To say that we came to Bucharest with no expectations is an understatement. In fact, after the poor reports we’d heard from other travelers and the less-than-glowing recommendation from our guidebook (the section on Bucharest uses the phrases “stray dogs,” “rip-off taxis,” and “grey housing blocks” to describe the city), we almost skipped coming here at all. In the end, though, we decided to see for ourselves about Romania’s capital.
At the heart of central Bucharest is what remains of the city’s old city center – a few square blocks of cobblestone streets and historic buildings. Thanks to some EU grants, this area is undergoing major renovations. Some buildings have already been returned to their former glory (though, sadly, most of these are now occupied by Irish-style pubs, Italian restaurants, and nightclubs) but many remain vacant and dilapidated. Most of the old city, however, was torn down under dictator Nicolae Ceausescu to make way for a boulevard (Bulevardul Unirii) of huge concrete apartment buildings and the Palace of Parliament, which at 12 stories and 1,100 rooms is the world’s second largest administrative building (after the Pentagon). North of the old town, the former Royal Palace sits across the street from the former home of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. It was from the balcony of this building that Ceausescu gave his never-finished last speech on December 21, 1989 as he tried to suppress revolution. As the crowd turned on him and violence broke out, he fled but was quickly captured. Ceausescu and his wife were executed, after a brief trial, on Christmas day of that year.
As we walked around town we found that, despite all the concrete, the city seemed warm and vibrant. Near the university, we found a farmer’s market and several blocks of book vendors selling everything from textbooks, to old communist propaganda books, to antique German military pins. In Cismigiu Park we watched at least half a dozen wedding parties take photographs and a group of very talented teenagers play a game that appeared to be a mix of soccer and tennis. We stopped for lunch at a tiny diner for one of the tastiest and friendliest meals we ate in Romania. In the end, while the city lived up to our expectations in some ways (there’s no denying the concrete apartment blocks and stray dogs), it mostly exceeded our expectations and we were really glad we stopped here before moving on to Bulgaria.
Click on the photo below for our Bucharest photo album.
At the heart of central Bucharest is what remains of the city’s old city center – a few square blocks of cobblestone streets and historic buildings. Thanks to some EU grants, this area is undergoing major renovations. Some buildings have already been returned to their former glory (though, sadly, most of these are now occupied by Irish-style pubs, Italian restaurants, and nightclubs) but many remain vacant and dilapidated. Most of the old city, however, was torn down under dictator Nicolae Ceausescu to make way for a boulevard (Bulevardul Unirii) of huge concrete apartment buildings and the Palace of Parliament, which at 12 stories and 1,100 rooms is the world’s second largest administrative building (after the Pentagon). North of the old town, the former Royal Palace sits across the street from the former home of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. It was from the balcony of this building that Ceausescu gave his never-finished last speech on December 21, 1989 as he tried to suppress revolution. As the crowd turned on him and violence broke out, he fled but was quickly captured. Ceausescu and his wife were executed, after a brief trial, on Christmas day of that year.
As we walked around town we found that, despite all the concrete, the city seemed warm and vibrant. Near the university, we found a farmer’s market and several blocks of book vendors selling everything from textbooks, to old communist propaganda books, to antique German military pins. In Cismigiu Park we watched at least half a dozen wedding parties take photographs and a group of very talented teenagers play a game that appeared to be a mix of soccer and tennis. We stopped for lunch at a tiny diner for one of the tastiest and friendliest meals we ate in Romania. In the end, while the city lived up to our expectations in some ways (there’s no denying the concrete apartment blocks and stray dogs), it mostly exceeded our expectations and we were really glad we stopped here before moving on to Bulgaria.
Click on the photo below for our Bucharest photo album.
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