Welcome to Day 12 of 13 of my tour of the Balkans with Just You. We’ve travelled from Romania through Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia – and today we return to the city where we started: Bucharest. You can find the whole series at the link below. This blog contains affiliate links to help support my writing.
Breakfast at the Hotel Aro Palace
The breakfast buffet at the hotel was splendid and spread around an island in the centre of the spacious dining room as well as on the perimeter. My main course was the same as yesterday and for pudding I went for the chia seed pudding. I had been warned yesterday that it was ‘like cement’ but there were no yoghurt pots left so I had little choice. Dear reader, my spoon could stand up in this pudding. It tasted nice, though, and I got as far as I could with it before finally giving up. I’m not one for having to finish the food that’s in front of me. When I’m done, I’m done.
We were looking forward to returning to Bucharest today. We understood we were staying in the same hotel we stayed in the first night – where we had long delays checking in and had to lug our luggage up stairs to access the hotel. Always searching for a silver lining, I recalled the exciting lights on the headboard that I was looking forward to using again – and I reminded the others that there was a ramp to wheel our cases up (admittedly it was well hidden, but someone spotted it as we were checking out). Plus they already had our passport details, so checkin should be a doddle.
Meanwhile it was time to check out of this fabulous hotel. Before I do so, let me show you the cute little toothbrush and toothpaste provided by the hotel. A rare and wonderful find!
As this was the last full day of our tour, thoughts began to turn towards getting home. I’d already booked my train from Heathrow to Blackpool North, allowing time for delays on the flight home. We hoped for better luck with our luggage travelling with us – which didn’t happen in all cases on the way out – but at least if it was lost then the train journey home would be easier; plus the luggage would turn up eventually. Nonetheless, I was definitely investing in an AirTag for future trips – just in case (pun intended).
Speaking of shopping, one member of the group announced that she had amassed 19 fridge magnets on the trip so far – despite not having a metallic fridge. I had to ask what she did with them all – and she showed me a photo of a metal wall she had covered with all her fridge magnets. It was a very impressive spectacle and a wonderful memory of all her travels. I guess my blog is a similar reminder for me.
On the Road Again
As we exited the car park, we were hit with a fact that many car park barriers are made from yacht masts. Who knew?
As I boarded the bus and went to take my usual seat at the front, behind the driver, someone yelled:
‘You can’t sit there!’
Oh there is a seating plan now? I must have missed that memo.
You may recall I mentioned how well we were doing with no-one requiring medical treatment on this trip. Well now we had a member of the party who had been suffering from – how do I put this delicately – the squits. It had been fortunate that this had come on in a place where we were spending two nights – but today she had to travel, as we were back on the road, so she was seated at the front – presumably so she could make a hasty exit from the bus, if the need took her. Having been a first hand witness to some close calls on the driving front, I could have advised that that was really not where you wanted to be sitting when you were feeling unwell, but I guessed she could find that out for herself. Not being particularly bothered where I sat – only that I wouldn’t be bothered by whoever I was sitting next to and could get some me time on the journey – I took a seat a few rows back.
As our guide talked through the rules of the day – making sure we all kept together, stuck to timings and didn’t move away from the group on our outings, someone grumbled:
‘How does he think we got here? And got to this age?’
But he was only doing his job – one that I wouldn’t want, having to shepherd a group of 32 people across Europe.
Before I had had time to realise what was happening, we were disembarking outside Peles Castle. How could I get out of this? We had just received a lecture about having to stick together. Dammit. Having successfully wriggled my way out of the last two castle visits – Corvin and Bran – I was forced to go round this one. I’d already done it on my last visit – and I hated crowds and enclosed spaces. Gah! I decided it would be over soon enough and got on with it.
What is Peles Castle like?
We entered the castle grounds and happened across a refreshment counter with outdoor seating. I would have loved to stop here – and I pointed out the cakes to my cake-loving companion. She was, however, traumatised by the doughnuts she had been so excited to buy in Braşov yesterday.
‘Those doughnuts were awful. I peeled them.’
We continued on and congregated outside the castle entrance. I tried to distract myself by observing the birds and spotted this little chap.
I got my Merlin app on the go and managed to identify him. I was annoyed that I hadn’t saved within the app a bird I had heard earlier on in the trip and someone pointed out that it had been a Eurasian Nuthatch. Yay for these useful companions! This is why I travel with a group.
Now to the castle!
I resolved to pay attention to our guide so I could give you some facts about the castle and also give me something to distract me from my discomfort in my surroundings. I learned that it was made from walnut and it was full of exciting and innovative technology, including a retractable ceiling and a secret doorway in the library. I took some photos for you, too, dear reader.
If you’re interested in learning more about Peles Castle, our friends from the last blog went there (and to Sinaia, where we’re heading next) and you can watch their video here.
I love these two! The video is worth watching just to see Trey (who’s afraid of heights) going up in the cable car.
I love that we have so many means of travel open up to us in the Information Age that we live in. I love watching videos like this – seeing places that I missed when I was there and seeking inspiration for future trips. I also enjoy travelling and seeing sights via my Meta Quest VR headset, which transports me into different worlds.
I also loved seeing Peles Castle through the eyes of someone who was genuinely excited by it. Unlike me.
As we continued round the castle, room by room, my discomfort grew – and I was delighted when our guide said he wouldn’t force us to stay with the group on these trips. Together with another girl, I made for the exit. Only to hear the guide calling the name of my fellow escapee (I was his favourite after setting up the WhatsApp group so he wouldn’t tell me off). No, we were already in the middle of a guided tour, and we had to all stay together. Make your mind up, man! What I should have done, of course, was made my excuses in advance, in which case I would have been allowed to stay on the bus at the cafe (the guide explained this to me later). Next time!
The queue for the toilets here was ridiculous and I would recommend going before you arrive if you can.
Oh and we saw a black squirrel!
Now it was time for our lunch stop in the local town.
What is Sinaia like?
Sinaia is where the Orient Express stops for Peles Castle. It’s named after Mount Sinai of Ten Commandments fame. And look – it has a little train!
We were dropped off at the end of a long street lined with shops, bars and restaurants – with free time and instructions to meet back there at a set time after lunch. I had consulted Copilot, who had recommended a place that looked great – and did not disappoint.
Where’s good to eat in Sinaia?
I led the breakaway drinkers down the street and we soon arrived at Bruma Restaurant.
Obvs we were starting with beer. Here’s what I had.
Had I been taking alcohol, this is obvs what I would have had.
Romania really is very good for beer and I would recommend it for a beer trip.
Now turning to food. The menu was in Romanian, so there was a bit of guessing and a bit of Google Translate involved (seemingly I had forgotten I could just Google Lens it and read it in English – I blame the trauma of the castle). I went for the Mongolian Beef, in the hope it would be something like a curry (something I crave but seldom find on hols).
It was lovely and just what the doctor ordered; although I am a little concerned now, having read the description in English on their online menu…
Er, sparrow? Copilot seems to think this could be a mistranslation of sirloin – but then he does tend to tell me what I want to hear, which isn’t always necessarily the truth…
We tucked into our lunch outside, despite the threat of rain. I learned over lunch that my drinking buddies had had a row with other members of the group in the hotel bar last night (the one night I was not there to supervise them). Could that have been the real reason our seats had been stolen on the bus today? I do love these trips for the little spats that arise over nothing. On my first one there was a huge battle over who had the front seats. And on a recent trip there were six women who came on the trip together (bearing in mind this is a tour group specifically for solo travellers) who divided the group. Conflict is always going to arise with 32 people spending two weeks together. And, much as I do try to be kind and think kindly of people, engaging in a bit of conspiratorial schadenfreude can be fun every now and then for sport.
But back to the restaurant – lets do the loo review.
As we made our way back to the group, we stopped at Sweet Mountain for an ice cream.
Again the menu was in Romanian, so I just went for something I could understand, which is not necessarily what I would have liked best. This might have been salted caramel.
On the Road Again
As we made our way back to Bucharest – our starting point for the tour – I enquired of our guide how far we had travelled. It was 2800km or 1739 miles. I suppose that wasn’t even counting the flights, which would add on 1,856 miles.
As ever, we made pit stops around every hour for a snackage and toilet break. Whilst queueing for the latter, I was slightly alarmed by the earthquake emergency plan. Fracking aside, earthquakes aren’t something I have to contend with at home, so this was another reminder that we were not in Kansas any more.
Mercifully no earthquakes were encountered at this service station, so we were able to keep our calm down without fuss.
Whilst waiting patiently in the long queue of probably all the women on this trip (more than half of the 32, although more men than usual were on this trip), I learned that Romanian Masterchef had been filming at Bran Castle last night. Dammit. I also missed a TV opportunity on my trip to Albania last year, when I’d opted to stay on the bus instead of going on a boat trip. The moral of that story is go out and do things and you find exciting things.
Speaking of exciting things, as we arrived back in Bucharest, I made a point of looking out for the dinosaurs I spotted on Day 2 (our first day here). Can you spot them in this photo?
Google Maps confirmed that this was the National Museum of Geology – which I’d have loved to have the time to visit. I do intend to return to Bucharest – possibly when ticking off Moldova (again, not that I’m a ticker, you understand). I would also like to go back to Sibiu, given that we missed out on that the other day, too.
As we approached Bucharest, we found out that our hotel had been changed. And after I was getting all excited about those lit up headboards as well! However, what I was to find at the new hotel was so much more exciting…
What is Radisson Blu Hotel Bucharest like?
Incredible! A five star hotel to end our trip was a lovely surprise. As we waited in the luxurious spacious lobby to check in (our guide working down a list and allocating us our room cards), I was transfixed by this exciting machine beavering away in the lobby.
How exciting is that?! I’d love a robot vacuum. We have a robot lawnmover (Mo) who does our lawn. He’s sat nav controlled, so you just pop him on the lawn and he just knows where the boundaries are. I cannot recommend him highly enough. You can get your own here:
We were pleased to find numerous lifts here (either side of the lobby), although there were a lot of floors so there was still a queue when I got to the lifts (having a surname close to the end of the alphabet has its disadvantages). When one lift came down and the doors opened, it still had one of our group in it.
‘It’s not that easy,’ he proclaimed.
Apparently you needed to swipe your room card to access the desired floor.
At last I reached my room, which was full of exciting provisions.
I was particularly intrigued by this in the bathroom.
I love a quest! I duly scanned the QR code. Dear reader, it was no help whatsoever – simply taking me to the Radisson website. In desperation, I consulted the ever faithful Copilot.
Well I already had all of those, so I left the package unopened for a future guest (or the maid or whatever). I usually snaffle things from hotels but for some reason wasn’t doing so on this holiday. Perhaps it was because I was having to lug my case up stairs and didn’t want any extra weight. Goodness knows how the fridge magnet collectors were managing. And one woman had two cases! And still ended up buying clothes because she was missing something!
Anyway, that was all very exciting but I wanted to relax with a beer before heading out with the group for our farewell dinner. Heineken 0.0 again, I think (no photo, no Untappd checkin, so this is assumed). As I don’t mess about where getting a beer ready for a night out is concerned, I was first down and took a seat with my back to the wall so I could see others arriving, and they could see me. I was feeling sociable tonight.
I was excited to share my news that I had finally decided on (and pressed the button on) my next Just You holiday. I was going to Norway! Doesn’t this look amazing (follow the hyperink)? Trains, boats, mountains, waterfalls. I can’t wait! Obvs you can read all about it once I’ve been. I wonder if I can count Denmark as a tick, as we’re changing at Copenhagen on the way home…? I suppose not, as I’m technically not entering the country – plus I do want to actually visit and explore Denmark. I’ve since booked another holiday too, with that blog to immediately follow this one.
I was soon joined by my drinking travelling companions. One woman arrived remonstrating to her friend, who she was not expecting to see just yet:
‘I thought you said you needed an hour to get ready?’
‘That’s right. Half an hour to shower and do my hair – and half an hour to drink my wine.’
That’s my kind of gal! Cheers!
Tonight we were heading out by bus to the restaurant. I decided to stir up a little mayhem and take the seat at the front of the back of the bus – the one that overlooks the middle door. I knew someone would have bagged it. If someone was going to procure my seat at the front, I’d do the same at the back – just for sport. Besides, this was the last night of the holiday, so there would be no time for a revenge mission…
We got off the bus but it was still quite a long walk to the restaurant. Where was our guide taking us? I just wanted to sit down with a beer some food.
Where is good to eat in Bucharest?
What is Hanu’lui Manuc like?
Fabulous! We entered through a bustling large courtyard packed with diners. We were greeted by our hosts and led upstairs to a table at the back of the restaurants. My companion had been quite correct that ‘they always seat large groups inside’. Does anyone know why that is?
Anyway I was delighted to be presented with another new beer.
The food here was up there with the best we had enjoyed all holiday – and I think the best of the set group meals that were provided for us. Here’s what we had.
Sadly, there was dancing involved here, with dancers performing in the middle of the restaurant. Happily, it was nowhere near where I was sitting, close to the bar at the rear. The dancers encouraged diners to get up and dance with them. One of the men in our party loved dancing, so it was lovely for him to have the opportunity to dance and for us to witness this and how much joy he got from it. Even I made the effort to watch him.
Over dinner, I enjoyed hearing a story from the other day, when some members of the group were seated outside a restaurant and a loud sports car raced past.
‘Tiny penis!’ yelled one of our party.
And this a group where I was the youngest! Honestly, Brits abroad…
I made time for a #LooReview before I left. Fancy pants as expected (the food was of excellent quality), the highlight being the tiled floor.
As we walked back to the bus after dinner, I observed that one member of our party had a pocket at the back of his jacket, in the middle.
‘What would you put in that pocket?’ I asked of the woman I was walking alongside.
‘Lunch,’ she quipped – for this was the man who raided the breakfast buffet for a packed lunch every day.
I howled at that! They were a great bunch to have spent the last two weeks with. These really are great holidays and I can’t recommend Just You highly enough for solo holidays.
Someone asked our guide how he managed putting up with tour groups without much of a break in between (he was going straight to meet another group when he dropped us off tomorrow). He said, having been a truck driver in the pandemic, he would never complain about work again.
Back at the hotel, I retired to bed. We’d be heading home tomorrow – but seeing more of Bucharest before we do. Plus the journey home was quite an experience…
What did I learn today?
- Car park barriers are made from yacht masts.
- I need to check birds in on Merlin to save my search history.
- Peles Castle contains exciting tech.
- Paddington gets everywhere.
- Google Lens translates menus easily.
- What to do when there’s an earthquake.
- There are dinosaurs in Bucharest.
- Robot vacuum cleaners are the most exciting thing ever.
- I cannot operate coffee pod machines.
- Travelling with a group is fun.
Is this part of a wider Balkans travel series?
Yes! If you want to start at the beginning you can find Day 1 here or navigate below or via the European Travel Diaries menu. The journey takes me from Romania, through Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia, before heading back into Romania.
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I’m looking forward to Peles Castle. But anything’s better when you go round on your own rather than on a guided tour. Especially if the guide a) thinks people are interested in art or b) gets their historical facts wrong (it is amazing how many guides do this).
I’m sorry I missed that rodelbahn type thing in Sinai ! We had great food in the little town, goulash I think.