Bucharest AKA A wee bit of history and opinion mixed with scads of admiration
WOW! I'd never heard of Romania, really, I'm not even sure I could have placed it correctly on a map. I'd certainly never considered visiting it, or any of the other Balkan states. Who would? I came here on a whim. Laura told me about a hike in the Fagaras Mountains and when I checked it out online it looked awesome so I took a wee (20 hour train ride) detour to give it a boo. I'm still not sure I'll be up for the hike it the mountains but even if that turns out to be too challenging it's not a loss because I did a stopover in Bucharest - why not - and discovered a city that has it all.
Romanians aren't inward looking. They see something they like, such as French shopping, German beer, Austrian pastries, Hungarian cabbage rolls, Chinese castles, American clubs... they take it and make it even better. I kid you not: their parliament building is the biggest in the world and the tree lined boulevard leading up to it both longer and wider than the Champs-Elysées. Their pastries are to die for. And so on.
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| Dracula - Father of Romania |
They have a varied history with several famous and infamous leaders including Dracula (who was sent by his father, ruler of the adjacent kingdom, to take it over but decided he liked it so much he'd rule it for the Romanians themselves... he went on to defeat every army his father sent to re-invade using strategy rather than manpower) and then the more recent and notorious Nicolae Ceaușescu (who like many semi-dictators started out doing great things for the country but then lost control of reality and ended up being executed by firing squad. His wife too btw.)
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| The boulevard leading up to Ceaușescu's palace. The interior is stunning; each huge reception room unique but each lavish beyond words with huge chandaliers hanging ftom ornate ceilings, individually designed inlaid marble floors and hand made rugs, some walls with silk wallpaper, others with tapestries, or cherry and mahagony wood, or gold lief decorated multicoloured marble... |
Not only that, Bucharest totally defies the myth that Europe is expensive. My hostel is $10 Canadian dollars a night. It comes with brand new quality mattresses, great sheets and towels, hot showers, AC, reliable wifi, an all you can eat breakfast, a great common room, interesting clientele, and a library! What more could one wish for? I'm considering trying to switch across to teaching all e-learning classes so I can telecommute next year from here. (Just kidding, but only just.)
The transportation system is good. People speak English. You can do bike tours through the wine district or beach vacations on the Black Sea. There are ancient ruins and medieval castles and even a few modern glass skyscrapers.
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| OK, so maybe a few neighborhoods are still fixer-upers... |
Romanians have great practicality and sense of humour too. They hated what the unbelievably-opulent-lavish-amazing palace Ceaușescu had built for himself stood for but instead of tearing it down in disgust they re-purposed it successfully. And when they were voted the city with the fewest statues they just commissioned a whole whack. Some turned out really ugly. So what to do when you are stuck with terrible statues? Embrace it, of course, own being the city with the worst statues, mock yourself so much that there is no point in anyone else doing so!
Yup! I'm sold.
I could stay forever but I think I'll just have one more icing sugar dusted pain au chocolate and head on...
