Romania has a chequered history, like many countries I supppose. What with Dracula, The Austro-Hungarian Empire, changing sides during WWII, and Soviet Occupation, there would be a lot to discuss. However the topic we expect to hear about, and our guide today doesn’t dissappoint, is Ceausescu.
Romanians lived under the tyrannical rule of this peasant cobbler’s assistant turned communist party apparatchik turned dictator. During his thirty year regime the country suffered martial law, rationing, financial ruin, totalitarianism to mention just a few. It was sort of surprising but, maybe not, to learn of the horrors that followed.
Our first stop is to look at the obscene Palace of the Parliament, the world’s heaviest building, and second largest after the Pentagon. We’ve been here and done the tour, today we are just looking at the exterior whilst our guide waxes lyrical on the outrageous statistics it has achieved.
Whilst not wishing to idolise, the stats are extraordinary – a ballroom of over a square kilometre, curtains 90m in depth, 10 thousand tonnes of marble, eight subterranean floors and thirteen above ground, sadly the displacement of 40 thousand residents who’s houses were demolished to make the space, given just one week notice.
The coach moves us on, we drive up to L’Arche de Triumphe, of course it’s not written in French, but this is a good time to point out how much Bucharest has a French influence, all day we find the most exquisite architecture worthy of a Parisian boulevard, intermingled with Communist Brutalism.
Then, we head to the Memorial of Rebirth, Revolution Square, where we see the statue of King Carol the First, juxtaposed with the “skewered potato” a symbol of the Ceausescu aftermath.
A poignant moment ensues, amongst our group are two Americans settlers who were residents here during the revolution. Our guide invites them to tell us about the moments when Ceausescu was finally taken to task, how he tried to evade capture, attempting escape by helicopter from this square close to their home. We hear how they finally wept tears of relief and then joy when Ceausescu was captured and executed. Tears all round the group after this first-hand recollection.
Our guide, Bogdan, walks us into the Old Town area, and we wander around various magnificent buildings, many of which are either current or former banks, still the predominant industry of the area, apart from tourism of course. Not forgetting religion, we find many impressive churches, based on Russian Orthodoxy – now divorced from ties to their alma mater they get to keep the annual €billion revenue. The Romanian Athenæum is possible the first ever building built by public subscription in 1888.
Finally we break free of our group and head out for an in-depth exploration, having already created a list of places to find. Inevitably there is some overlap with the basic tour but we are best left to our own devices. Having said that our first destination falls flat as the Old Synagogue is gated and locked up so we fail to even get near!
We take a quick lunch-break on the steps of the ugly national theatre building, although it’s good to get into the foyer for a quick peek. We find a fabulous arcade of restaurants which was probably a regular street before the roof was added.
Stunning buildings are everywhere, Ministry of Agriculture, Military Club, National Police HQ to name a few. We take a detour to approach the palace from afar along the impressive looking boulevard which in it’s day was merely a façade, the military used to draw curtains and light lamps behind the false windows to allow Ceausescu to pretend his citizens were living near by. Now they are properly developed and occupied.
Our final destination of the day is the Opera House, we cannot get in as a graduation ceremony is happening, but the outside looks great.
As we return to the Marriott we pass the huge Catedrala Mantuirii Neamului but cannot find a way in because of all,the building works. We can see it clearly from our bedroom.
Although there is a plethora of restaurants in the Old Town we don’t fancy running the gauntlet of aggressive barkers stationed outside each one, so we decide to remain in the hotel and try out the Italian restaurant. It turns out to be a good decision, we start in the bar for a drink, and then enjoy Parmagiana di Melanzane and Carpaccio di Manzo followed by Vitello allá Milanese and Costolette di Alnello. We have a fabulous waiter from Sri Lanka who’s American English he’s learned by listening to Eminem! Apart from questionable musical taste Milos is an excellent waiter.
