20240807 Viking European Sojourn River Cruise Day 6/27 - Bucharest, Romania and sailing on Lofn

Viking European Sojourn River Cruise Day 6/27 - Bucharest touring, sailing on Lofn, and Bulgaria - country 67!

This morning, we checked out of the JW Marriott in Bucharest for the last time. The bus today would take us on a tour and then take us south to Giurgiu, Romania to allow us to board the Viking Lofn for the next phase of our adventure - sailing to Budapest, Hungary. Of course, we will make stops along the way, starting with Ruse, Bulgaria.

But, before all that, we had a tour of Bucharest, so let's get going. We started off by stopping at the parliament building. It's huge and mostly unoccupied. It was built by the last communist dictator, Nicolae Ceaușescu, the last communist dictator of Romania built it and it remains as a monument to communist silliness.

There are 12 floors above ground and 8 floors below including a bomb shelter - with more than 1100 rooms, it is huge and as one of the heaviest buildings, it is sinking

Fun fountains down a boulevard

We continued our drive around Bucharest.

The Romanian Athenaeum

The Royal Palace of Bucharest

Central University Library Carol I

Revolution Square

Memorial of Rebirth

The Triumphal Arch

Next, we drove to the National Village Museum. It was interesting as they disassembled traditional homes and buildings from various areas throughout Romania, transported them here, and painstakingly reassembled them so visitors could see classic buildings from around the country.

This woven wall was amazing

Again - amazing that this was disassembled, transported, and reassembled

Next up was a walking tour through the old town area of Bucharest.

Traffic was typical in Bucharest

National Museum of Romanian History

Palace of the Deposits and Consignments

Bank of Romania

"Saint Demetrius" Church or Church of the Testimony - people would visit before testifying in court and the priest would threaten you if you didn't tell the truth

PTTR Hospital

Stavropoleos Monastery

The monastery courtyard

Another view of the Palace of the Deposits and Consignments

National Bank of Romania

The sign said it - it was a legal thing

"Saint Anthony" Church

The bell tower at the church

Our lunch venue

Dancers performed at lunch but our table was situated so we couldn't see - Arlona went and grabbed a couple of photos

After lunch, we walked back to the bus.

The bells at "Saint Demetrius" Church

We had seen buildings with this circular sticker. It turns out that this is a warning that the building will likely incur a catastrophic collapse in the next seismic event. In buildings like this, rents are oddly low, as while you might get a good deal, you might also die.

We boarded the bus for the 1.5-hour drive to Giurgiu - the river port on the Rhine where we boarded the Viking Lofn. We were supposed to sail on the Viking Vidar, but river conditions necessitated a change in ships. Lofn is named for the Norse Goddess of illicit love. We were on The Love Boat in the South Pacific and now, we're on the Illicit Love Boat. Wow!

We chose the cheapest room on the ship, lovingly referred to as the aquarium rooms based on the windows perched just above the water line.

Looking in the door

Turning to the left, we see half of the closet - we brought the hanging shelves

The other half of the closet with the safe and shelves

Turning to the right, we see the bathroom with a sliding door

As with all Viking ships, the floor is heated, even if the space is limited

There is one word that can be used to describe the room - small

The end of the bed is a one-way street - there are storage drawers which is nice - the desk is very small

 but does have a 220V and 110V socket on the window side and a 110v socket on the closet side

The bed is nice - there are 220V and 110V plugs above each nightstand

The window view and shelf

We walked upstairs and took a look around.

The central area

The main stairway and glass roof

More in the central area of the ship

The Lounge

We went up to the sun deck on the top of the ship

Of course, we had to sample the drinks - I think that's a legal requirement

Preparing to depart Romania for the unbelievably long sail to Bulgaria (perhaps a mile)

River cruises still require an in-person muster drill - it was great fun (sarcasm intended)

We enjoyed dinner, getting to know other passengers, and watching the sunset over Romania as we docked in Ruse, Bulgaria

Things are much more relaxed on river ships as we were able to walk up on land and set foot in country #67, Bulgaria, without having to scan off the ship.

Our Viking Lofn as the sun faded

So, we were able to set foot in Bulgaria tonight before crashing in our tiny room for the night. Tomorrow, we have a full-day tour so it was time to call it a night and get some needed sleep before tomorrow.