21 & 22 May .... a weekend in Bucharest
We woke up quite early again … and decided to head to the city
so that we can find this meeting place for the free walking tour that would start at
10.30 am. We got ourselves a day pass at
the metro station and headed out on M1 – the yellow line – to Piata Unirii – in
front of the fountain. The fountain
looked a little worse for wear with only the center part working whereas the
rest was in disrepair. Unlike previous days, the weather today was not helpful for photography … it being grey and a little
chilly .. making the disrepair appear even more obvious. We walked around and noticed the
starlings going about and singing beautifully in the small city park adjacent to the fountain.
We met a Korean couple from LA who were also there waiting for the same tour – they are in their
late 70s but are driving around the Balkans on their own. How brave indeed. We took their photo and chatted for a bit
while we take some other pictures of the Boulevard Unirii. 
Soon the rest of the tourists who were joining the walking tour
came. It was a huge group compared to the group we had in Sofia, There were
two leaders doing the tour. The map they hand out were the most useful, better than anything we could find online. The lady leader had previously worked in Oman in Harvey Nichols. We chatted for a bit but she soon
left the tour leaving Andrew to take care of us. Our tour focused on the Old City. First building in focus was the Parliament Building. Nicolae Ceausescu who ruled till the revolution in 1989 was the second communist leader of Romania. Prone to excesses, he apparently chose the building from a contest he had started to gather ideas for the palace because the young lady whose idea it was came with the largest scale model. The rumour is that there are secret passages underground to everywhere in the city in the basement and that it is possible to race cars along these. We suggest that Vin Diesel should look into using this in a Fast and Furious sequel. The original model lacked a balcony so he incorporated one. The building was not finished by the time of the revolution when he was tried for treason and executed by shooting together with his wife. He neither lived there nor used that balcony. Michael Jackson was the first to use that balcony when he shot the Pepsi advertisement in Bucharest. He had mistakenly said Budapest when he meant to say Bucharest. Apparently, Sting made the same mistake as we would learn the next day from the gentleman that we met at the park bench when photographing birds at the park next to Hereaus Park.
Next to the park is the Unirii Mall – it was the first mall
in Bucharest and it was named Gallery Lafayette, due to the prevalence of French influence then. Elite Romanians back in the days were all Francophiles. The Romanians speak Spanish, Portuguese and
Italian in addition to Romanian. Now
we understand why the folks outside the rail station were speaking Spanish to
us.
From there, we entered the old town, first to Manuc’s
Inn. We learned how he managed to build
this inn with lots of influence as he had to overcome several restrictions. We
learnt about the local food – minced meat wrapped in pickled cabbage leaves and
served with cornmeal. And local desert
is a hole-less donut served with lots of sweet sauces including chocolate.
Outside the Inn, we learn about St Anthony’s church
which apparently is the focal point for all young ladies looking for a partner. Wishes are granted on Tuesday according to
the guide although that statement may be tongue in cheek as he has a great sense of humour.
From there we proceeded along the street to the museum of
Vlad, the inspiration for Dracula.
Apparently the way to name a child there is to say Vlad Dracul-le (not
unlike Icelanders where the name of your parents is attached to the name of the
child). Vlad was one of those soldiers
that the Ottoman Empire would recruit from the local people. They were awarded fame in return for destroying their own folks in the process. Vlad pioneered a method of torture – impaling
but of the most disturbing kind where the person is pierced from the bottom and
the weight of the person results in slow impaling – it could take up to 14 hrs to die –
when the stake comes out from the mouth.
But to anger the Ottomans, he would grease those being executed with
lard.
At this juncture we identified a couple in Kathmandu gear so
we asked them if they were by chance Australians and found them to be from
Perth. They were on their way to a hike
in Brasnov which would last for 7 days around several monasteries and were in
Bucharest only briefly. That was
interesting. Something to consider the next time we are in this region of the world. We need to do more research the next time. From them we learnt that
the reason why Russians always appear so stern looking. It is because the smile is
associated with being inane. Only stupid
people smile because there is nothing in their heads. Oh dear, we would be forever be perceived as
stupid if we live in Russia. We shared with
them how we come to be on the trip and the wife said that she was envious of our adventure.
We then proceeded to the Museum of History where there is
this statue that looked like a male person holding a wolf and there is part of
a snake – it was trying to do too many things at the same time, so there is a
facebook page that made a joke about this statue. The real meaning of this statue is lost as a
result of all the criticism.
Opposite that museum sits what is now the headquarters of
the Public Savings Bank. Built in French
style, it boasts an impressive glass roof. It appeared
that the elite back in history before the world wars though of everything
French as classy and elegant so there was a big French influence in
architecture as well as fashion.
We turned down the street to the right of the museum, into a
lane that leads to Bucharest first beer garden equivalent, Caru' cu
Bere. There, one can see all the
local dishes being served. There was a long queue waiting to have lunch at this
place. We then headed to the ancient
Stavropoleos Church.
The frescos on this church were exquisite. It was tiny, smaller than St George Rotunda in Sofia. Now that we know that everyone stand at Orthodox service, it make sense that it is a small place. The guide there was most helpful. A service was in progress so we were requested not to make photographs until service was over. At least here, all they say is please do not make flash photography but there is no prohibition of photography like in Bulgaria.
We went outside and observed the surrounding areas. A church built in the byzantine time but one
can observe the Ottoman influence in the shape of the windows as well as the
intricate design that surround these.
We next weave our way to the open plaza just opposite the
Bucharest University where there are 4 huge statues, one of whom is considered
to be mentor of knowledge in Romania.
The walking tour had a bathroom break in the metro of Piata Univesitat. The metro stop itself was interesting with
columns arranged in a pattern. We went
through the metro to cross the street to the other side where we found ourselves standing before
the National Theater. That current building is
the third iteration as the first was felt by the Communist to be not
representative of ideology so its shape was subsequently changed. After the revolution,
for the same reason it came to assume its present form. In front of the theater were a huge statue of
all the famous figure from Romanian arts scene.
And to the side of that, one of a famous Romanian director. The free walking tour ended here.
We left to weave our way back towards the Museum of
History where 10 LEIs was the entrance
fee. There was a small group of
musicians in there and they were singing operas and songs by the famous altos. The museum contains pieces of Roman remains dating back to 4 BC. The centerpiece is
a replica (we would not find out that it was a replica until we had completed
the museum tour and was on our way out) of the Trojan column in Rome. More history lessons.
The Dacians were the original Romanians. They lost the war as did the Trojans so all
the gold that was plentiful in Romania were sent to Rome. The Italians made the replica of the Trojan column for the
Romanians. It was
indeed an impressive column with all scenes in a spiral form from bottom to
top.
The other main attraction piece at the
museum was the collection of gold objects throughout history from Romania from
iron age through to present time. All
the jewelry pieces were exhibited. It
was quite amazing.
After this, we thought we would have lunch at Caru’ cu
Bere. The queue was really long so
we headed back to Stravopoleos Church.
The usher was even nicer, informing me about the vespers at 6pm that evening and
informing me about the metal piece outside the front balcony of the church as
well. She said that the church is open
to all as we are all praying to the same God.
How ecumenical. We will be back
for sure.
When we were done photographing the inside of the church, we
headed out to Caru’ cu Bere. And this
time we were able to find us a table. We
noticed that a band dressed in red military style gear has also started setting
up outside the restaurant. They ushered
us to a seat facing the church and my travelling companion was eyeing the ribs,
then the pork knuckle. They were really huge dishes. In the end, she settled for the traditional Romanian dish
accompanied by sparkling mineral water.
We ate listening to the band playing first classical music, then Jimmy
Buffet and finally the Village People.
It was an amazing atmosphere, to have that band play at the same time as the sun
emerges, as it had been rather grey and dreary all this day.
Having had a leisurely lunch, we
thought we would explore for a bit before coming back for vespers. It was around 4pm then, so we have a nice block of time. We weaved ourselves
back to Piate Unirii to the former Gallery Lafayette. As we were crossing the street, a lady said
to us : You should have a guide so that you are not lost. We looked at her, thanked her for her concern
and remarked how nice Romanians are and then informed her that we speak
Spanish. She said oh that is great that
the powers above are protecting us. We were not sure what to make of that exchange. We had taken a slightly different path to the Mall so that we could have a look at the Russian Cathedral and explored the inside of St Anthony’s
Basilica enroute.
The mall reminds us of those in Kuala Lumpur, little shops all
dealing with speciality items. The exceptions were H&M and Koton – probably a local equivalent of Myers. We tried at Vodafone stall to procure a Hwawei GR5
protective gel case. No luck!! Huawei P9 is really popular here but no one
has yet seen a GR5. Oh well, that was
that excursion then. We then weaved the
same paths as in the morning towards the Church. It was still a little early. As we were
wandering in its courtyard, we noticed that the police was beginning to
barricade around the back entrance to the Museum of History (as we would find
out later) so we walked over to inquire as to what the upcoming event was. The lady and gentleman police officers told us that it was the once a year free entrance to all museums in Romania event!! We said that we had just been to the History
Museum. They advised that all the other museums are free
too from 6pm till 1 am and consequently the metro will run late that
evening. They suggested that we go to
Piate Romana and see the two museums there – the folk museum and the museum of
Natural History. What a great
suggestions and how lucky we are to be in Bucharest this weekend.
We entered the church and soon enough the nuns were calling
to start of service. One was hitting a clapper that looked like a propeller with a drum hitter
as she walked around the church. She
then went upstairs to the bell tower, threw open the windows to it and rang the
bells. Male choir members all dressed in
black took their place in the right side of the church. As the usher explained, no photography was permitted during
service. All women stood to the left of the
church and men stood to the right. In the Orthodox Church, no one come to service as family, just oneself with God. The priest went to the back – nave of the
church- he drew open the curtain on one side and entered and then start the
service. Priests appeared to come in at
different times. People come to the
service and leave the service while the choir continues the chanting. At some point the priests drew all the curtains
and even open the sacred nave gates in the middle and blessed everyone with incense. We got to peek at the nave and the altar, the benefit of attending the vespers. The altar is usually behind a curtain. What a great suggestion from the
usher to attend this service. We stood
for 30 minutes and in that time, there was also a change of ushers. Interestingly, we note that there is more similarities
between the service in a synagogue and a mosque with this service than there
are similarities here with the Catholic or the Evangelical churches. Outside of Europe, when we think of Christianity, we often think of Catholic or the Evangelical churches, forgetting this other half of the Christendom - the Orthodox.
After the service, we headed out to Piata Romana with the
metro. It appears that all the lines
change area in that station are now possible without having to exit and re-enter the metro system as previously alluded to in some articles about the metro system. The queue to the Museum of Natural History
was already looking rather impressive in length so we headed next door to the
Folk Museum. It was an interesting
museum which showed the clothes, significant events and objects in the circle of
life of traditional and rural folks in Romania.
It was interesting in one section where they said that it was ok to take
pictures with the phone but not with the camera. Our phone was already running out of battery
and the power pack was not working so well with this phone. Hmmm …. we managed a few pictures before we were out of power. There was
this interesting replica of the inside of a rural school with desks and
attached benches that reminded my travelling companion of her rudimentary
primary school (sekolah atap) in Limbang, Sarawak. She sat for a nostalgic moment at the
desk although these are now a little too small for her.
We then joined the queue for the Museum of Natural
Science. They tend to name Museums after
famous folks here in Romania. Apparently all the
taxidermy creatures here are the collection of the famous biologist whose name
the museum bore. The queue was really
long so we got chatting with the family behind us, who informed us that the
last metro was still at 11pm. Either
they or the policeman outside the church was wrong. The queue lasted about an hour although we
note that a policeman let his friend and his daughter get through bypassing the
line. Another policeman left in a huff
as a consequent of this anticipated act as he had turned his friend away
explaining that others have waited two hours to get into the museum. There was an air of festivity in the queue. We finally entered the museum around 8.45pm, a
queue of a little more than an hour.
There were collections of what appeared to be every bird, creatures of the land and in the
sea on display here, arranged by continent.
It was a huge collection of everything.
In a way it was sad that all these animals had to die although it is
great that everyone can see these creatures.
Apparently, Romanians still believe in sustainable hunting of all creatures, which we are
not agreeable with at all. Among the exhibits were a
rhino, snow leopard, polar bear, walruses, etc.
It was a little sad. There were
also three dinosaur skeletons in the main hall.
We were done by 9.30pm. We walked to the blue metro line and took the two stations back to Gara
de Nord, and our hotel.
22 May – Sunday
We woke up late for a change– at 8 am.
May be we are finally over the jet lag that saw us waking up at 5 am the entire previous week. We lazed
around a little and did facetime with Roy.
Around 11 am, we decided to head out to Piata Victorei. We were going to look for the Arch du Trumf
as well as the Village Museum before heading out to Hereaus Park. That was our plan, to spend Sunday the way folks at Bucharest would do.
Getting out of the metro station we started to walk along
this street and found some interesting buildings along the way. Everyone seemed to be out for a Sunday stroll, on foot, bike, skate board or roller blade. It seems like the sun was beckoning everyone to come out and play. We spotted Eroilori monument and this house
that was built by a man with his wife dowry – it was all gold gilded.
We turned around and headed up Victory Way, passing the
Russian Embassy where the life of Yuri Gagarin in photo was displayed storyboard style on part of the outside
wall. We wonder why they did that - was it part of a special exhibit celebrating something that we had forgotten? Finally, we found the Arch du
Triumf. Its setting was not as impressive as that of Paris but it was way more accessible.
A short distance up the street was the Village Museum. We followed this pair of twins girls about 3-4 years old in red tutu
and dance shoes and their parents from the Arch to the Museum as they were going the same way. We discovered that they were
actually parked in the area near the museum.
10 LEIs for entrance fees, and we found ourselves in a festival taking place on the grounds of the museum. Apparently
it was the 18th birthday of the museum according to one of the
guardians (that is what the ushers there are called) of one of the buildings.
The
museum was set out like a village with houses and churches from all the various
regional and periods (from 18th Century to recent times) laid out in the same way they would be if they were part of a village. Along the rivers, all the traditional ways to produce felt and pound seeds using water wheels were also displayed. A perimeter of the museum ground was a long thin lake. Terrapins and turtles as well as birds nesting on tiny islands in the middle of the waterways could be observed. The festival showcased traditional music and dances. When viewed from this angle, the Ottoman influence can be seen in the length of the shirts men wore over the pants and women have a veil tied into their top knots. In the village, all wares of all forms, including from by gone eras, were on display for sale … something like a traditional bazaar. There was a pair of Thai girls in traditional costume, a stall selling Thai food and Thai products. We did not even realised that Thai culture was prevalent in Romania as we had not observed too many Asians out here thus far.
Young lasses in Romany style belly dancing costumes – tribal
as opposed to Arabic style were part of the show too. Some posed for us. We tasted bee propolis, only to find that we
could not swallow the bee glue after all, so we sucked all the goodness out of
it and spat the rest out. People were lining up to get some and it cost 10 LEIs for a shot glass worth. Apparently, it is considered to be a super food here. There was a
single tour group of Chinese speaking tourist during that time when we were
queuing to get propolis. Unfortunately, like typical Chinese tourists, they have not understood the meaning of waiting your turn or queuing. Coffee cost us
8 LEIs – rather pricey considering that the sumptuous lunch previous day was only 5x that
price. It is the festival. It took almost 3 hrs to finish checking out the
museum. 
One can see that the beds were
extremely small and space utilisation was maxed out with a single furniture piece
performing multiple functions. Wraps were thrown around the bed in the single room house to give the feeling of privacy. The rooms were all about
utility rather than privacy. Through the years even as the structure changed, the décor did not. The décor continued to be heavily influenced by the
ornateness of the Ottoman influence. By
comparison, the German and Jewish dwellings (Germans and Jews lived among the Romanians since early times) also on display were minimalist.
We entered Hereau Park though the back gate of the museum
and proceeded to get a 5 LEIs boiled corn for a late lunch snack followed by a double
caramel Magnum ice cream. We spotted
black swans from Australia in an enclosure. How did they get here? Black swans are not native to the Northern Hemisphere, nor do we know them to migrate there annually. These guys are so far from home. Photographing them lead to a
conversation with a Canadian couple whose husband is working on a year long
contract in Bucharest for the oil and gas industry. Walking further, we spied long grasses on the other side of the road …. so
we left the park, crossed the road to the other side … and found ourselves in a
very quiet park (compared to Hereaus where boat paddling was possible in the
lake). Three young persons were in the
process of photographing a heron that was wading right in the middle of the small lake fringed by rushes. We decided to join them. The older lady among them, Helen,
beckoned us to join them as she was photographing the night heron at the bank
near her. We needed no invitation. Alex and her boyfriend were shooting with a 500mm lens. Alex told us that the stilts have babies in the long grass and that the
crows were trying to steal the chicks and eggs. That was the reason for the aerial display of
territorial claim from time to time. We
wandered with them to the other side of the lake where we could better watch
the stilt chicks. They tried looking for
tarantulas and an egret which apparently lived there. It was nice of them to invite us.
Then they were leaving but we decided to stay a little
longer. The egret appeared. And as we were waiting for more birds,
an older gentleman beckoned to us from the bench. He is Michael and appeared to be a fan of Steve Irwin. He
was on his way to visit his mother and sister a mile away and so made a stop to
watch nature. We chatted with him for a
while as we photographed more birds. At
6pm, we made to leave, after having lied that we were leaving at 9 am in the
morning rather than 9pm as he appeared to have taken a shine to my travelling
companion. He was inviting himself to be our guide.
We walked back to Piata
Romana. We noted there were then even
more walkers and they too were heading home, we decided to join the walkers and walked on instead of jumping on the metro. We made a stop at the park we noted earlier. The WiFi here was impressively fast. No wonder they were using the Bucharest connection as comparison in Australia when lamenting about the speed of internet there! We made a little post on Facebook and then
walked on. At some point, we drifted off Victory Way onto a parallel street.
It was too late to change as some distance had been covered. It was still well populated so we continued
until we reach Piate Unirii.
Upon arrival, we stopped in front of the fountains that lined
the middle of Unirii all the way to Palace of Parliament. We waited for dusk so that the colours of the
fountain could be better captured against the lighted exterior of Parliament. It was 8.45pm before we bought some special Romanian pastries from the
bakery for dinner and then made out way to the metro. This time we took the yellow line, the longer
route forgetting that the blue line would take us home in 2
stations. Oh well, we were on the yellow
line so we continued. We must be getting tired.
We made a stop at the Gara du Nord station to see how the
trains were orientated and to check to see if there was a 21.45 train to
Budapest. We did not find it. Oh well, may be it did not run everyday. And then we went home.
Footnotes : It is interesting to note that the Romanians categorically acknowledged Communism to be a dark time for them. Their Communist leader was such a fraud that he was executed in public after a very public trial. The Bulgarians invented the Cyrillic script so they continued to use it. The Russians language uses the the same script. The Romanians, though, considered their language part of the Latin Language and there was no Cyrillic script to be observed anyway. Romanian language have their own special Latin alphabets, like many other European languages. These special alphabets are for special pronunciations.
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