“Romania 🇷🇴 ~From Ruse, Bulgaria 🇧🇬 to Dimitrie Gusti National Village in Bucharest”

• August 30, 2020
• By Pen
• 4 Comments

Yes, you read that correctly, we left Bulgaria and are now in Romani! How did THAT happen!

There is this really large bridge in Ruse, Bulgaria, that is called the Giurgiu-Ruse “Friendship Bridge.” Before leaving Ruse, after a rough night, I kept thinking we were only 15 minutes from the bridge, which goes over the beautiful Danube River. Of course, knowing this was the connection between Bulgaria and Romania, I ask Daryl; “Hey, are you up for an adventure this morning?” He knows me, and he said: “I think that means you are driving?” Me; “Yep, and you are gonna love it!”

The last time we were this close to Romania, we were also on the Danube River and also a smaller bridge crossing away from Romania. This was a border entrance into the west side of Romania from Serbia. Although I had been to Romania, (and loved it) Daryl’s has not been, and I wanted him to get to see it. Romania is absolutely fabulous, and very different from the rest of the Balkans. BUT, when looking up the State.Gov website, the border requirements for Romania require a 14 day quarantine, and we just don’t have that kind of time; nor is that cost effective with a rental car. I had to let it go, when we were in Serbia, but it stayed n the back of my mind. Anybody who know me knows I believe in “Thoughts become things, so make yours good ones!”

So here were, once again, so close to Romania, and I had never really let the thought of getting into Romania go! At least Daryl could get into Romania, even if they would not let us stay. it was something, anyway. So, in a roundabout way, we did find the route to the bridge, and the facility looked like a customs border crossing, but it wasn’t. It was a line for paying the money (toll) to cross the bridge. So far so good. After we payed the toll, we drove for a a short distance to another facility. We did not see the word customs border, but there was another word that may have meant the same thing. At this point we are fully committed, as there is no place to turn around. Finally, after about a half hour in a line, it was our turn. The customs booth was both Bulgaria and Romania at this first customs stop. The group of officers were a mix of uniforms and it was busy. I have never seen this before. Usually the first stop is the customs for the current country, and then the neutral zone, then there is the entering country customs. As soon as I handed over our passports and proof of insurance for the vehicle, that officer took one look at the American insignia, and passed them off to another officer. Finally, a third officer came to the window and I saw he had our passports. Soon, I heard that familiar sound of getting our stamps pounded into them. I looked at Daryl and I said; “I think we got our Visa for Romania!” But then, I was told to pull ahead out of the way, which I did. At this point, Daryl said something like; “Oh the things yo get us in to.” (he is not entirely wrong with that statement). We waited about five minutes, when another officer came over, who spoke pretty good English. He asked us what our business was in Romania. I said, tourism. He then asked me how long we would stay. I said, maybe five to ten days. He asked where we were just at, and how long. I told him, Bulgaria for only three nights. Then he asked me to begin citing where we were before Bulgaria. I saw where he was going with this, so I told him, I could not recall the country order unless I looked at my notes (brain thing) but I told him we have been in Europe, since February of this year and have not left. He was pleased with this answer, and he gave us back our passports (with Visa stamp) and vehicle insurance back, and said have a nice trip!

WE DID IT! Interestingly enough, COVID testing or Quarantining for 14 days was not even mentioned….this only piqued my curiously about coming into Bulgaria. Just because it said so on the State.Gov, maybe we could have come into Bulgaria without the COVID test. (because we are not coming from America). I have always felt like we fall into a unique category, as American Passport holders, because we have been in Europe since the lockdown and beyond. So, when we return to Bulgaria after Romania, we will not provide a negative test and see what happens. We have a rental car from Bulgaria, so we will just say we have come back to return the rental.

This change in plans was not given a lot of thought, because we did not know if they would even let us in. For a little bit there, while we waiting in line, we wondered if we got denied access to Romania, if Bulgaria would let us back in on their side. I had the time stamp receipt on our Toll payment, so I hoped that would help (remember, we had to get a COVID test to prove our health was negatively affected, before entering Bulgaria a short time ago).

And we were off! Bucharest, the capital, was only about 25 or 30 miles, from the border crossing, so that was were we headed. We were, as in every new country, “dead in the water” with no SIM card for our phone, which means no maps, and of course no local money. Thankfully the capital direction were well marked. We put together all our needs in Bucharest, and then spent the rest of the afternoon driving around the amazing city and taking in a cultural site that was absolutely amazing!

OKAY, this is crazy, but……

Another thing that happened, while we were in Ruse, Bulgaria on our night before crossing the bridge. We had just gone to sleep, it seemed, but it was about 2AM. Our hotel was old and had a Great Gatsby look to it, and it was pretty cool. I remember thinking about what it was like in its hey-day.

……..Have you ever been “stared awake,” before? I have, but it was back in the days when I had dogs and cats, who wanted to get fed, or go for a walk. I am a very light sleeper, so I wake up to noises, smells, etc, quite easily. The house could fall down around the big guy and he will still slumber. Anyway, I woke up with a start and there in our room was a woman, with dark hair, wearing bright ruby red lipstick, wrapped in a white bath towel! She was staring right at me. I smelled cigarettes, too. There was an entry into the hotel room, before the bedroom and balcony. She was standing in the entry area, just as clear as could be; only about six feet from me. The balcony had a light on that was a security light, so it was not pitch black in the room, as the curtains only did a so-so job with that. I woke up Daryl by saying; “Get out of our room!” Of course this hotel room had no bedside light switches. The switches were on the wall. By the time Daryl got to the light switch there was no longer a woman standing in our room, and he never saw her…. BUT, the stench of cigarette smoke was still there, and smoke could be visually seen hovering in the room. Daryl opened the hallway, and there was no person, or cigarette smell. It was perfectly quiet. We were on a non-smoking floor and room. The smell was only in our room! Another thing. Like most hotel room doors, they are heavy and close automatically. I never heard the door make any noise; with this woman coming in or leaving.

So that was a creepy experience, for which I have no full explanation for. BUT, I was not dreaming, and Daryl validated the cigarette smoke without any doubt. Not to mention, the room door was locked, with the key in the door on our side. (We always do that with key-locks in case of a fire or something, so we don’t have to fumble for keys to unlock the door in an emergency). I will not seen forget this encounter.

Enjoy the photos from our first day in Romania. Daryl, by the way, is blown away with this county as I knew he would be. He asked if I minded visiting some of the places I went before, and I said absolutely not! When I was her before, I was on a backpacking trip with a girlfriend. We got around by hiking or riding the rails. It was a fabulous trip, but now we have a vehicle, and being with my best travel buddy could not be better! So, yes it will be same in some ways, but different; and I’m telling you, Romania is AMAZING. Its about as far East as one can get in Europe and it has the most old-old world charm at its finest. The people are very nice here and the food is standard meat and potatoes fare, but organic and quite tasty! I will post a few from my first visit, in comparison to six years later.

Last night, we made it to Sinaia, but it was getting dark. We did not have a reservation and this place (a popular ski resort in the winter, and just as popular in the off season), was hopping with people! The end of the summer weekend, before school is happening everywhere!

WOW, being here again, and the memories came flooding back. I felt emotional about it. I was here in the winter time, before and there was snow on the ground, but last night I drove straight to the hotel I stayed at the first time. No vacancies, but the sound of the creek running behind the old stately building was still sounding. The woods had me wondering if those were Wolves, howling, just like the first visit. (yes there are wolves here). We will go back to that hotel, so I can take photos in the daylight, before we leave, Sinaia.

We are staying at the Palace Hotel, pretty close to the center of this town. We plan to take a walk around after the big guy gets his breakfast. It feels so exciting to be here, again. I love that Daryl is blown away with Romania. It was so important we both know about this lovely country! BTW, the largest population of Gypsies live in Romania, then anyplace else in the world.

We have only just begun in Romania! We will go back to Bulgaria and finish self-touring there. W did not leave because we did not like Bulgaria. Quite the opposite. It was just a spontaneous act on our parts to allow the “gypsy winds” to push us, again.