Today turned out quite nicely. My host's niece came to pick up the keys from me, and she called a cab, so I didn't have to track one down. He got me safely to the station, and it was my most stress-free train ride yet! The set up inside of this train was perfect, and I could actually keep my suitcase next to me instead of hoisting it up somewhere. I shared my little area with two girls who were giggling about things on their phones most of the way there, but there were also three extra seats, and we could all spread out a bit. I had my feet up part of the way, took a nap, read about Bucharest...it was really relaxing! There was also a really nice window you could stand at, and I woke from my nap just in time to snap a couple more shots of the Danube as we crossed back over it.
Arriving in Bucharest wasn't as nice. It was cold and rainy, and I had to wait in the train station a bit since there wouldn't be anyone at the apartment until 4. I finally went to catch a cab, but the driver said the address wasn't coming up as valid in his GPS. We headed to something close to the address while I contacted my host. My host ended up calling the driver himself to give him directions. When we got here, I was so excited to have found the right building (M22 instead of M20) that I didn't realize I'd walked into the wrong address number (5 instead of 3). It took a bit to get things sorted (at one point I was on the 2nd floor of the building next door while the host's friend was waiting outside the other building) but I finally arrived and got settled in.
The biggest blessing in this city is that I have a friend here! I met Adoriana in 2007, when my friends and I joined up with her team from Alege Viata (a Romanian chapter of Campus Crusade/Cru). As soon as I got here, she got in touch with me, and we met up. She even brought me beautiful flowers for my home-away-from-home. We walked to a nearby mall, ate dinner and caught up. She is taking very good care of me here, and it makes the city much less scary! It was so sweet to see her again after 9 years. It was also a sweet blessing to not eat alone for once :) I will plan to ride the subway with her into central Bucharest tomorrow morning, so that she can go to an appointment and I can go to a coffee shop, then we may tour the People's Palace tomorrow afternoon.
Not many pictures at all today - I didn't even take one of Adoriana! - but here are a few :) Goodnight!
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| my beautiful living room in Constanta |
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| busy day for boats on the Danube |
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| glad to finally make it to my apartment in Bucharest! |
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| In the listing for this apartment, there was beautiful green foliage outside the window. I was preparing myself for that not to be the case, since it's still early spring, but look - green! |
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