Two Days Til Liftoff

In two days we make our way to Bucharest. We leave on the 17th, arrive in Frankfurt on the 18th at 10:30 am and then, after a layover, fly to Bucharest where we are scheduled to land at 5:15 pm. It is marvelous that people can fly thousand of miles in hours. If we were making this trip one hundred years ago, we'd be talking about weeks to get from the west coast of the USA to Bucharest. Not so marvelous is the inevitable jet lag that we will experience as our bodies adjust to a 10 hour time difference between California and Romania. Since we know our bodies will be out of sync for awhile, we will take the 19th just to rest and get our bearings. We think we will venture to Bran on the 20th to see the castle of Vlad The Impaler, the inspiration for Dracula, and may do some of our own sightseeing on the 21st. On the evening of the 21st, we meet the rest of our fellow river cruisers at our hotel in Bucharest, have some organized tours on the 22nd and 23rd, and get onboard and set sail on the 23rd. We look forward to seeing and experiencing new parts of Europe and meeting fellow cruisers as well as locals at stops along the way. We are both almost completely packed, the batteries for the cameras have been charged, the bills have been paid, and before long it will be wheels up as we fly the friendly skies to Frankfurt. For now, this is it, probably until we get to Bucharest.