Our expectations of Bucharest (Bucaresti) were mixed. Rick Steves says "Bucharest, Romania's capital, has little to offer". However Lonely Planet tells us to "stick around more than a day – as some visitors flee at first sight – and you start to get it. Bucharest has something going on."
So we arrived (on a Saturday as usual) with low expectations but suspected that we would like Bucharest as we have been in the country for 3 weeks now and know Romanians are nice folks with whom communication is easy as many Romanians have very good English and the Latin roots of Romanian allow us to speak some pidgin with folks who have no more English than we have Romanian.
One gets the feeling that Bucharest is a proper capital when arriving at Bucharest North (Bucaresti Nord) Station. The splendid sprawling monumental Art Deco building fits the bill for any station in any world capital. Not so for the stations in our previous stops of Tirana, Belgrade or Sarajevo.
We walked a couple of kilometers towards the Old City a took room in a small pension near Piata Romana where the owner's father, a French-speaking Russian, welcomed us with a big smile and cup of coffee. And when my high school French, which I thought was lost forever, began to jump out of my mouth, we became instant friends. ;-)
Bucharest is a great place to wander around. We did not see any of the "packs of feral dogs" mentioned by some. The architecture is varied with plenty of between-the-wars-Modern, the parks are big and green, there are too many "live" theaters to count, there are tons of restaurants, and the various neighborhoods seem to be up-and-coming and developing their own characters...We agree with LP.
Bucharest North Railway Station.
The Palace of Parliament - the 2nd largest building in the world.
Various shots of the city.
My favorite building was this Modernist gem - TEHNOIMPORT. The small red circle marks it as unsafe during a major earthquake.
Or maybe this Streamline Moderne one: ArCUB - Arta Si Cultura Bucurestiului.
A Food Lion? No, a Mega Image which is owned by the same company that owns Food Lion. ;-)
Piata Romana - near our hotel.
The Art Deco Hotel Ambassador.
Many of the large buildings are obscured by banners like these on the Cinema Patria.
And these at United Nations Square.
A memorial to a person killed in the December 1989 Revolution.
Dinner at La Mama.
More Architecture.
The Telephone Co. building.
The Art Deco former Union Hotel.
Renovated streets with concrete posts to prevent cars from parking on the sidewalk.
Sunday in the park.
And Sunday in the Old Town District.
Seen at an EU street fair.
Inside the Great Synagogue.
We saw many intrepid cyclists on the busy streets; most without helmets. Here are two with helmets.
Modern Corner Building.
Finally, dinner and a beer Babadochia.
So we arrived (on a Saturday as usual) with low expectations but suspected that we would like Bucharest as we have been in the country for 3 weeks now and know Romanians are nice folks with whom communication is easy as many Romanians have very good English and the Latin roots of Romanian allow us to speak some pidgin with folks who have no more English than we have Romanian.
One gets the feeling that Bucharest is a proper capital when arriving at Bucharest North (Bucaresti Nord) Station. The splendid sprawling monumental Art Deco building fits the bill for any station in any world capital. Not so for the stations in our previous stops of Tirana, Belgrade or Sarajevo.
We walked a couple of kilometers towards the Old City a took room in a small pension near Piata Romana where the owner's father, a French-speaking Russian, welcomed us with a big smile and cup of coffee. And when my high school French, which I thought was lost forever, began to jump out of my mouth, we became instant friends. ;-)
Bucharest is a great place to wander around. We did not see any of the "packs of feral dogs" mentioned by some. The architecture is varied with plenty of between-the-wars-Modern, the parks are big and green, there are too many "live" theaters to count, there are tons of restaurants, and the various neighborhoods seem to be up-and-coming and developing their own characters...We agree with LP.
Bucharest North Railway Station.
The Palace of Parliament - the 2nd largest building in the world.
Various shots of the city.
My favorite building was this Modernist gem - TEHNOIMPORT. The small red circle marks it as unsafe during a major earthquake.
Or maybe this Streamline Moderne one: ArCUB - Arta Si Cultura Bucurestiului.
A Food Lion? No, a Mega Image which is owned by the same company that owns Food Lion. ;-)
Piata Romana - near our hotel.
The Art Deco Hotel Ambassador.
Many of the large buildings are obscured by banners like these on the Cinema Patria.
And these at United Nations Square.
A memorial to a person killed in the December 1989 Revolution.
Dinner at La Mama.
More Architecture.
The Telephone Co. building.
The Art Deco former Union Hotel.
Renovated streets with concrete posts to prevent cars from parking on the sidewalk.
Sunday in the park.
And Sunday in the Old Town District.
Seen at an EU street fair.
Inside the Great Synagogue.
We saw many intrepid cyclists on the busy streets; most without helmets. Here are two with helmets.
Modern Corner Building.
Finally, dinner and a beer Babadochia.
2 comments:
Looks interesting. Will move it up the list.
Blows my mind! I look at Bucharest on GM and what do I see? A damn circumferential expressway! All USA's bad ideas are copied. Bucharest looks like Raleigh's Cliff Benson Beltline, Atlanta, or Houston. At least, Bucharest doesn't have a second such like Raleigh and Houston. Atlanta lags here having only one, poor Atlanta.
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