[Note-- this will be almost completely rewritten once I am able to add photos. Be warned.]
Florence and I decided Tuesday to go to Bucharest. We flew out Sunday evening without really having a clear idea of where we were going or what we were doing, but you know the excitement is in the unknown!
Our taxi driver was quite chatty and friendly, despite its being one in the morning. He spoke to us in an undiscriminating mix of English, Italian, and Romanian, telling us about his daughter who is 21, Dracula's Castle (which he is dying to drive us to for lots of money), Romanian culture, and just about anything else. He had to stop a couple of times to figure out where he was going, especially since the hostel is invisible from the street, but we made it in one piece!
Since we got here so late last night and we have a time difference as well, it took us a while to get started this morning. We headed out around 10, having decided to concentrate on the attractions within walking distance of the hostel for today.
First up was the Palace of the Parliament. This colossal (and gorgeous) building was the pet project of Nicolae Ceausescu, built in the 1980s. Unfortunately, I don't have photos because I chose not to pay the extra fee for photography, and immediately regretted it. The place was incredible. The best I can do is pull some photos from the web of the stuff we saw!
Our guide, Marius,-- both witty and adorable-- began by rattling off a number of mind-boggling statistics: how it took 11 years of tens of thousands of men working 24/7 to complete; that it is the third largest building in the world, bigger by 2% than the pyramids at Cairo; how out of its 1100 rooms, less than 50% are used today due to the enormous upkeep costs (3.5 million euros annually). We walked past a set of curtains weighing a ton between them, which are never taken down-- when they need to be cleaned they just bring up a ladder and steam them where they are! The stunning ballroom has a ceiling 19 meters high. Perhaps most astonishingly, all of the materials came from within Romania, which is why the palace's nickname is the "People's House". Actually, Marius joked that his job was especially easy because all he has to do is point to something and say it's from Transylvania, and he's probably right. The marble, the crystal, the wood-- all Transylvania.
The decor really didn't seem to come from the '80s, except for a few nods to more modern sensibilities, such as the slight elongations of the arches in the ceilings, and glass panels in the intricately carved wooden doors. The overarching theme, however, seemed to be inspired by more neoclassical works, and actually made Florence and me think of Versailles, although without the colorful satin wallpaper (most were cream or pink marble).
One of the first rooms we visited was a luxurious theater, with the golden ceilings, velvet cushions, and a chandelier weighing more than five tons-- which, as Florence astutely pointed out, could only have its bulbs changed from above. It turns out that four people can actually fit inside the chandelier to do just that. However, the theater was never used as such, because the architects forgot one important detail: backstage.
At this point, Marius casually mentioned that in the '90s the palace had been appraised at $4 billion because an American businessman wanted to turn it into "the largest casino in the world!" Of course it was Donald Trump-- who else?
Everything in the palace was deeply influenced by Ceausescu, even though it doesn't appear he ever planned to live there. The grand staircases were built a number of times, with successively smaller steps, because he was short and wanted them to be the right depth. The lowest four floors of the palace were built without air conditioning because Ceausescu was afraid of being poisoned through the system. In fact, he also had a food taster, although as Marius pointed out it didn't do him much good in the end. "Guess he never saw the revolution coming!" he quipped cheerfully.
We wandered through the park next to the palace (Parcul Izvor), which was sweet and very carefully taken care of, but not anything stunning. However, we did find trees that grew what appeared to be blackberries, which we had never seen before (I got some pictures so we can identify them!)
Next, we decided to make hay while the sun was shining since it was supposed to storm later. We ducked into a nearby grocery store and grabbed a bite to eat, then headed to the nearby Gradina Cismigiu, a beautiful public park. It was incredibly peaceful, and I'm going to add photos to this post once I have a real computer with me!
It was starting to get cloudy, and since it was supposed to rain, we decided to make our way back to the hostel area. On the way, we stopped by the Holocaust Memorial, although we almost missed it because at first we couldn't really tell what it was! I realized afterwards that I forgot to get a photo, but really I'm not too sorry.
Our next stop was the Biserica Stavropoleos, a gorgeous monastery from the 18th century. I took pictures of the outside (which will soon be added), but wasn't able to inside. You'll just have to take my word for it that it was incredible.
As we headed back from the church, we didn't quite make it back to the hostel before it began to pour-- even with our umbrellas we were quickly getting soaked, so we ducked into the giant mall of Old Town. It wasn't quite on the list of sights to see, but I guess we got to see it whether we needed to or not!
And then we collapsed, went out for dinner, and collapsed again.
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