We were awake early to pack, as we left the boat this morning. Our boat had travelled through the night to Oltenita, Romania, our last port of call. Our bags were loaded on to buses and we joined them for a two hour drive to Bucharest and a tour of the city. As we've travelled along, each country has been poorer and this is the poorest. As we drove along, we often saw vehicles pulled by horses or donkeys, which seems quaint to us and a great “photo opportunity” but it is because they can't afford cars or tractors. There are some villages that look very poor and others with modern houses under construction.
We arrived in Bucharest and were taken to the Palace of the Parliament, begun by Ceausescu in 1984 but not completed before the Revolution that saw him lose power. It is the second largest building in the world – 1,000 rooms and 365,000 square metres (one for each day of the year). All men of a certain age had to serve some time helping in its construction, working 24 hours a day, seven days a week in shifts. We saw only 2% of the building and that was staggering. When Ceausescu fell, there was some debate about what to do with it. Some wanted to dynamite it, but it is now used as the Parliament building and some rooms are for conferences etc. I paid €10 for a permit to photograph inside the building, which was well worth it.
Our guide, George, took us to Revolution Square and told us about the fall of Ceausescu in December 1989, showing us the building from where he stood to try and appease his angry people. There are many other beautiful buildings and monuments in this square and it was interesting to be in this place where so much happened almost 20 years ago.
We were taken to lunch at the Pescarus Restaurant and finally to check in to the Marriott Hotel which is the most luxurious hotel we've ever stayed in. We didn't get into our room till about 4.00 pm and we are still tired. Tomorrow is another very long day to visit Bran Castle. We know it will tire us but we figure, we may never be back this way so we can't miss it. We can rest later!!
We arrived in Bucharest and were taken to the Palace of the Parliament, begun by Ceausescu in 1984 but not completed before the Revolution that saw him lose power. It is the second largest building in the world – 1,000 rooms and 365,000 square metres (one for each day of the year). All men of a certain age had to serve some time helping in its construction, working 24 hours a day, seven days a week in shifts. We saw only 2% of the building and that was staggering. When Ceausescu fell, there was some debate about what to do with it. Some wanted to dynamite it, but it is now used as the Parliament building and some rooms are for conferences etc. I paid €10 for a permit to photograph inside the building, which was well worth it.
Our guide, George, took us to Revolution Square and told us about the fall of Ceausescu in December 1989, showing us the building from where he stood to try and appease his angry people. There are many other beautiful buildings and monuments in this square and it was interesting to be in this place where so much happened almost 20 years ago.
We were taken to lunch at the Pescarus Restaurant and finally to check in to the Marriott Hotel which is the most luxurious hotel we've ever stayed in. We didn't get into our room till about 4.00 pm and we are still tired. Tomorrow is another very long day to visit Bran Castle. We know it will tire us but we figure, we may never be back this way so we can't miss it. We can rest later!!
1 comment:
Hello, I've noticed your post about your trip to Bucharest, I am happy to see that more and more people are visiting Bucharest.
Should you come again, i recommend you www.captaingo.com (not only for Bucharest Hotels) the most complete booking system from Romania, over 450 hotels. Good luck!
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