We are forced to get up early today. Yes it’s a tiny bit annoying, but realistically, we’re on holiday so who gives a fig?
Breakfast is a zoo, and the main area is full, so we are diverted to the Italian restaurant, where a temporary breakfast breakout has been created, complete with a short order chef’s station. I order an omelette, the poor man doesn’t speak English, only American, so I have to repeat my order in foreign tongue.
By 08:00 we are on the bus heading towards Constantia, the port city on the Black Sea we should have moved to today. Instead we are going on a day-trip there and back.
This three hour outbound journey could be painful, but in fact it is calming, we get our Spanish lessons done, and I get time to update the blog. We take a rest stop halfway and arrive in Constanta ready to walk, setting off from the statue of Romulus and Remus.
It’s a lovely seaside town, we’ve been here before too, so enjoy the wander through town, along a street with every religious representation possible, and then down past the casino on the sea-front. The marina has many attractive restaurants, but we’re moving on to the largest and best winery in Romania, so they tell us.
After a rudimentary tour of the cellar we move onto the restaurant which was commissioned by the dreadful Ceausescu. At least it has a rennaisance now ordinary people can visit. We enjoy folk music, singing and dancing, but first the tasting.
Oddly we start with muscat, which we learn today is indigenous, even though it’s found world-wide nowadays, but it’s not necessarily the right one to open our palates. Moving on we have a crisp Chardonnay, a fascinating rosé blend, and then two reds, both Merlot and Cab Sauv. During all this we are treated to an explanation of the processes, tasting notes and then music, singing and dancing, whilst being served a very good three course luncheon. During lunch we connected with several of our future cruising companions, today specifically Texans and Nevadans. We finish with more muscat, definitely better suited to pudding.
Just before 16:00 we return to our coach to commence the return to Bucharest. Most of the coach sleeps whilst I’m tapping away writing my blog and listening to the amazing Jaqués Loussier. We pass the country’s heavy water nuclear power plant, and a collection of barges marooned by the low water problem in the Danube Canal.
Annoyingly this evening there is an an early dinner, organised for all customers, at 19.00. Given that we only finish lunch around 15.45 the last thing we need is dinner so soon. However the traffic is horrendous and we are delayed leaving Constanta. We join a seven mile tailback for the mid-way toll-booth, potentially delaying our return again. As we hit Bucharest the traffic again takes a nosedive,
Finally we arrive back at the Marriott at 20:00, 90 minutes later than expected, but we have to head home and shower and dress for dinner – no way are we going to turn up in day-old shorts and tee-shirt, although most of our fellow cruisers do just that!
Our dinner is in the sports bar, otherwise closed on a Sunday, it is a naff buffet which we hate, with some dubious choices, although we do our best. Why Viking couldn’t just give each of us a €40 voucher, or whatever they have paid, so we could go to any restaurant, I don’t understand. The only redeeming feature of this evening is we that we sit with a Chinese American couple from California who are very interesting, and quite a tonic to chat with, long after most other customers have disappeared.
We have to pack this evening, the requirement is for bags at 07:30 tomorrow, which is crazy given we don’t leave until 10:00 but hey-ho, on a ship it’s usually 23:00 the night before!
