Targovista – Bucharest - 98 kilometres
Biking into Bucharest was a hair-raising affair, as it often is in major
cities, with chaotic traffic, especially on a Friday afternoon. However,
a helpful taxi driver gave us directions to a campsite on the opposite
side of the city. After failing to find it, we searched online and
eventually located the campground. Unfortunately, this meant
retracing our steps to where we came from. The campsite was lovely
but mozzie-infested – on the positive side, it had plenty of trees.
Another look at my passport revealed that my Romanian visa was
granted for just two days (valid for three months) instead of the
three months as I had expected. So, there wasn’t a great deal I could
do, and I intended to deal with it once at the border. Lesson learned:
always check your visa. Who gives a visa for two days, anyway?
Bucharest
Casa Alba Campsite was convenient, and we did the usual shopping,
laundry, and a tad of sightseeing. Included in our exploration was a
visit to the city’s iconic landmark, the massive communist-era
Parliament building with its 1100 rooms, claimed to be the world’s
second-largest building. Far scarier was learning that more than
10,000 people are bitten by stray dogs in Bucharest each year.
Bucharest is a vibrant city with a rich and fascinating history,
showcasing a striking mix of communist-era, neo-classical, and Art
Deco buildings, often adorned with oyster shell-shaped canopies. The
hundreds of grey high-rise blocks of flats from the communist era
were particularly interesting.