Romania: day 1
Some friends of the family are from Bucharest. They've been in New York for about 15 years. We've known them just as long. Several months ago, they asked my parents and I if we'd like to join them on a trip back home to Romania. We said yes!
Jeff and Adriana went a day early, but the rest of us didn't leave until Friday. With Radu, Nineta and Mike in NY, my parents in DC and me in Chicago, we all made our own flight arrangements. The goal was to arrive at Otopeni airport as close to the same time as possible. Radu had given me their flight info and it turned out that our layovers in Amsterdam overlapped. When I checked in at O'Hare, I tried to switch the second leg of my flight to match theirs, but since that would have left me with only a 50 minute layover coming off of a 7+ hour int'l flight, the agent said I should wait and see what time I arrived in Amsterdam. If my flight made good time, I could switch to the earlier flight in Amsterdam.
The flight was uneventful. I tried to sleep (as it would be a short night and that was my only chance for sleep. I doubt I got more than about 30 minutes sleep... I just can't seem to sleep well while sitting up in a chair :(
Arriving in Amsterdam, I was surprised how much English I heard. Walking past shops, I could hear customers with Dutch accents conducting transactions in English with cashiers who were also speaking English with Dutch accents. Having arrived early, I made my way to the ticket counter. I asked about catching the earlier flight to Bucharest. The agent explained that since my bags were already checked through to Bucharest, I'd have to wait for the same plane. Had the agent in Chicago only sent my bags to Amsterdam, I could have moved my bags and myself onto the earlier flight. (a security measure) Thanks to the same Chicago agent who suggested I change flights in Amsterdam, I couldn't.
As long as I had the time, I went on to the gate for that earlier flight. I wouldn't be able to board, but I could wait with my friends. Sure enough, I met up with them on the way there. There was me from Chicago meeting friends from New York on our way to Bucharest, crossing paths in Amsterdam. It was strange and cool. Having only a short time to talk, they boarded their plane and I had two more hours to kill.
Passing the shops again, I stopped in to look for The Matrix. I've started collecting it in various languages (so far, only from places I've been). I found a copy in Dutch, but reading the details on the back (it wasn't too hard to figure out), the audio was only in English and French, but the subtitles were available in Dutch. Didn't seem worth it, just for the subtitles. Besides, I already have the French version.
Relatively speaking, it was a short flight to Bucharest. Arriving there, I met Radu, Nineta and Mike (for the second time that day). They had already met up with some of their relatives: Lorica and Mihai. We're all sitting at a cafe in the airport waiting for my parents (the rest of them had already been the for a while waiting for me). My parents are due to arrive in about 2 hours. As we talk, Nineta is doing most of the translating.
Before I know it, my parents have arrived and we're all heading into the city. Radu, Nineta, Jeff and Adriana are staying at Radu's mother's house (or "grandma's house" as I'll refer to it). The rest of us (Mike, my parents and I) will be staying at an apartment a short walk from there. For now, it's off to grandma's house. She lives in the second floor of a rectory and has a beautiful view from the balcony.
We're all quite tired. Most of the group got more sleep than I did, but not much. As it gets to be evening, it's now Saturday night and we left the US on Friday afternoon. No alarm clocks tonight :) Four of them will be staying here with grandma, but they walk with us to the apartment to see what it's like and help translate as we check in. It's about a 10 minute walk from grandma's house and I'm very happy to have luggage with wheels (thanks mom!).
We arrive at the apt building and the elevator's a bit small (three can fit, four can squish, but only if you don't have any bags). We've got eight people and lots of luggage. Our apt is only the 4th floor so we take the stairs. After walking up three flights of stairs, we look for a sign, expecting to be on the fourth floor. Well, we didn't count on the numbering being different :) We're now on the 1st floor! Turns out the ground level doesn't count. Ok, but what about the other two floors we passed? Those were mezzanine 1 and mezzanine 2. So our "4th" floor apartment that we're walking up the stairs to is really what an American would call the 7th floor.
We're all too tired to complain. We make our way in, steak out our territory and settle in for some sleep.
sleep, yes. I should get some now too. I'll pick up with day 2 soon. In the meantime, check out the pictures. Sorry they're not inlined with the text, but hopefully I've described things well enough so you can tell which pictures match with which parts of the story.
Jeff and Adriana went a day early, but the rest of us didn't leave until Friday. With Radu, Nineta and Mike in NY, my parents in DC and me in Chicago, we all made our own flight arrangements. The goal was to arrive at Otopeni airport as close to the same time as possible. Radu had given me their flight info and it turned out that our layovers in Amsterdam overlapped. When I checked in at O'Hare, I tried to switch the second leg of my flight to match theirs, but since that would have left me with only a 50 minute layover coming off of a 7+ hour int'l flight, the agent said I should wait and see what time I arrived in Amsterdam. If my flight made good time, I could switch to the earlier flight in Amsterdam.
The flight was uneventful. I tried to sleep (as it would be a short night and that was my only chance for sleep. I doubt I got more than about 30 minutes sleep... I just can't seem to sleep well while sitting up in a chair :(
Arriving in Amsterdam, I was surprised how much English I heard. Walking past shops, I could hear customers with Dutch accents conducting transactions in English with cashiers who were also speaking English with Dutch accents. Having arrived early, I made my way to the ticket counter. I asked about catching the earlier flight to Bucharest. The agent explained that since my bags were already checked through to Bucharest, I'd have to wait for the same plane. Had the agent in Chicago only sent my bags to Amsterdam, I could have moved my bags and myself onto the earlier flight. (a security measure) Thanks to the same Chicago agent who suggested I change flights in Amsterdam, I couldn't.
As long as I had the time, I went on to the gate for that earlier flight. I wouldn't be able to board, but I could wait with my friends. Sure enough, I met up with them on the way there. There was me from Chicago meeting friends from New York on our way to Bucharest, crossing paths in Amsterdam. It was strange and cool. Having only a short time to talk, they boarded their plane and I had two more hours to kill.
Passing the shops again, I stopped in to look for The Matrix. I've started collecting it in various languages (so far, only from places I've been). I found a copy in Dutch, but reading the details on the back (it wasn't too hard to figure out), the audio was only in English and French, but the subtitles were available in Dutch. Didn't seem worth it, just for the subtitles. Besides, I already have the French version.
Relatively speaking, it was a short flight to Bucharest. Arriving there, I met Radu, Nineta and Mike (for the second time that day). They had already met up with some of their relatives: Lorica and Mihai. We're all sitting at a cafe in the airport waiting for my parents (the rest of them had already been the for a while waiting for me). My parents are due to arrive in about 2 hours. As we talk, Nineta is doing most of the translating.
Before I know it, my parents have arrived and we're all heading into the city. Radu, Nineta, Jeff and Adriana are staying at Radu's mother's house (or "grandma's house" as I'll refer to it). The rest of us (Mike, my parents and I) will be staying at an apartment a short walk from there. For now, it's off to grandma's house. She lives in the second floor of a rectory and has a beautiful view from the balcony.
We're all quite tired. Most of the group got more sleep than I did, but not much. As it gets to be evening, it's now Saturday night and we left the US on Friday afternoon. No alarm clocks tonight :) Four of them will be staying here with grandma, but they walk with us to the apartment to see what it's like and help translate as we check in. It's about a 10 minute walk from grandma's house and I'm very happy to have luggage with wheels (thanks mom!).
We arrive at the apt building and the elevator's a bit small (three can fit, four can squish, but only if you don't have any bags). We've got eight people and lots of luggage. Our apt is only the 4th floor so we take the stairs. After walking up three flights of stairs, we look for a sign, expecting to be on the fourth floor. Well, we didn't count on the numbering being different :) We're now on the 1st floor! Turns out the ground level doesn't count. Ok, but what about the other two floors we passed? Those were mezzanine 1 and mezzanine 2. So our "4th" floor apartment that we're walking up the stairs to is really what an American would call the 7th floor.
We're all too tired to complain. We make our way in, steak out our territory and settle in for some sleep.
sleep, yes. I should get some now too. I'll pick up with day 2 soon. In the meantime, check out the pictures. Sorry they're not inlined with the text, but hopefully I've described things well enough so you can tell which pictures match with which parts of the story.
posted by The Amigo at 11:20 PM
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