The church, in Bucharest, was consecrated in 2018 for Romania’s centennial celebrations though construction remains on-going. It looks close to completion, however.
Romania
Travel Tuesday Photo: The Cathedral of the Salvation of the Romanian People
Categories: Europe, Picture of the Week, Romania
Tags: Bucharest, Cathedral, Europe, Picture of the Week, Romania, Travel Tuesday Photo
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Lodging Review: JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel
Passage to Eastern Europe: Trip Introduction
Flight Review: LOT Polish Airlines 797-9 Business Class, ORD-WAW
Lodging Review: Hampton by Hilton Krakow
Our Time in Krakow, Poland
Flixbus from Krakow to Budapest
Lodging Review: Corinthia Budapest Hotel
Our Time in Budapest, Hungary
Our Time in Kalocsa, Hungary
Our Time in Osijek and Vukovar, Croatia
Our Time in Belgrade, Serbia
Our Time in Golubac, Serbia
Our Time in Vidin, Bulgaria
Our Time in Ruse, Bulgaria
Our Time in Bucharest, Romania
Lodging Review: JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel
Flight Review: SWISS Airlines 777-300 ZRH-ORD
This will not be a very detailed hotel review simply because we were not there very long and I needed to prioritize sleep over taking photos. Our tour of Bucharest ended after 3 PM and we were taken to the JW Marriott. It’s a massive building and is also a conference center. But it’s gorgeous, the staff were uniformly wonderful, and it was a shame we couldn’t spend more time there.
The hotel opened in 1999, though the building was part of the urbanization plan that saw several other very large buildings being built around the same time. It has 402 rooms and a great location that’s within walking distance of the Old Town and is across the street from the National Cathedral, the Cathedral of the People’s Salvation. Continue reading
Categories: Cruises, Europe, Hotel, JW Marriott, Lodging Review, Marriott, River Cruise, Romania, Trip Report, Viking
Tags: Bucaresti, Bucharest, Europe, Hotel, Hotel Review, JW Marriott, Lodging Review, Marriott, River Cruise, Romania, Trip Report, Viking
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Our Time in Bucharest, Romania
Passage to Eastern Europe: Trip Introduction
Flight Review: LOT Polish Airlines 797-9 Business Class, ORD-WAW
Lodging Review: Hampton by Hilton Krakow
Our Time in Krakow, Poland
Flixbus from Krakow to Budapest
Lodging Review: Corinthia Budapest Hotel
Our Time in Budapest, Hungary
Our Time in Kalocsa, Hungary
Our Time in Osijek and Vukovar, Croatia
Our Time in Belgrade, Serbia
Our Time in Golubac, Serbia
Our Time in Vidin, Bulgaria
Our Time in Ruse, Bulgaria
Our Time in Bucharest, Romania
Lodging Review: JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel
Flight Review: SWISS Airlines 777-300 ZRH-ORD
With Bulgaria and Romania being separated by the Danube, our ship didn’t have far to reposition during our last evening on board. We simply crossed the river and docked at the town of Giurgiu, Romania. The following morning we packed up our suitcases and the Viking crew took care of all of our bags while we boarded motor coaches for the drive inland to Bucharest, our final stop. Depending on traffic, it’s roughly a 70 to 90-minute drive to the country’s capital.
Romanian National Opera House
Our first stop was the home of both the Romanian National Opera and Ballet companies. The Romanian National Opera was founded in 1877 and in 1953 this building was created as their permanent home. The first opera to be performed was Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades. On the next night, the first ballet performance of the company, Coppélia, took place at the same theater.
Photo credit: opera-online.com
Categories: Cruises, Europe, Historical Site, River Cruise, Romania, Tours, Trip Report, Viking
Tags: Bucaresti, Bucharest, City Tour, Europe, Historical Site, River Cruise, Romania, Tours, Trip Report, Viking
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Passage to Eastern Europe: Trip Introduction
Passage to Eastern Europe: Trip Introduction
Flight Review: LOT Polish Airlines 797-9 Business Class, ORD-WAW
Lodging Review: Hampton by Hilton Krakow
Our Time in Krakow, Poland
Flixbus from Krakow to Budapest
Lodging Review: Corinthia Budapest Hotel
Our Time in Budapest, Hungary
Our Time in Kalocsa, Hungary
Our Time in Osijek and Vukovar, Croatia
Our Time in Belgrade, Serbia
Our Time in Golubac, Serbia
Our Time in Vidin, Bulgaria
Our Time in Ruse, Bulgaria
Our Time in Bucharest, Romania
Lodging Review: JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel
Flight Review: SWISS Airlines 777-300 ZRH-ORD
I’m kicking off year 12 of this blog with my next trip report and this one includes some eastern European countries I’d never visited.
This year’s trip centered around a river cruise on the eastern part of the Danube. We’d previously cruised the western part of the river back in 2016. That trip left from Erlangen, Germany (just outside of Nuremburg) and ended in Budapest, Hungary. This trip departed from Budapest and ended in Bucharest, Romania.
As the cruise/tour was only 10 days, we decided to go to Krakow, Poland for a few days ahead of the cruise to visit yet another country we’d not been to.
Transportation
I flew from Memphis to Chicago to meet up with my friend who lives in the area. I used cash for a round-trip positioning flight on American Airlines. From there we flew LOT Polish Airlines to Warsaw and connected to Krakow. The government shutdown in October meant our flight out of Chicago was delayed causing us to miss our connection. Fortunately we were accommodated on the next flight to Krakow and even ended up in exit row seats. I used 70K Air Canada Aeroplan miles + $78.03 for my business class seat which would have sold for about $3064, giving me a fantastic value of about 4.38 cents per point. My friend used 40K Aeroplan miles + $78.03 for her seat in economy. While her ticket “only” worked out to about 1.4 cents per point, it still saved her over $500 out of pocket. Continue reading
Categories: Award Travel, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cruises, Europe, Hampton by Hilton, Hilton, Hungary, JW Marriott, LOT Polish, Marriott, Other Hotels, Poland, River Cruise, Romania, Serbia, Star Alliance, SWISS, Trip Report, Viking
Tags: Award Travel, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hampton Inn, Hilton, Hungary, JW Marriott, LOT Polish, Marriott, Poland, River Cruise, Romania, Serbia, SWISS, Trip Report, Viking, Viking Ullur
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