Craiova

For our trip to Romania we flew into Bucharest airport and were collected by this little coach for the three and a bit hour trip to our hotel in Craiova. This picture is of our driver trying to fix our little coach at the side of the road over half an hour away from our hotel in Craiova. Below is a picture of the first of the fleet of taxis that were called to take us from our little broken down coach to our hotel in Craiova. It was quite a start to our trip!

In the morning we spotted the lido that our hotel was named after. Tempted by a swim?

This is prompt corner, in a little protective booth! Sadly the communication system wasn't reliable enough for me to call the show from here. Halfway through the first tech I had to abandon the booth and go and sit between Tom and Rob at the back of the auditorium.

The scene dock, complete with tiny caravan and cage of rabbits

This is the high tech laundry facilities, the dryer was a little on the wimpy side so Bridget and I cracked the washing line out!

National Theatre of Craiova where we were performing.

The audiences here were very supportive. We sold out for both shows, in fact for the second night (below) there were people sat on every step in the auditorium and on the floor inside the doorways! It was an amazing sight to see them all stand together as the curtain call started.

It was non-stop in Craiova but our bus to Caracal wasn't until after lunch so I got up early, had my breakfast and hit the mean streets of Craoiva for a whirlwind tour.

St Anthony Catholic Church

Casa Gogu

Museum of Art

'Madona Dudu' Episcopal Cathedral

St Demetrius Metropolitan Cathedral of Craiova

Along the main shopping street

St Elias Church

This church has roof tiles that shine with a copper tone. As I was stood on the opposite pavement taking a picture a gentleman came up and started taking to me in Romania. I though that he was going to tell me off for taking a picture (which had happened earlier in the morning) but it soon became clear that he was telling me that I should go inside. And so I did. It was a beautiful building inside. The building was key hole shaped, you entered through a short corridor which opened into a circular space. There were no pews so the space was open with a wall of golden icon pictures in the centre. Around the sides of the circle were a series of thin windows with stained glass images of saints. There were several large chandeliers which were suspended just above head height and threw a gentle light around the building. There was a strong smell in incense and candles in the air. So thank you to the gentleman who stopped, it was definitely worth going inside.

The English Park

The University

And that was all I had time for. I had just enough time to get back to the hotel to meet the others for some lunch before the bus.