Yes, we got on a train again. For the past couple of weeks it seems we have been doing planes, trains, automobiles, buses and walking. We haven’t done a horse drawn cart yet. Thank goodness we didn’t get pedometers- we might faint at the number of miles we walked. We got into Bucharest yesterday afternoon and checked into our air conditioned hotel. Our last hotel was not air conditioned and there were no screens on the windows plus out the window everyone had chickens and roosters that crowed every morning. I have to say the hotel was clean and nice and all the staff tried to make us very comfortable. Last night in Bucharest we went on a free 2 1/2 hour walking tour. See pics.

One of the pics is the inside of an Orthodox Church and there are a lot here. These tours are also interesting because they give us a lot of info on how it was when they were under Communist regimes. It is amazing how little we know about these countries. I find it astounding that Romanians speak Italian. We slept in this morning – I think the traveling and the heat are taking their toll. We would have done the free Communist walking tour, but it was also 2 1//2 hours and we figured it would be too hot. We went into town – again. All the cities seem to have the “Old Town”, a shopping district – with all the same stores (Sephora, Claire’s, H&M etc) and a restaurant district. We went onto a restaurant for “breakfast” even though it was 1pm . I wasn’t going to take pictures of the food, but it was so pretty I had to. Marsha and Stephanie had grilled eggplant and zucchini and a focaccia bread. I had a stuffed pancake with ricotta and spinach. Mine was truly delicious and very light. See pics.

We wanted to tour the 2nd largest building in the world (#1 is the Pentagon). But it is a government building and they require passports for entry. Stephanie didn’t have her passport with her so we didn’t take the tour. See pic. Again we walked around for a while and now we are in the hotel lobby killing time until our overnight train to Sophia. Another train!!!

I also went into a pharmacy to get some aspirin. The pharmacist spoke excellent English and he told me he learned it from the Cartoon Network as a child. These pharmacists are great. They make sure they are selling you the right product and provide you with all the necessary information. The dosages are very different here so they want to make sure you take the correct amount. I have to say all the people in these Eastern European countries have been wonderful. It truly is an eye- opening experience.