Next stop Bucharest

It is 15:45 as I arrive at Ruse Railway Station. It wouldn't do to miss the first train of this epic journey across Europe. I said a long time ago that I would try to spend a year in every country in Europe but fate decrees otherwise so here we go, a one month "Interail Global" ticket in my hand and a reservation on the first train out of town. It's the daily train to Bucharest actually. The temperature is 42 degrees C (locally reported at 44), Plamen helps me with my case to platform 3 where the train awaits. We work out where my seat is and load the cases. "It's cooler outside" recommends the guard as he informs us that there will be an hour delay. You see, at the end of my train there isn't an engine. Nothing to do but wait as I say goodbye to Plamen and, ultimately, Bulgaria. A Romanian engine arrives, couples up, and we are on our way.

This adventure is as much about the journey as it is about the places visited. Will my 20% discount for purchasing before the end of March I had treated myself to a first class ticket. Budget flights have destroyed the romance of flying but here I was on a train with visions of the luxury afforded in Agatha Christie and Hercule Poirot movies. Sadly I was mistaken. But do not dismay the first 'luxury' was speeding past the queue of road traffic waiting to cross the border. A short while later Romanian officers boarded the train as we paused at Giurgiu Nord, the first station over the border.

I was determined to try to take photos of the passing scenery from my seat as we sped through the countryside. The changing face of Europe revealed, something not seen from a 'plane. In this case I was able to point my lens through the drop down window in the corridor alongside fellow passengers all trying to get a cool breath of air. We were mistaken, the breeze was as hot as the carriage. Perhaps I should have planned this trip at the end of September! We sped past endless fields of bright sunflowers slowly turning their faces to follow the setting sun.

Suddenly I observed a trailer loaded with brightly coloured boxes at the edge of a field. Surely not, as my mind cast back to my youth and the lorries of pigeons being transported from my home town to far distance places, even France. The first racing pigeon to arrive at the home loft could win substantial prizes for the owner. Was pigeon racing a popular sport here in Romania? As we progressed and I saw more lorries and trailers I began to wonder. Zooming in I realised that there were bees swarming from slots in these boxes. It would seem that the cycle of life is preserved here, the bees make honey from the sunflowers and pollinate the plants too.

Later the landscape changed, harvesters hard at work in the, still scorching, evening sun. Endless fields of corn to harvest. In the UK it is a race against a change in the weather but not much chance of that here. I was to be proved wrong. I observed the occasional livestock, cattle and goats, though not in vast numbers. In one area these happily co-habit with huge well maintained mechanical pumps. Oil, water, gas I don't know. The occasional river and town interrupted this agricultural visage until, at last, we pulled in to Bucharest station.

It was late, I was hot and tired and I was heavily overcharged by the taxi driver transporting me from the station to my hotel, in no mode to record the event. I checked in at the Michelangelo, had a drink and collapsed into bed. The following morning I rose, had a very nice breakfast in the hotel for €7 then went off in search of a bankomat (ATM). Passing several heavily guarded mansions I realised that this was a diplomatic area. Hmm, better not take photographs then. On the way back I saw an interesting building which proved to have the telescope virtually at ground level. Back at the hotel I asked the reception to order a taxi for me, a much safer bet I thought. I had a plan for the day arising from a conversation about Transylvania back in Varna which then prompted a closer examination of the rail route map. I had already decided to discard "Bram Stoker's" Dracula castle in favour of a more interesting prospect.

I was able to take some photos of the busy railway station as I waited for my train to Sinaia. It was interesting to observe the practices of the railway crews and how close the public get to the trains unlike on our heavily regulated network. I chose this particular picture because I am always fascinated at the sculptures we create in our industrial age. We walk past such structures every day and never give them a second thought. In this case the cables support a dual-carriageway main road bridge which takes the traffic over the vast array of tracks at the end of the station.

Whilst on the train I chatted to various people including a family taking their son on a train for the first time because he wanted to see and ride on one. He was fascinated as we dismounted at Sinia and closely examined everything. I wandered to the end of the platform to take a photograph encompassing the whole of this 'royal' railway station. The preserved car and steam engine drew my interest along with the scenery. We had climbed into the mountains and the line proceeded upwards. Crossing to the main platform with a view to leaving the station, I needed refreshment first and was directed to the end of the platform.

Coffee, water, a muffin and....
Ok, not so exciting for you girls perhaps but what an unexpected find. Three huge railway layouts and a toy train set for children to play with. Amazing!
I will continue with my visit to Sinaia and the castle in my next post. Until then here is the link to my "Romania" photo album so far. (I have decided to stick with "Romania" rather than the older "Roumania")