore a bit and got the name of a restaurant in Old Bucharest, Caru Cu Bere.  It is in an old church that has been converted into a gigantic restaurant.  There is massive seating inside as well as a huge outdoor covered patio.  

The line was out the door and it appeared that they were mostly locals, which is always a good sign.  

Fortunately it didn’t take long to get in and we found ourselves seated in an upper level overlooking the main part of the hall. 

And they had a band playing.

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Watch video of the band.
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It appeared that most/all of the original architectural features and mosaics and stained glass have been preserved.  

The food is traditional Romanian food and is very good.  For dessert we tried the Papanasi’s or Romanian Donuts.  They are shaped approximately like a donut but with an indentation instead of a hole.  It was topped with a mixture of sour cream and soft cheese and probably some unknown ingredients.  And blueberries.  One serving was two very large Papanasis so we split an order…more than enough and very tasty.

After lunch we walked around the area quite a bit. This section of town is interesting with nice buildings,

and sidewalk cafes.  

We spent the afternoon packing and working on more pictures.  We are almost caught up with our recent month in Britain. 

July 28 – Drive to Giurgiu

Our driver picked us up at 9:30 am for an hour and a half drive to Giurgiu on the Danube River.  We were quite early and spent some time in the lounge 

We met Nancy from North Carolina, also an earlier arrival.  We had a great chat.

The evening activities were delayed for a late arrival of a bus of passengers.  Once everyone was checked in we had a welcome toast, a safety briefing, introductions of the boat’s crew, and then it was off to dinner.

Dinner partners were Linda and Ken from Florida and Jane (from Florida) and her adult son John from Kansas.  Pre-dinner conversation was difficult due to the high noise level from 143 people talking at once.  The conversation level dropped considerably once the excellent food started showing up 

After dinner we decided to go to the sun deck and took a few laps on the walking path.  This AmaWaterways boat is much larger and newer than the AmaWaterways boat we took on the Mekong River.  It is very nice and we have decided that the bathroom shower is the largest we have had on any boat, ocean or river, which is to say it is slightly larger than a very small closet..  Quite a luxury.

Fortunately they served a light lunch so we didn’t have to go out searching for food.  Shortly after everyone was on board the skies opened up and it rained heavily.  Fortunately not too long.

We didn't seem to get around to taking any pictures today, other than the Blood Moon that was out tonight.

Our first stop in this cruise will be to Rousse, Bulgaria.  We found it rather humorous that it is just across the river from Giurgiu.  In fact, when they reposition tonight they will need to travel only 1.5 Kilometers.  But we will be in a new country.

July 29 – Rousse, Bulgaria

Our shore excursion today is a drive to Veliko Tarnovo, the City of the Tsars and the ancient capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire.  The hour plus drive took us through farmland that was planted predominately in sunflowers.

First stop was the town of Arbanassi, high in the hills with great views of the surrounding area.

Next stop was an ancient church of Arbanassi, The Nativity of Christ Church.  The church has a very low profile because it was built during the time of the Ottoman Empire occupation and they required that the churches be very unobtrusive.  

However, the interior was anything but unobtrusive...beautiful, well preserved murals on the walls and ceilings.  Unfortunately it is still a working church and photos were not allowed inside. 

The town appeared to be very old with many stone walls and buildings.

After lunch in an authentic Bulgarian restaurant (great food) we walked a short distance through town to a shop that specialized in rose products.   The cultivation of roses for the use in the production of rose oil and other rose products is one of the major industries in the area.  We sampled some rose products such as rose brandy and rose Turkish delights. 

Next stop was a nearby museum, the Konstantsalieva House, a 17^th century home of a rich merchant that is now a museum.  

All the rooms that we toured were furnished.  The bedrooms had these massive beds that went from wall to wall.

And the kitchen seemed fully outfitted...

down to having a loaf of bread on the table.

Then it was off to the Church of St Michael and Gabriel for an awesome concert by four people singing acapella.  They were amazing.  

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Watch video of singers.
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As were the frescoes.

We then took a short drive to Veliko Tarnovo with great views along the way. 

Veliko Tarnovo was the strongest fortified city in Bulgaria during the Middle Ages.  We walked part way up to the castle on the top of one of the hills.  Unfortunately there wasn’t enough time for a walk all the way up…negatives of large group tours.

There were certainly great views of the city from where we were at.

There was a little time to walk up a nearby street with lots of craft and souvenir shops.  

Then it was back on the bus for the long drive back to the boat.  It started raining shortly after we got back to the boat.