Enchantment of Eastern Europe

We were so lucky with our beautiful weather yesterday, but this morning was a rainy one.

Around 10:30, the rain cleared up, so Luanne, Sharon, Dean and I walked the short distance to the pretty Church of the “Stavropoleos” Monastery.

Daniel had agreed to pick us up at noon to take us to the Radisson Blu, which Emerald was using as the collector point for the cruise.

Our rooms were ready when we arrived at the hotel at 12:30 and we were assigned to #664. Very nice and a cut above our normal selection, of course.

At 1pm we walked over to Primus for lunch and ordered this monstrosity of beer! It was called a Long Draught and was 2.5 litres of locally made Bucur beer to share between the five of us (Luanne had Coke).

Everything we do turns into fun.

Luanne D

After a very tasty and filling lunch, Luanne headed back to the hotel and the rest of us walked to The Romanian Athenaeum, finished in 1888.

On the ground floor, the impressive marble lobby includes twelve Doric columns and monumental baroque spiral staircases in Carrara marble. Arranged in the form of ancient Greco-Roman amphitheatres, the theatre seats almost 1,000 with a highly decorated huge dome. The fresco around the theatre evokes the history of the Romanian people.

We were so lucky to witness a short sound check for an upcoming performance!

We continued walking…

Gary and I had a little rest in our room until Sharon texted that happy hour was starting at 5pm. We can’t resist BOGO!

We attended the Emerald welcome meeting and found out we needed to put our bags out at 7:15 and be ready to go at 9am. We decided to meet for the free, included breakfast at 7:45.

Based on the recommendation of Cristina, we walked to La Mama for dinner. It was a very pretty setting and the food was good.

On our way back to the hotel, we passed the theatre again.