Romania Part One: Bucharest

It’s two days since we left Bucharest, and I’m finally getting around to writing something about it.

Bucharest was rainy.

Of course, there’s more to say, but the rain had a dampening effect (pun intended) on activities, mood, and photographs. It’s clear Bucharest is a pretty city with many pretty buildings, but we saw a lot of them through the raindrop-distorted windows of our bus. And we walked a lot in the rain, which, in spite of best efforts to stay dry, left my feet soggy and my pants clinging to my legs.

Rather than describe my activities, I’m just going to offer some impressions of the things I saw in Bucharest.

Architecture

Bucharest doesn’t have any kind of architectural unity. It is a real mish-mash of styles:

And of course there is a lot of Communist-era utilitarian, social-realist architecture, like the many huge apartment blocks we saw. Not to mention the Palace of the Parliament (photo up top), Nicolae Ceaușescu’s monument to his ego (finished after his death because that was cheaper than tearing it down). And then there are the modern buildings dating from the post-Communist era.

Art

I spent a few hours in the National Gallery, the area of the National Museum of Art dedicated to Romanian artists. It was a good way to spend a rainy afternoon. And I discovered some remarkably good painters and sculptors, particularly Nicolae Grigorescu (1838–1907), Ştefan Luchian (1868–1916), and Dimitrie Paciurea (1873–1932).

I created a photo album of works from the National Gallery.

Music

I have a huge regret about my visit to Bucharest. There was a concert on our first night, and I was going to buy a ticket. There were just a few seats left, and I was about to grab one, but at the last minute, I decided not to. The concert was a university orchestra at the Ateneul Român (Romanian Athenium). Then we went as a group to visit the building, and the orchestra was rehearsing, so we got to hear a bit of their performance of the Franck Symphony in D Minor. It was brilliant, the building was stunning inside and out, and the acoustic was perfect. So I went back to the website to buy a ticket, but the few remaining seats were gone. Sold out!

Little Paris Museum

I read about this museum on TripAdvisor, listed as #1 of 474 things to do in Bucharest, with a 4.9 average review (out of 5). They describe it as “a captivating time capsule that whisks you away to the city’s Golden Age.”

I spent about 10 minutes. Not worth it. Basically four rooms filled with furniture and kitsch from Bucharest’s “Golden Age.”

Palace of the Parliament

• The largest civilian administrative building in the world.
• Second largest administrative building in the world (only the Pentagon is bigger). 
• Heaviest building in the world.

These superlatives aside, this 1,100-room edifice, built between 1984 and 1997 by a team of 700 architects, is over-the-top opulent. At a cost of about 4 billion US dollars, Ceaușescu starved the Romanian people to pay for it. Today about 70% of it sits empty. The annual cost of heating and electricity is $4 million.

I admired much of its beauty, but I couldn’t help but find it excessively grand.

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All my photos from Bucharest (minus the National Gallery) are in my album. Enjoy!