Mystery tour Autumn 2024 Part 3 Bimbling in Bucharest.

So, from Serbia we headed east to Bucharest, the capital of Romania, again taking a short and very full flight due to a lack of efficient overland options! Romania has a population of 19 million people and it felt as if most of them were in Bucharest ... at least on the road from the airport. Our 20 minute Uber taxi drive took well over an hour. Once into the old town, our Air bnb was quickly found. It was a basement flat, so no view, but was right in the heart of the old town, and excellent inside. We had a bedroom, lounge, bathroom and kitchen diner, and even a bemused snowman outside the door!

Again, spotlessly clean, and to be honest, we spend so little time indoors it was perfect, especially for just over £50 per night. I had read some gloomy things about Bucharest. Run down, pickpockets, not much to see. All wrong as far as we were concerned. The city has been massively restored, and the architecture is amazing.

We headed straight out for dinner, and even at night felt safe walking around, although we are always careful. My small bag locks, and has safe compartments for valuables, and Chris wears a money belt under his shirt. Which is very crafty because every time anything needs paying for, he says he can't get his money out because it would give the hiding place away!!!

Walking through the old town revealed great architecture, a bustling café, bar and nightlife scene, including several Irish pubs, and some great restaurants.

We had dinner in a rather upmarket restaurant that was recommended to us. The food was sensational. Fine dining for £25pp.

There were, however, two very contrasting events that you probably would not see in the UK, at least not anywhere we go!

1. A very long line of people was slowly filing past the window throughout the meal. Our waiter told us they were on a weekly pilgrimage to the local church to pray to St Anthony. They need to do this for 7 consecutive Tuesdays each year. What amazed us was that there were elderly people, families with young children, business people, and, perhaps most surprisingly, unaccompanied teenagers.

2. A very smartly dressed, short man in his 60s or 70s appeared in the restaurant wearing very dark glasses. I whispered to Chris I thought it was the mafia! It turned out he was waiting for 3 Philippine ladies in their 20s/30s. They sat down at a table in the middle of the restaurant and began to order dinner.  While he attempted to flirt with all 3, the ladies were choosing the best... Champagne, fillet steak etc. To put it politely... I think they were making sure they got their monies worth!!

Our walk back took us past yet more amazing buildings, like this one, a savings bank, built in the early 1900s.

It has a special dome which muffles the sound of speech beneath, so transactions could be really secret.

Signs of renovation are everywhere, but you can see where it has stopped!

Our attempts to find breakfast cereal were thwarted however. Every place listed as a supermarket turned out to sell vast arrays of crisps, biscuits and drinks. If you were lucky, a couple of very chocolate based cereals. Definitely no muesli or granola. Ah well, we have our contingency cereal bars brought from home for just this eventuality! We slept well, and set off early to visit 2 churches before our booked walking tour. Our accommodation is opposite the amazing Bank of Romania.

At the risk of sounding repetitive, Romania, and Bucharest have always been at a crossroads between rival empires. So, guess what? It has been fought over many times, and suffered from great fires and destruction. The Romans, The Ottomans, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Nazis and the Communists all played a part! And then there were some huge earthquakes and fires! So, many of the old buildings were destroyed by natural or ideological forces. The country was ruled with Romanian Communist principles by Nicolas Ceaucescu from the end of WW2 until the revolution in 1989 ended his grip on the country. The Communist museum gives an interesting overview of life in Romania in those years.

By 1989, the country was starving and many people had lost faith in him. Their mistrust was fuelled by him bulldozing a vast area of Bucharest to make way for a multi million pound presidential palace, fitted with every luxury imagineable, while many of the people were living in poverty.

He and his wife were executed on Christmas day, and it was shown on television!

Romania had been a big fan of all things French... French is a second language for many, and Mersi  is Thanks! Between the wars, many grand buildings with French architecture were built.

Bucharest even has an Arc de Triomphe and a sort of Champs Elysee. Ceaucescu continued the trend! Although in the communist era many huge concrete tenements were built as well.

First, we visited Zlatari, the Goldsmiths church, rebuilt in 1850, exquisitely beautiful, and with several relics, including the arm of either a 3rd century sorcerer, or St Cyprian depending on which account you read!

Another church, dedicated to St George, was rebuilt and restored in the last 50 years. Outside was an incredible mural of the apocalypse, showing very vividly where the baddies end up!  This also had many relics, and was the burial place, of St Constantin, who was murdered by the Ottomans for refusing to renounce his religion.

The jewel in the city's religious crown is the tiny Stavropoleos monastery. Built in 1725, much of the artwork is original, and it is a very atmospheric space, including this unusual ancient box containing relics of various saints.

The oldest inn is Hanu Lui Manuc, which was built in 1806 by an Armenian businessman. It was like a caravanserai - accommodation, food, drink and a place to trade. There is also a beautiful bookshop, Carturesti Carusel.

Macca Villacrosse passage was built in 1883 to connect the 2 most important financial areas of town.

Old wooden buildings were knocked down, but there was a stone building in the centre which was the first place to introduce CanCan girls to Romania. That was allowed to continue, and the roofed passageway splits in 2 to go around the building!

We had lunch in a very Romanian restaurant, Varta. We tried 2 very traditional dishes. Sarmarle -   Minced meat in cabbage leaves with a tomato sauce and polenta was very tasty, and Tochitura, a local pork, chicken and sausage casserole with tomato and mushroom sauce .... with polenta... was delicious! Chris tried Ciuk beer... 7/10!

Then a long walk to see the amazingly huge Presidential Palace. To get an idea of size, look at the full height trees in front!!

This was Ceaucescu's dream. It is unimaginably huge. We had managed to get tickets for a tour. The signage was awful and we gradually gathered up a disparate bunch of lost souls from many nations who seemed to have faith in our ability to find the way in! Basically, in the end, my skills were that I asked somebody! The tour was brilliant. Once through security, in 75 minutes we saw 3% of the building! Ceaucescu called it the Palace of the people when he started to build it in 1980, but by then, most of his countryman were starving and on food rationing. There are many anomalies. He instructed that all materials were to be found or produced in Romania, including the marble -  1 million square metres of it!

It is the heaviest palace in the world, but is sinking at 5mms a year! It is 85 metres high but goes 90 metres below ground, with nuclear shelters, and earthquake proof. There is 220,000 square metres of carpet, and the heaviest one weighs 4 tons!  It contains 1200 rooms and 15,000 chandeliers. Ceaucescu insisted on a swimming pool, and wanted one huge chamber to have sliding roof so his helicopter could land in it.

He had these stairs rebuilt 3 times because they weren't comfortable for him to climb! Admittedly, they were very nicely spaced! Ceaucescu was deposed and executed in 1989 before the Palace was completely finished. Many people wanted to tear it down, but other options were explored. One was to sell it. The two people interested were.... Rupert Murdoch and Donald Trump! He wanted to build the worlds largest casino! Neither offered enough, and having discovered that it would cost more to destroy it than to finish it, they carried on, using it as the Parliament building, and for museums, functions, charitable events etc. Although the annual utilities bills total 6 million euros! Wow! These are deputies chambers, and the ballroom!

This is the main Senate chamber. The ceiling is gorgeous.

We were so glad we had visited. Our visit was supplemented by a group member who persistently took issue with the guide, arguing that Ceaucescu was a good man, and things were better in his time. Again, we encountered the deep seated and passionately held beliefs and divisions in this region.

And we spotted a lot of spare marble on the way out...... anyone need any???

A walk back into the old town, via St Spiridions church, with it's bells, and adjacent to the gymnast Nadia Comanech's clinic, which she built to give something back.

Then a quick look in St Anthonys church, where the pilgrims were heading last night. It is the oldest church in Bucharest built in the 1550s. It is next to the remnants of the Royal Palace, built by Vlad III, King of Wallachia, who became known as the Impaler, so called because of his method of punishing wrong doers! This is also who Irish author Bram Stoker used as inspiration for his character of Dracula. The Palace is supposed to be under renovation, so shut off.

Finally we sank into chairs at Caru cu Bere, a beautiful old inn, and Chris found a great beer, Ursus IPA.

We also felt obliged to try Papanasi, the local dessert. Essentially a light, warm donut filled with cream cheese and blueberries. It was rather delicious. No supper required!!

We returned to our Air bnb, having walked nearly 7 miles again. The blog for Belgrade was finished and posted, packing was done and off to bed. We have really enjoyed Bucharest - a fascinating city. A busy day tomorrow!