I arrived in Bucharest on a Flixibus at about 5am yesterday morning. The journey was unremarkable. At one point the border guards took our passports and then brought them back while we sat on the bus. Let's hope they are not now being duplicated!!
There are lots of things I don't actually like about this place. Firstly I was royally ripped off by a taxi driver who threatened me when I questioned the fare. This was metered but somehow I paid more to get to my hotel than I did travelling from Turkey all the way to Romania. The street was dark. No lights. He was even trying to get a tip as well. Even after I questioned him. It would have been polite to say he was surly. Strange place, strange language... I was on to a loser.
The song playing in the taxi was Purple Rain. I will remember that song! Actually, all over Bucharest 70s music seems popular. The ice skating rink in the park, cafes, cars - they all blast popular songs from the 70s.
Beyond that, Bucharest seems closed. Lots of shops have paper covering their windows. Rude graffiti has been sprayed over almost everywhere and there is a general air of despair. The drivers seem to drive straight at you when you cross roads and people almost walk through you when you are on the pavement.
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| Derelict buildings in the tourist area |
Yesterday I walked and walked. I ended up in the Old Part. This has in part been gentrified but there are still almost derelict buildings in this prime tourist area. To get warm and get a little respite from the sub zero temperature I went to The Big Ben Pub. On the advice of the waiter I had a plum brandy AKA paint stripper. This is the local tipple that apparently everyone drinks. This may have a bearing on their behaviour, me thinks.
Next door to the pub is the Museum "De Istoriei" containing yet more rather large chunks of stone carved by Romans. For me, this is getting a bit repetitive. Maybe there were a group of Romans way back in time who thought it would be fun to lay a trail across Europe for people to dig up later. They didn't actually build anything, they carved rocks and artistically spread them around. Co-incidenatally in these cities about 1500 years later, the locals got interested in these rocks and put them on display. To add interest, the dicoveries were linked to a fictional story that would attract travellers far and wide. It worked. I have seen more Roman ruins on this trip than at anytime before or since.
The nice buildings in Bucharest are early Ottomam. neoclassical and baroque. They are quite stunning. These are the ones that must be loved by the people as they don't have noticable graffiti. Singapore would have a seizure if just one of its buildings had half as much daubed on it. So my verdict.. A pretty sad sort of place is the land of the Lei.
Glad you are not here to witness it, Marms... Be good, practise your yoga with Rita, there's s a good boy.
Miss you
Love
A
Of course the Roman's were there, look at the language! Shame it didn't impress, most Romanians I've ever met have been quite nice people. In fact I was having a drink I with one in my local the other night.
ReplyDeleteI know they were. They just get everywhere and each museum has replicas of the same type of stones. If I wasn't interested, I wouldn't have visited the museums.
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