Delightful Bustling Bucharest

We left Sofia on an early morning train.  The train followed the narrow Iskur River valley with villages nestled on the steep hillsides.  Wood smoke hung in the valleys in a thick, hazy smog.  The hills turned into fertile plains as we made our way northeast into Romania.  We spent all day on the train.  The seats were fairly basic bench seats and there were absolutely no amenities except a basic toilet.  We were glad we enquired before we left so brought drinks and snacks with us.  By the time we arrived in Bucharest it was dark and cold and we were happy to just crash at the hotel and leave the exploring for the morning.

Crossing the Danube into Romania

 Romania seems to have shaken off the legacy of communism and Ceaușescu.  There was a liveliness and vibrancy in the streets.  We stumbled across some lovely sculptures and street art. 

A wagon full of musicians

Violin Sculpture

Flower sellers were everywhere

I was amazed at the language.  Romania is this enclave of Italian sounding Romance language surrounded by Slavic and Germanic languages.  I was fascinated and would love to know how that evolved.  It was lovely to hear and so much easier to negotiate after the challenge of the Cryllic alphabet of Bulgaria. 

Mosaics on the Church of St Anthony

There were still reminders of Ceaușescu, mainly in the Parliamentary Palace he built but did not live to see its completion.  This is the largest civilian building in the world.  It is massive containing 1,100 rooms.  It has 12 stories above ground and 8 below.  It is 82 m high and measures 270m by 245m and cost €3 billion to build.  In short it is quite obscene. 

The mammoth Parliamentary Palace

A children's playground below the Parliamentary Palace - a sop to the masses?

The Old Town was delightful.  We found a wonderful cafe for coffee in the morning and liked it so much made our way back there for lunch.

Old Town

Coffee at Le/Bourgeois/

And a few hours later lunch

Our visit to Bucharest was short as in the evening we caught an overnight sleeper train to Budapest.  I would love to come back to Romania in the summer and explore some of its countryside and other cities.