Welcome to Bucharest
Will, the engineer, found the city's electrical wiring system to be... interesting.
Will, the engineer, found the city's electrical wiring system to be... interesting.
A beautiful orthodox church hidden among gray skies and constant traffic.
While his people starved, the Romanian dictator built this ugly fortress
From Frommers: "No matter how much you prepare yourself for it, your first glimpse of this square concrete bulk with its classical facade and escutcheoned gateways is a jaw-dropper. Ceausescu infamously had a sixth of Bucharest flattened to make space for this project, and it kept 20,000 workers and 700 architects busy round-the-clock for 5 years during the main period of construction -- visiting the "House of the People," as it's known locally, is effectively to gaze at the physical manifestation of Ceausescu's unyielding attempt to monumentalize his regime."
During Nicolae Ceauşescu's rule. From WikiPedia:
Nicolae Ceauşescu was the leader of Romania from 1965 until December 1989, when a revolution and coup removed him from power. The revolutionaries held a two-hour trial and sentenced him to death for crimes against the state, genocide, and "undermining the national economy."
In 1989, Ceausescu gave his last speech to an angry crowd in the square, then ordered soldiers to open fire.
The square is in the middle of the city, yet it was oddly quiet. Such a sad place.
We took a train from Bucharest to Brasov and couldn't believe our sweet accomodations! We stayed at a place called Casa Rozelor, a beautiful old mansion that has been divided into apartments.
http://www.casarozelor.ro/
Vegetarians, beware!
They like MEAT in Romania. The closet we got to vegis was the typical side dish of "mush maiz" which tastes a lot like polenta or grits.
The owners have restored the place so you can get a sense of what it once looked like.
The walls of one room were filled with copies of ancient depictions of hell, torture, etc. And the Romanians wonder why their country was such great material for Bram Stoker!
This church was burned, then rebuilt, and survived raids and other serious problems.
