Welcome to Bucharest

Old Town Bucharest. After dark.

I'm too tired to be witty.  After an 11-hour first flight, followed by a four-hour layover in Frankfurt's airport (which is cutting it close given the enormity of the airport -- in sheer size Frankfurt airport makes Atlanta Hartsfield look like Elko's), followed by a two-hour (or so) flight into OTP (yes, I am down with OTP), I am now in Bucharest.

Romania now is my 28th country visited.  I am staying in Old Town Bucharest, which has historic architecture and pedestrian-only cobblestone streets.

The Hilton Garden Inn is located on one of those streets you can drive on, which made cabbing into the place so much easier.

The evening challenge is to stay awake long enough that I go to bed at a normal hour.  So I ventured into Old Town to get some food,

There were street musicians. In the street. Making music.

But the best musical scene will be tomorrow night, at the Club Beluga:

Zdob si Zdub concert.  I don't have tickets (yet), since I couldn't navigate the Romanian-only language sites, but I'm hoping that I can get in to see one of my favorite bands of all time.  I would be "so lucky" if I could get in.  (That is a joke that only me, a huge Zdob si Zdub fan -- and I mean "huge fan" both in the sense that I really really enjoy their music and that I could stand to lose more than just a few pounds.)

In the meantime, continuing to live large, I eat some dinner.  I choose the Gyros Thessalonikis.

Pork gyros and a Romanian beer.  Bergenbier.  It's mild.  Anyway, if you look closely at the pork gyros, past the tzatziki sauce, you will see that my sandwich has french fries on it.  I thought that was a Pittsburgh only abomination.  It's also a thing in Bucharest.  At least at the Gyros Thessalonikis.

Lots of Turkish restaurants nearby if you want something different from Greek.

My initial impression of Bucharest, or at least Old Town Bucharest, is that it is a college town.  People out on the streets.  Pedestrian only.  Cheap eats.  Lots of booze.  Little touches of a red light district here and there.  (See the red "massage parlor" sign next to Gyros Thessalonikis.  That place is highly recommended by New England Patriots' owner Robert Kraft.  Just kidding.  Or, am I?)

But it would be a college town on steroids as Bucharest is a city of 1.8 million, which makes it the sixth largest city in E.U. after what we all know to be mega-cities London, Berlin, Madrid, Rome, and Paris.  Bucharest is next after those five in population.

The Hilton Garden Inn beckons.

Good night from Bucharest.