Post 47. Bucharest, Romania. Part 3.

Day 3

Casa Ceausescu

For my third morning in Bucharest, I booked a guided tour of Casa Ceausescu - the mansion home of former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, his wife Elena and their children, from 1965 until their death in 1989. They also owned similar grand summer homes in each of the Romanian provinces. 

The luxury life that the tyrant led, in contrast to the misery of Bucharest residents still comes across loud and clear to this day. 

We were informed by the guide that Ceausescu was very easily impressed by things he saw on his trips abroad. When he went to Japan, for example, he brought back peacocks, their descendants are still there in the garden - but try as I might, I couldn't spot them!

When he went to Mexico, he was so impressed with Mexican marble mosaic tiling that he had it installed it in an extension at the back of the house.  

When he went to China he brought back silkworms and started a Romanian silkworm industry, where every school had its own silkworms and pupils were expected to bring food from home to feed them.

 

 

All the silk wall coverings in the house come from these worms, as is the case in the main public rooms in the Parliament House.

 

 

As we made our way through the house, it became clear that the Ceausescu's loved gold - there was gold leaf absolutely everywhere! Most of the bathrooms are typical 1980s bathrooms with pink sanitary ware, but this one has the gold theme running through it - this is actual real gold!

The best room is the swimming pool in the basement which was fully tiled in mosaic art by two prominent Romanian artists of the day. As a reward, he allowed the artists leave the country.

The tour finished with a 40-minute documentary on the rise and fall of the Ceausescus, in the original basement cinema. 

Lipscani - the Old Town

I still hadn't visited the Lipscani quarter, so I took a Metro there from the Ceausescu House.  I wandered around the area for a few hours in the afternoon. 

It was full of pedestrian streets, restaurants, bars and cafés. This was my favourite area of the city and below is a photo of my favourite building - The Palace of Justice. It reminded me so much of Parisian architecture. 

I wandered into a fabulous bookstore with lots of character, called Cărturesti Carusel. It was huge, on three floors stocking 10,000 books and 5,000 albums /DVDs. There was a good English language selection. 

 

It was a joy to stroll around this part of the city, where most of the public buildings had been fully restored. 

 

 

 

Like elsewhere in the city, the old town had a diverse range of architectural styles. 

 

 

 

There really was a lovely atmosphere strolling along the cobbled pedestrian streets. 

 

This part of the city is also where Bucharest's most popular tourist attraction, Stavropolaeus Monastery (below) is located.It was an oasis of calm and respect but it was absolutely thronged with tourists and their cameras, even in the late afternoon. 

 

 

Dinner

For an early dinner, I had my sights on Caru’ cu Bere. in the Old Town. 

It was a huge old beer hall and was recommended by all the travel blogs as a must-visit, to experience authentic Romanian food. I should have been wary of these inflated reviews however, as my experience ended up being similar to the day before.

Without doubt, the atmosphere inside was lovely with high ceilings and dark wood panelling. I got a table in the old cellars. I ordered two recommended dishes that I saw on the tourist blogs, homemade chicken noodle soup with fresh noodles, and pan-fried carp with polenta and garlic sauce. I had never tasted carp before and was looking forward to it. 

The soup was quite tasty but I didn’t enjoy the carp and wouldn't order it again. However, it was served with polenta and I did get quite a taste for it over the ten days in Romania and Moldova and will look for it when I get home. 

When I told the waitress that I didn’t enjoy the carp, she brought me out a glass of palinka (plum brandy) to make up for it, which was a nice gesture. Overall, I thought the restaurant was just a tourist trap and similar to Restaurant Hanu ‘lui Manuc in that respect.

Unfortunately in my last hour in Bucharest, I was pickpocketed on the Metro as I made my way back to the apartment.  It was rush hour and the train was packed, so I was standing for the whole trip. My wallet was in the inside deep pocket of my jacket. How the thief knew it was there and how s/he removed it, I will never know - I felt absolutely nothing. 

Luckily I was able to freeze all my cards once I realised the wallet was gone. I had access to one other card on Google Pay on my phone which I could use.  I cancelled the cards the next day and Revolut was able to provide me with a new card and number, which I was able to use instantly.

I know this can happen in any large city anywhere in the world, but it did happen to me here and unfortunately it confirmed one of the stereotypes in the media about petty crime being rife in the city. Unfortunately it meant that I left Bucharest with a sour taste in my mouth. 

 

Overall Impressions of Bucharest 

Bucharest will not win any beauty competitions for best-looking European capital. It has its charms, but on the whole, the constant mix of architectural styles, where 1960s concrete boxes sit cheek by jowl with old historical buildings creates a jarring effect. 

This visual set of contrasts is not pleasant to look at. All in all, the bland decaying 1960s buildings, the constant traffic, and the cigarette smoke everywhere do not contribute to an enjoyable experience.

Bucharest does get under your skin though and once you have your bearings you can begin to appreciate what makes it tick. The pedestrianised Lipscani district is a real gem in the centre of the city. 

Overall Impressions of Romania

Based on my short one-week of travel in Romania, with limited interactions with locals, here are some random observations and musings that come to mind. 

1. I felt that the food portions were huge. It was difficult to manage a starter and a main course, so soup is often a good option. Maybe that explains why it is so popular with Romanians. There are usually at least three choices of soup on menus.  

2. I noticed that obesity among males is widespread. I am unsure if this is as a result of the big portions,  or if it is genetic, or if it is just a cultural thing. It seemed to me however, that many men from Romania regard having a belly as a badge of honour and make no effort to hide it! In Ireland, overweight males (me included) make some attempt at hiding their paunches, but not so here. 

3. Smoking is extremely widespread, even among young people. It is quite a shock coming from Ireland. It is impossible to escape the smell of tobacco smoke if you eat outside, as people light up between courses and I even saw some people smoke while they were eating. 

In fact, one of the strangest sights I saw was outside a gym, a few blocks from my apartment.  There were five gym goers out on the pavement, in their sports gear taking a break  and all five were puffing on cigarettes! 

4. Gambling seems like a huge industry. I have never seen so many betting shops and casinos in one city before.  The one below was near my metro stop, while there was another just a few doors away.

5. Romanian sour cream was served widely on a range of dishes and it is absolutely delicious.

6. The Romanian language may have Latin roots but the people also came across as Mediterranean, definitely closer to Greeks and Italians than Hungarians or Poles. They are warm, expressive, and greet each other with warm handshakes or hugs. They were very helpful any time I stopped a passer-by and asked a question. 

Link to next post 

Link to all posts