Part 4
Boarding the sleeper from Bucharest to Budapest for the second leg of our train adventure from Istanbul to the UK with two children aged 8 and 10, plus a huge cuddly toy dog
We head out into Bucharest's old town four hours' later than planned in search of food. The delays to the Bosphorus Express sleeper train mean that our evening in Romania's capital has been curtailed, so we're just after a quick snack as it's past 10pm and our tired children need some sleep.
With cold beers and fantas in hand, we settle at a high table outside a pizzeria on Calea Victoriei about 100m from our apartment. It's a popular place. Couples and groups of friends flock past, many of them stopping off for a quick slice. It's Sunday, but there's a lively scene, bars packed with young people out to party. The buzz of chat and music is regularly interrupted by boy racers flooring their BMWs, Mercedes' and Ford Mustangs' away from the traffic lights to show off.
Children in bed, we sit on the balcony with a glass of wine. Our apartment is five floors up and has impressive views over the old town. The streets below are still busy as it approaches midnight, and the boy racers are still going strong.
A great night's sleep later, we head out for breakfast. Our train leaves Bucaresti Nord at 9.30pm for Budapest Keleti, so we've got until then to see the sights and eat some good food. After the higher prices of Istanbul, Bucharest feels like good value. Our apartment is large and comfortable in an incredible location, and costs just £54 per night for the four of us. The lovely owner has been so helpful and is letting us stay until this evening for just £30 extra.
A cafe draws us in with a dazzling array of savoury and sweet foods on display. We choose a Cococi (looks a bit like a calzone) with ham, cheese and olives, a sausage roll, some cheese bites, an almond pastry and something very chocolatey. It's s a delicious breakfast, and the coffee tastes great too, which is more than welcome after a diet of water (and wine) on the train.
My phone tells me that it's going to be 35C in Bucharest today, so we set off for some sightseeing before it gets too hot. First stop is the Palace of the Parliament, built by the former dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu and an important symbol of communist architecture in Bucharest. It is apparently the heaviest building in the world and the second largest administrative building in the world after the Pentagon. It's enormous, and the fact that it sits on top of a hill (called Dealul Spirii) makes it look even bigger.
The heat is rising rapidly, even the shade is feeling stifling, so we go on an urgent mission for water, passing stunning buildings and busy cafes aplenty. Bucharest surprises me, I didn't expect it to be this lovely, there is an energetic buzz, the streets are busy and clean, there is an impressive mix of architecture and plenty of green spaces. On the topic of green spaces, the children have spied a playground, so we take a break from exploring while they enjoy some shaded tunnels and slides.
Next stop is Stavropoleos Church, hidden by larger buildings in the cobbled streets of the old town. Built in 1724 by an inn owner who later became a monk, it leaves quite an impression with its beautiful exterior, carved wooden doors and an interior covered with frescoes. It's tiny, but a peaceful, relaxing place to spend some time in.
We bribe the children with a large ice cream to keep them going. With just one day to see the main sights, there's no time for relaxation yet.
Weaving our way through the narrow streets in the general direction of the Romanian Athenaeum, we find ourselves in a magical alleyway covered with rainbow umbrellas, pass by the Fundatiunea Universitara Carol 1 on one side, a library built by King Carol 1 in 1891 with his statue right beside it, and the beautiful Museum of Fine Arts on the other side. The Athenaeum is majestic, an important architectural landmark and the heart of Romania's classical music, home to George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra. We don't have time on this trip, but I already want to come back to Bucharest and seeing a concert here is top of my list.
It's mid-afternoon and we need a proper meal before our train tonight. I've done my homework and found a restaurant that serves traditional Romanian food and is popular with locals. I chose well, the food is delicious. My dish of pork wrapped in cabbage, polenta, extra pork and extra cabbage is yummy. Cressida and Bhavin share a mixed grill-style dish, filled with sausages, pork and chicken sitting on top of a mountain of chips, with mushrooms, peppers and gherkins dotted around. Saskia is vegetarian and eastern Europe still isn't too veggie friendly when it comes to its traditional cuisine. She has to settle for rice and veg.
Well-exercised and well-fed, it's time for the second sleeper train!
Bucharest has been short but incredibly sweet. We vow to come back soon, probably without our children, and I've already given some friends the nod to start preparing babysitters for an adult weekend away. Bucuresti Nord station is busy, and we are early (unusual), so we dive into one of the many food shops to stock up for the journey.
The platform number flashes up beside the Budapest Keleti train and people surge towards it. Within seconds, the station feels empty, despite other trains soon to depart, with just a few beggars left behind. We follow the crowd, there's no rush to board.
Tonight's train manager is a smiley woman. She speaks as little English as our Basil Fawlty lookalike from the Bosphorus Express, but she's friendly and ushers us to our couchette.
First impression of tonight's bedroom is how much more spacious it is than the intimate couchette we had from Istanbul. The seats have some dodgy-looking stains, so we set about making the beds with the sheets that are already waiting. It's insanely hot; the train is still stationary, and the temperature outside must be mid-20s at least. There are thick duvets on offer ... I don't think we'll be needing those tonight! The girls are excited by the windows as they go right down, and they can hang out of them. I point out that it might not be a great idea to do that when we start moving. I'm such a spoilsport apparently.
On the dot of 9.30pm, bang on time, the train steadily pulls out of the station with the children excitedly looking out of the window. Great start, we say to each other. Time for Bhavin and I to enjoy some wine, which we have been cooling in our apartment fridge all day and I reckon we have the chance of at least one cool glass before it reaches room temperature. We get the cards out and all play a game of Rummy, the train chugs along at a much better speed and the open window brings in some breeze.
We are keeping impressively good time, arriving and departing stations just a couple of minutes' late. The girls watch a film and eat snacks, and the train speeds on; the open window and air conditioning combining to create a pleasant temperature. It's time to brave the toilet. Warning! If you are taller than below average height, it's not possible to sit on it without performing crazy contortions. Not recommended! It's marginally better than the one on the Bosphorus Express, in that the smell isn't quite as disgusting, but it's still grim.
The train's movement rocks us off to sleep after midnight. I wake up a few times, but there's no middle-of-the-night passport checks like the previous journey, and we're left in peace. Early the next morning, I watch the last of Romania go by. The girls wake up and we all read our books, loving the rare feeling of doing absolutely nothing.
A few hours before we're due to arrive at Budapest Keleti, we reach the Hungarian border station, if you can call it that. It's basically a building site with loads of noisy work going on. There's no station building to speak of, not yet anyway. There are passport checks with a difference here. They bring the stamp with them onto the train, removing the need to take the passports away and speeding up the entire process. Perhaps they could train the Turkish and Bulgarian border police? I note that it's a woman checking passports at this border, all the others have been men ...
Congratulating ourselves on a highly successful journey, we settle in for the last few hours, looking forward to an afternoon exploring Budapest.
There's a loud knock on the door and our friendly train manager is standing there. She points to the building site station and says: "Problem with train. Get off here for bus." We groan, it's all been going too well. The children aren't even dressed. Ten minutes' later, we clamber off the train and trudge across the tracks, following the other passengers. It's cool, overcast and has recently been raining. We dodge the muddy puddles in our flipflops and stand miserably beside a coach with the rest of the people from the train.
We all eye each other. There are clearly more people than seats on the coach and there's no sign of another coach. One man starts banging loudly on the coach window to get some action. Nothing happens. A few metres away, there are multiple workmen drilling. Finally, a man walks towards us and the coach. He has a sort of uniform on and looks about 90. The driver has arrived, and he walks around to open the luggage door. "Quick," I say to Bhavin. "You take the cases, the girls and I will get on the coach." We push our way towards the coach and grab two of the last seats. We just made it.
I feel sorry for the 30-odd people left waiting - who knows when the next coach will come - but so relieved we are not among them. We assume the bus is taking us to Budapest, but about half an hour later we arrive at another train station, from which it appears we will continue to Budapest. Cressida and I emerge looking green, we are not feeling good after a jerky, bumpy journey.
Bekescsaba offers a shop selling drinks and a train leaving for Budapest Keleti. We hop on it gratefully, relieved that we will only be an hour and a half later than planned. It's busy, but we get seats, and we spend the next couple of hours relaxing with our books. At one point, a real dog comes past and introduces itself to Duke.
As we walk out of the stunning Budapest Keleti station in the early afternoon sunshine and spot that our hotel is already within sight, the stresses of the past few hours are already fading. Our room is enormous, it has a view over the incredible station facade and the busy surrounding area, and we have the rest of the day to explore Hungary's gorgeous capital.
Next: cake and schnitzel in Vienna and the sleeper to Brussels