7th - Departure

I had a horrible early departure from Copenhagen as the best flight to Bucharest would be with a layover in Frankfurt, and after arriving in Bucharest I still had to get to the main train station and from there go on a 3-4 hour train ride to Brasov, and then a taxi from the station to the hotel.

Apart from the entire “early”-part, the flight to Bucharest was uneventful – Lufthansa is indeed one of the best airlines I have flown with. From the airport things got a little interesting. I found a booth where I could get a ticket for a train – I would have almost two hours until departure, so plenty of time. I was then pointed outside where I was to find a shuttle to take me to the train that would take me to the main train station in the city. So I went out to wait. Soon a shuttle stopped, and I asked the driver if this was the one. He looked very confused, he apparently barely understood any English at all. A couple of locals came to my assistance, and by translating he apparently said that yes, this was the shuttle, but he didn’t recommend me going with him but take a taxi instead. I asked him why that was so, but apparently “taxi” was the only thing he wanted to say.

Got a taxi, the meter was exactly what the locals recommended me to pay when arriving at the train station. Apparently, at that exact same time, the driver lost all ability to speak English, and with only gestures and a number written down I realized he wanted me to pay double – because, as he pointed out, the fare was not including him getting back to the airport. I got visibly pissed, but he kept pointing at the price. There wasn’t anything I didn’t want to do, beginning gently by shoving the meter up is scumbag POS ass, but I realized there was nothing I could do. I paid the bastard, got my bag and stomped into the train station.

With 45 minutes until the train departed I had time to cool down and trying to figure out what all the numbers on the tickets meant. I ended up finding a random seat in an otherwise almost empty carriage, and enjoyed the view the following many hours on the way to Brasov. Beautiful country, no doubt about it.

Arriving at Brasov I grabbed a taxi to the hotel, and got royally screwed there, too. I can’t feel too bad about it, though, as I could have saved quite a bit of money if I had been a little observant regarding price/distance and the actual distance to the hotel (as opposed to the first driver which basically just told me to go an eff myself).

Arrived at the hotel and found my room half an hour before the intro meeting which I spent walking around, getting an initial impression of the town. There was a small fair with a group playing cover songs. I can hereby testify that I have heard the worst cover of Hotel California. Ever.