Bucharest bound

     We really are rubbish at getting up early ! Thankfully Ian knew we would be needing a lift into VT for the car and chased us up , it still cost us time because we weren't packed for a night away so we drove back to get organised and check the coupe for oil and water , we put some oil in but she was looking good for having now done 2198miles in just over a week definitely needing a wash and a Hoover though ! We packed for one night away and set off for Bucharest, Cammy driving first it's a really cool road out through VT you drive through some tunnels with the city sitting above and around them , it was a beautiful sunny day and we were happy to be on the move , we had a quick emergency stop to pull over and kill the wasp that was flying around the car and then when 20 mile out of town I remembered !! PAssports ! We had to turn back Rumania and Bulgaria are both now in the EU but we would definitely be needing passports , that cost us an hour of wasted time driving back , I took over the driving Cammy took big country off and put James on the stereo we were off again , the roads all around this area of Bulgaria have lots of memorials to people that have been killed in traffic accidents they put up proper tombstones , but the lonely planet guide book says driving in Romania is sheer lunacy take public transport if you can ,we were going to find out 

           The Danube is the border between Bulgaria and Romania we were going to cross it by the bridge ( takes to long to go on the ferry ) the bridge is ancient and in serious need of repair or even better just replacing , the inevitable happened for us the bridge was down to one lane for road works ! There was only two lanes so we had to sit for ages to get our turn , once over the bridge the roads were terrible , the passport control was surrounded by packs of stray dogs , and so was the service station where we stopped to buy the Romanian road tax , you have to buy at least a weeks worth of tax but I could buy it with my card along with some snacks, Cammy took over the driving I put never mind the bollocks on the stereo and let Cammy take the stress of the Romanian roads all the way to the front door of our hotel in Bucharest 

         We were in the double tree Hilton it was 6pm local time , Scotland were playing Australia in the rugby World Cup quarter finals , I used the hotel ATM and we walked to the old part of town to find a bar to watch the game , using my guide book and a bit of common sense we found the busy bar area of town , it really was an excellent bar area loads of busy bars restaurants strip joints etc , we chose a bar called Oktoberfest as it was showing the rugby on loads of screens the Irish bar didn't have it on ! The game itself was nailbiting to watch for a Scotland fan and with 5 minuets to go it really looked like we were going to put Australia out ! But Scotland carries zero luck in sport and we lost by one point in the closing minuets of the game , it was a busy bar and not one other person was watching the rugby we must have attracted a bit of attention shouting at the TV heads in hand ! We went for a steak dinner to cheer ourselves up , and The rest of the night we strolled round having beers in a few of the bars in the area , it was a good place for a night out with your mates and we ended it buying a takeaway pizza for the hotel and spent the last of our Romanian money on a taxi at nearly two am   , 

            Leaving the hotel in the morning we got to witness the chaotic roads and driving first hand as we weaved our way out the city , it was a beautiful day and the autum colours of the trees were lovely on the drive to the bridge over the Danube , the traffic was ok as we approached the bridge toll we remembered we had spent the last of our Romanian money we only had Bulgarian lev ! It was 13romanian lei the man at the toll wouldn't accept Bulgarian and kept repeating pay euros he was very unlleasant and unhelpful and ended up confiscating our passports and car documents and telling us to park up ! In the end I had to walk way back past all the stray dogs that roam around here untill I found a money changer who gave me 40RL for my Bulgarian 20 I bet that was a great rate I got but fortuneatly we are only talking pounds it was the hassle and harassment that bugged me most ! Both sides of the toll accepts euros or their own currency ,it's just stupid for two countries that are now in the EU together , I didn't let it ruin our drive back to Bryan's house the weather and scenery couldn't have been nicer , and there was a mother and daughter guests staying overnight with us at Bryan's house