I arrived at Henri Coandă airport at 1pm and soon collected my backpack and made my way to the ground level arrival hall. Here I withdrew a small amount of money from one of the many ATM machines before purchasing an Activ Card so I could catch a bus to Gara de Nord train station. The return fare including the 1.60 lei for the Activ Card was 7 lei. I didn't have long to wait before the #780 bus arrived where I jumped on board and swiped my card. The journey to the train station only took about 30 minutes and it was nice to have all the announcements in English before arriving at each stop.
After jumping off the bus I made my way to Calea Grivitei to look for Oblik Hostel, (which I'd booked for two nights back in England). When I finally found the place, (which wasn't that easy as there is only a small sign on the front door) I discovered nobody was home! I knocked and knocked to no avail. Somewhat annoyed I decided to leave and head back towards the train station.
I first visited the hotel called 'Andy' and managed to get the owner to come down to 120 lei for a single room, but I still thought this was too much. I then crossed the road and visited the hotel called 'Das President' and paid their asking price of 90 lei for a single room, with shared bathroom. (Before entering the hotel I spotted an old lady sat on the step outside who did offer to put me up for the night in a room for 60 lei, but I declined.) It was a shame nobody was at home at the Oblik Hostel as their price for a room was only half of what Das Prseident were asking.
After settling in the hotel I decided to go out and find somewhere nearby to eat. I didn't walk too far and settled for Subway, just around the corner from the train station where I bought a large torpedo - Vita si Branza (beef and cheese) for 16.40 lei and soon devoured it! I also made use of their free Wi-Fi. Before heading back to my hotel I bought some covrigi (salted bread with poppy seeds) from the kiosk outside the train station to take back with me.
By 7 pm I was ready for bed, as I was really tired after a long haul down to Gatwick from the North East of England and a six hour wait throughout the night at the airport. I was grateful I'd remembered to bring my ear plugs with me as there was quite a bit of noise outside! (And also my blow-up pillow, as the hotel's pillow was wafer then!)
After jumping off the bus I made my way to Calea Grivitei to look for Oblik Hostel, (which I'd booked for two nights back in England). When I finally found the place, (which wasn't that easy as there is only a small sign on the front door) I discovered nobody was home! I knocked and knocked to no avail. Somewhat annoyed I decided to leave and head back towards the train station.
I first visited the hotel called 'Andy' and managed to get the owner to come down to 120 lei for a single room, but I still thought this was too much. I then crossed the road and visited the hotel called 'Das President' and paid their asking price of 90 lei for a single room, with shared bathroom. (Before entering the hotel I spotted an old lady sat on the step outside who did offer to put me up for the night in a room for 60 lei, but I declined.) It was a shame nobody was at home at the Oblik Hostel as their price for a room was only half of what Das Prseident were asking.
After settling in the hotel I decided to go out and find somewhere nearby to eat. I didn't walk too far and settled for Subway, just around the corner from the train station where I bought a large torpedo - Vita si Branza (beef and cheese) for 16.40 lei and soon devoured it! I also made use of their free Wi-Fi. Before heading back to my hotel I bought some covrigi (salted bread with poppy seeds) from the kiosk outside the train station to take back with me.
By 7 pm I was ready for bed, as I was really tired after a long haul down to Gatwick from the North East of England and a six hour wait throughout the night at the airport. I was grateful I'd remembered to bring my ear plugs with me as there was quite a bit of noise outside! (And also my blow-up pillow, as the hotel's pillow was wafer then!)
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