So… back in 2019, I went to Bucharest with someone who is no longer worth my time. I decided that I wanted to have a do-over of the trips we did so I could make my own solo memories from them.
You can read about that trip here.
I saw tickets for Bucharest for £14.99 each way so I decided I would get them. I just had to quickly figure out when I had the time to go (as the prices tend to jump up as Ryanair are wont to do). I quickly checked my calendar and saw that I had one of 2 sets of days off work I could go to.
I decided to do this one on the shorter days off so I could go somewhere I haven’t been before on the longer days off.
I booked everything. The hostel looked decent. The location was decent. It was in a part of the city that I hadn’t been to last time so that was good. The connections from the airport are great. The buses are frequent [M-F, 06:00 – 23:00 every 15 minutes. S/S they are every 20 minutes. Through the night they are every 30 minutes.].
About 3 weeks before I was due to fly, the ASLEF rail union decided they were going to do strikes and an overtime ban the week that I was due to fly. They were striking at different companies on different days. It just so happened that CrossCountry (who get me from Peterborough to Stansted) were striking on the day I was due to fly out. I started to look in earnest at how I was going to get there. I had to take a half-day annual leave to make sure I could get there.
The journey is usually around 90 minutes from start to finish. This time round it was 125 minutes. Instead of it being a direct train, I had 3 – YES, THREE – connections I needed to make. Open the spoiler below and have a look. It’s so infuriating. The service is pretty rubbish as it is and expensive for what it is that striking just adds insult to injury. I got a refund on my ticket and had to pay £15 more for the privilege of an extra 35 minutes and an extra 2 connections. There was no other way I could do it unless I wanted to go to London and cross London and then back up to the airport. I ended up being at the airport nearly 4 hours before the flight left.
I didn’t mind really, it gave me time to get a meal deal and then go set up camp overlooking the runway. The only issue I could see was that my flight would depart from other gates at the airport. It was a risk I was willing to take. I didn’t mind. I got to overlook the runway.
Backing back up just a little. I got off the train and then to security and it was dead. I was through in no time. The person I spoke to said this week at Stansted is usually the quietest. The one time I didn’t mind if security were a little slower and it was the quietest. Typical.
Anyway, back to overlooking the runway. I sat there for about 90 minutes and then went to speak to someone as the gate wasn’t showing for my flight. I told them the app said the gate I was closest to and it turns out it was one of the furthest away from where I was. Like I said, it’s a risk. I managed to get to the gate I needed before the masses of people showed up. At least I was at the front of the non-priority queue.
We boarded and people were just standing up everywhere and didn’t care what the flight attendants were saying. It was really annoying. They kept saying we couldn’t close the main doors until people were sat down and buckled up. I just wanted to stand up and shout and scream at them. I didn’t though. They finally got everyone to sit down and we left. The flight was ok. A little turbulent midway through though. Definitely not a fan of that at all. Thankfully it’s usually not so bad on the short-haul flights.
We were told that there were wintry conditions in Bucharest. I wasn’t overly convinced as the weather said it would be a light dusting of snow but it wouldn’t last. When we were coming into land, the people in the row with me were saying the ground was white with the snow. I was getting a little excited. We landed and I could see the snow had settled and it was still snowing. I was loving it. I just wanted to get out of the airport and to the hostel to go out in it.
Getting across the border and customs was really easy. I just had to tell them why I was there and that was it. No further questions. I went out and got my travel card and then waited for the bus… and waited… and waited. So much for every 15 minutes. I guess they can’t cope with the snow much like anywhere. The bus finally turned up and we were hostel-bound. It was about 10 miles from the airport but it took an hour and 15 minutes because of the heavy traffic due to the snow.
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I got off the bus and headed in the direction of the hostel. It was still snowing and I was just happy taking a slow walk and getting pictures. This is what I enjoy when I get to a new place. As long as it isn’t raining too heavily then I don’t mind taking a slow walk.
I got to the hostel, checked in then left my stuff in the room and then headed out walking to go find some snacks and just walk around enjoying the snow. I went out for nearly 2 hours. I could have stayed out more but I was cold and my feet were getting wet. I enjoyed the walking I did though and got some cool snow pics.
There’s nothing much else to say about the rest of the day as I got in during the evening and it was dark so there wasn’t much to do. I just went back and then lay on the bed just relaxing.
Total steps: 13,331
Total miles: 6.38
Below are some pics from today
I got up around 08:30 (I wanted to get up at 09:00 but had no such luck thanks to the moron in the bed above me who thought it was fine to take a call when everyone else was trying to sleep. I should up to him to shut up and he told the person who was calling he would call them back later) and showered and got ready, got my stuff together and then headed out for the bus. As a thank you for waking me up, I left my wet towel on his bed with his clothes on. I’m not even sorry either.
I went to find some food so I didn’t have to take airport prices but nothing was open. I was surprised since it was 09:40 at this point. Oh well. Airport prices it would have to be.
I got to the airport and just went through security and passport control so I could just sit and relax before we had to board. I want to try and chill as I have a 12-hour night shift ahead of me when I get home. I couldn’t relax at the airport. I was hoping I could sleep on the flight instead. I managed to get a window seat on a row that nobody claimed. I tried to sleep but couldn’t. I don’t know what it was. The last few flights I’ve been able to sleep for half of them.
I got back to Stansted and the train was a few minutes late leaving (at least it was running as today was an overtime ban day) and this turned into 10 minutes late arriving in Peterborough. Thankfully it’s only a 6-minute-ish walk from the station home. I was so glad to walk in my door – even if I was doing a 12-hour shift.
All in all, Bucharest was good. It was good to make some solo memories. I’d say you should go if you get the chance.
Total steps: 40,605
Total miles: 19.38
You can view all of my Bucharest pics here