Both ourselves and Mum and Dad were due to leave London the same day, us heading for Romania while they returned home to New Zealand after a six week long holiday in Spain and England. So after saying goodbye to them the night before, finishing our packing and getting a good nights sleep we were up bright and early, headed for Luton airport. After a minor panic when we found out the train we had booked to the airport was cancelled due to a fire on the line, we finally managed to get on another train which was leaving earlier, not really sure how all that worked out, but we made it to the airport in plenty of time anyway.
After a three hour flight we touched down in Bucharest, capital of Romania. After a slow trip through immigration (mainly because the officers were fascinated by Tim's brand new NZ passport!) we were met by Radu, the driver from our accommodation, who whisked us into the central city to the apartment where we were staying for the next two nights. Whilst negotiating the crazy traffic Radu pointed out various landmarks of the city, including the meagre tourist attractions Bucharest has to offer - the place doesn't even have a tourist information office! Eventually we eneded up at our apartment, a dreary looking communist style block which didn't look too inviting. After warning us to be careful not to mistake the main door of the block with the neighbouring one (we weren't quite sure but think the other door was the entrance to either a brothel or homeless shelter!) we arrived in the lobby wondering what had we got ourselves into! After a ride to the sixth floor in a very elderly rickety lift we were pleasantly suprised when Radu opened the door to a lovely, modern apartment, complete with a decent kitchen and air conditioning! And it had only cost us a mere 30 euro per night, an absolute bargain! After Radu had gone through the map of the city giving us loads of ideas of places to eat, drink and explore he left us to ourselves. Pretty hungry by that stage we ventured out to one of the bars Radu had suggested, where we enjoyed super cheap beer (5 Romanian lei which is equivalent to about 1 euro a pint) and an interesting meal of meat kebab things and chips! Feeling refreshed after some food and drink we were ready to keep exploring the city. By the end of the 1930's Bucharest was known as the 'Paris of the East' due to the buidling of large neoclassical buidlings, fashionable parks and Parisian landscaping, but thanks to a combination of World War II and Communism along with a major earthquake in 1940 very little beauty remains. The city is pretty grimy and gritty, with loads of beggars and considerable poverty, but it still has an amazing sense of spirit. It was really hot and sticky that afternoon, with random rain showers which we managed to shelter from under shop awnings. Tim couldn't help notice the fantastic wiring they have in Bucharest, the number of poles with coils of wires hanging from them was quite amusing.
Our wandering led us towards the old city where we discovered (of all places!) an Egyptian style bar where we escaped the heat with several cold beers accompanied by (my very first) shisha-smoking experience. So we spent a very chilled out evening people watching before heading back to our apartment.
On our way home we went through the old town, which the council has obviously made an effort to try and preserve, but we had to laugh when the cobbled path we were walking along simply came to an abrupt end!
The next morning we were up early and ready for some proper sight seeing, the first job on our list being to visit Bucharest's pretty much one and only tourist attraction, the Palace of Parliament. We had been advised to phone ahead and pre-book a tour, but having had difficulty getting through we decided to just turn up and hope for the best. Upon asking at the booking office we were told we would not be able to join a tour till later that afternoon, so we bought our tickets and found a nearby musum of traditional Romanian clothing where we managed to while away half an hour or so before wandering back towards the old part of the city where we found a cafe for a bite of lunch. Before we knew it it was time to head back to the palace for our tour.
The tour was amazing, obviously we only got to see a minuscule part of the palace, but our guide spoke excellent English and was very informative. The ball rooms and hallways are simply stunning, with no expense spared in their decoration, and it was interesting to hear of the many world leaders that had met in those very rooms. We had some time on the balcony which overlooks part of the city, whilst our guide told us the story of Michael Jackson who stood in that very spot and said "Hello Budapest - I'm so glad to be here!" We found out later that he didn't actually make the legendary gaffe there, but rather the national stadium, it's just that palace guides like to encourage the amusing story! We had booked an extended tour which also included a visit to the 20 metre nuclear bunker below the palace, which disappointingly wasn't as interesting as it sounded, just a series of gloomy, damp rooms very deep underground!
Next stop after the palace was the Museum of the Romanian Peasant, a must see according to the Lonely Planet, but again we found it slightly disappointing. Mostly because none of the signage was in English although I'm sure the objects in there were amazing if you could read the Romanian descriptions that went with them. By that stage we were pretty knackered by the heat and had had enough so weren't really in the right frame of mind for looking around a museum. But the entry fee was really cheap so we had a quick look around before heading back into the city. Last stop of the day was a beer at a cafe in Cismigiu Garden, a beautiful central park where we sat overlooking the boating lake. Then it was back to our apartment for a budget concious self catering dinner, a few more beers and bed.
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