Cruising Europe 2017

SUMMING UP We have been back almost two weeks now. We were met by Blue at the Ottawa airport. Norma drove her car home and Akira and Blue drove me home. When I didn't hear from Norma confirming her safe arrival home, I called to learn that she was coping with a flood. A pipe had somehow developed a hole and water was pouring into her dining room. Luckily, she had the help of a neighbour and they managed to turn off the water, call a plumber, and sop up some of the mess. Just the thing she needed after being up for over 20 hours of travelling. To follow up, her insurance has been busy sending workers to tear down the ceiling, walls, and floors in preparation for drying everything out and to ready her home for construction. She may have to move out but that is covered as well as replacement of rugs and dining room furniture. With any luck, in a month this will be well behind her. It has taken me this long to finally get back into a routine. My garden was a mess due t...

ROMANIAN AIRPORT EXPERIENCE All went well with our transfers from Tauck and we arrived at the airport by 3:30 am. A quick check of the board, confirmed my fear that none of the counters were open. I did manage to print our boarding passes from one of those terrifying machines - who knew I had a biometric passport? Norma went off to find out if she could find a Lufthansa counter. She did and we went and stood in line until 4:05 when it finally opened. My big bag is just under the weight limit. That is because I collected a lot of paper on this trip that I will use to make a scrapbook. Then it was a journey through security and passport control. How we managed that was a miracle because the signs were quite confusing. It is such a relief to be sitting in the Lounge waiting for our boarding call. Next stop, Frankfurt.

The friezes.

See what I mean about being dark.

36 people could sit around the table

The King collected armaments and this was one of his collection

It was three stories high

SINAIA AND THE CARPATHIAN MOUNTAINS We left the hotel at 7:45 this morning en route to the town of Sinaia, the home of Peles Castle, summer home of the Romanian Kings. The drive took 2.5 hours enough time for me to enjoy a nap. As both the king and queen were of Germanic origin - the Hohenzollerns - the castle was built and decorated in the Germanic style. This meant lots of heavy dark carved wood in every room. I found it dark and dreary, Norma found it warm and cozy. The town was the preferred summer resort of many noble and rich families as the king and queen vacationed here. Now it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Romania. It is a credit to the organization of the tour guides, how many thousands of people made their way through the palace. We also noticed the conspicuous lack of the ubiquitous graffiti in the town that is found everywhere else. The Carpathian Mountains are more like the Gatineau Hills at home but much more settled. The temperature wa...

This illustrates the design of the building with its four towers and connecting corridors and rooms.

Notice how grey and dirty the chandeliers look - that is not because they haven't been cleaned but because of the high lead content in the crystal. They sparkled when on.

The glass in the doors isn't glass but crystal.

The steps had very short risers. Ceaucescu was short and this made him appear taller.

Wider and longer and lined by apartments built for Communist party members