Unfortunately all trains from Istanbul to Europe have been cancelled for 3 months for some vague reason. This deprived us of the pleasure of leaving this beautiful city by train. Instead we did so by bus.
The night before leaving we got a text from our brother-in-law who is the Scotland A rugby team doctor. He is in Romania with the team for a tournament, so we changed plans slightly and instead of going straight to Belgrade, we headed for Bucharest.
Our journey was not direct, as the bus times were not good for the children, arriving in the middle of the night. Hence we first took a bus to Sofia in Bulgaria, which took us almost 12 hours. The roads to the frontier of the EU were like most of the roads to which we had become accustomed in Turkey - wide dual carriageways in good condition. The Turkish customs and duty free were modern and smooth.
By contrast, Bulgaria was like Uzbekistan 15 years ago - poor roads, single carriageways, poor infrastructure, decrepit bus stations. The bus driver and stewardess, who were both Bulgarian, were surly and unhelpful. Sofia had the old Soviet feel - old trams on the street, old hotels with new casinos tacked onto the side; large heavy set men in tracksuits loitering on street corners, and a general feeling of faded dreams.
The train to Bucharest took us through stunning mountain scenery for the first two hours. The mountains are lush and green and the farms are smallholdings with the horse and cart a frequent sight. The train itself was basic, and though a 10 hour journey, there was no restaurant car and the children were distinctly unimpressed with the toilets.
The station in Bucharest was a contrast. There was a real buzz of commerce, and given the late arrival, we treated the children to McDonalds. Daddy was popular that night!
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