Historical buildings, communist monumentality, and modern city life – this mixture is represented in Romania’s capital. Even though there is a lot to see, unfortunately, we only got a glimpse of it.
Day 6, Sunday, June 28: Bucharest
Bucharest is Romania’s most important industrial and commercial center. About 2.1 million people live here, in the largest city of the country (the fifteenth largest in Europe). It’s an interesting place with eclectic palaces, orthodox churches, and buildings with Soviet-style architecture – but not very charming.
From Brașov we arrived after a comfortable 3-hour train ride. Took an old-fashioned tram to our hotel, the Ibis Styles Bucharest City Center.
After lunch, we walked to a bus station to reach our first destination. We waited and waited, but the bus didn’t come. So, a few people in our group ordered Uber, and that’s how we arrived at the Dimitris Gusti National Village Museum.
This huge open-air museum showcases traditional Romanian houses, windmills, churches – the way of life in villages. We walked around (in hot weather!) and enjoyed, besides the village scenes, some traditional folk music and dances too.
After another tram ride, late afternoon found us in downtown Bucharest. Flavia, our tour leader, pointed out famous buildings, like the Romanian Atheneum, a prestigious concert hall with outstanding acoustics.
On Revolution Square (previously known as Palace Square), across the street from the Royal Palace, we spotted the horseback statue of King Carol I.
Flavia showed us the balcony of the former Communist Party Headquarters, from which the dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu gave his last public speech before fleeing the capital. This was the beginning of the end of the communist era in Romania and his 34-years in power.
We stood by the Renaissance Memorial, a 25-meter high white marble obelisk, which reminds people of the historical events of December 1989, and is dedicated to those who died during the revolution.
In the early 1900s, Bucharest earned its nickname “Little Paris of the East” because of its wide boulevards, Neo-Baroque buildings, and reputation for high life.
In the old town, after walking through a small street with a glass roof, we went to the Church of Stavropoleos Monastery, an Eastern Orthodox monastery, built in 1724. We heard music – church service was on – so we were not allowed to go inside.
As for the recommendation of Beth, one of our co-travelers, Steve and I (together with her) made a quick visit to a dreamlike multi-story bookstore, Cărturești Carusel. We could have spent a long time there admiring the interior and browsing books, but we were scheduled to have dinner with our fellow travelers. At the Hanu’lui Manuc restaurant, we enjoyed Romanian food in the courtyard while live traditional music was played in the background.
Next morning, before our departure from Bucharest, we stopped at the Palace of Parliament, the largest administrative building in Europe, the second largest (after the Pentagon) in the world.
This massive structure is a monument to Ceaușescu’s megalomania. He came up with the idea of building it after the 1977 earthquake. The palace is 355,000 meters square in size, has 12 stories above ground, 8 levels underground, 1,100 rooms and a nuclear bunker. Built in Neo-classical architectural style, in the spirit of socialist realism, between 1984 and 1997. The building material, furniture and decorations were sourced and made in Romania. Even though today it houses the Romanian Parliament, an international conference center, and three museums, it still has about 70 percent vacant space.
From the Palace of Parliament, we also had a quick glimpse of the world’s largest choreographed fountain system, which has 44 fountains and is 1.4 kilometers long. Too bad we didn’t have time to enjoy a show at this attraction of Bucharest. Perhaps at some other time?
