Transylvania to Pennsylvania - and beyond! - July 2019
 

East to West – Bucharest to Phoenix - July 2019
July 2019

Cast (it’s the usual one!)
Me: Shaun, 50’s, loves travelling, eating and drinking (not necessarily in that order!)
Alison: 50’s, ditto to the above!
Well,

Here we go again as we snapped up another bargain fare and this time we are off to Phoenix, Arizona.



Going direct this time? If you up to speed with how we roll, not a chance!

Our routing is: -

Outbound: -

Heathrow to Bucharest

Bucharest to Philadelphia

Philadelphia to Phoenix


Inbound: -

Phoenix to San Diego

San Diego to Heathrow

Heathrow to Bucharest

Bucharest to Heathrow


Outbound we’ll be spending a short time in both Bucharest and Philadelphia. Inbound we have a couple of days in Bucharest.

Wacky routing again but as always it maximises our BA Executive Club Tier points and shed loads of Avios.


Anyway, I started to look around for accommodation in the Phoenix / Scottsdale area and found it to be incredibly cheap so I thought I’d investigate why. One minor thing we’d overlooked was the weather – usually up to about 40 degrees when not many people go so it’s technically their low season.



Looks like we’ll need gallons and gallons of factor 50 to save our pasty complexion.


So – what’s booked?

Apart from the flights we only have the following hotels booked


• Ramada Bucharest Majestic Hotel


• Loews Philadelphia Hotel



Currently reviewing locations, hotels and attractions in the Phoenix area – lots of bookings left to do!

Couple of thoughts from me, mainly about what to do in Bucharest although we have limited time.

Just mulling over these possibilities at the moment

Ceausescu Mansion



Palace of Parliament



Stavropoleos Monastery



Muzeul National al Satului "Dimitrie Gusti"



But sadly no time to visit Transylvania and Dracula's Castle




I bet Alison can't wait! :d:

Bit of an update - finally decided on a hotel in Phoenix!

We searched and searched and nothing really jumped out at us in terms of price and location. We decided that we just needed a "base", especially with a pool complex and not too far away from attractions so we've settled on

Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Gainey Ranch

Well, time is moving on and more plans are being made.

Quick check on the weather and it's currently averaging at about 40! - ouch!

I think what we are going to do is go north as far as Flagstaff one day and south to Tuscon on another day.

Also hope to swing by Sedona and see some Saguaro cactus.

White water rafting not possible as the rivers are running dry this time of year although tubing possible on the Salt River.

SUV hire arranged so things are slowly coming together.

As usual, it sounds fabulous!

Will be looking forward to your trip report as we’ve just booked flights to NYC with the intention of spending time in NYC, Philadelphia and Washington DC.

We haven’t been for a few years, but Scottsdale is lovely with lots going on and Sedona is also very nice. It’s a dry heat, so whilst it’s warm, it’s not as bad as you think!

Recently back and after the trip thought I'd change the title - full report now in progress so watch this space!