Bucharest, capital of Romania

On first sight, Bucharest, the capital of Romania, may seem boring and lacking of beautiful architecture. However, it does have its charms and elegance which need a little digging for. Among the ruptured roads and disintegrating buildings, you will find shaded parks and dressed up young Romanians adding a touch of glamour to the surroundings. Bucharest is home to Stalinist architecture, French boulevards, pretty residential streets, good dining and nightlife. These are the reasons that attracted me to come back to visit this city again after six months, of course not forgetting the fact that I wanted to meet my friend Silviu.

I first arrived in Bucharest in January on a cold, wintry morning after a long overnight train ride from Sofia, Bulgaria. I was still feeling down because my camera, shoes and handphone charger had been stolen in Serbia and I felt like going back. The days in winter were short and mostly gloomy, so I did not enjoy being outdoors walking around. Thankfully, I met my host Silviu who made me feel so welcome in Bucharest and he told me all the interesting sights to visit. He is very passionate about his country and offered me lots of beer because it is so cheap here. Timisoara is my favourite brand of beer in Romania by the way. Hence on my second trip here, I came to Romania feeling more alive, also the weather has improved, it was sunny and really hot – around 32 deg when I stepped out of the airport. The sun sets much later around 9pm, so I have more time to explore the city during summer.

The Palatul Parlamentului is the Parliament building in Bucharest, the second largest administration building in the world, after the Pentagon in the USA. It contains 1100 rooms and a nuclear shelter. However, the ex-dictator wasted the country’s resources by building such a white elephant when the citizens were starving during the communist regime. Another example of the misappropriate use of public funds is the building of the civic centre. He wanted the area around Boulevard Unirii to resemble Paris’ Champs Elysees, so he hired French architects to widen the roads such that they are 4km long and 120m wider than the Champs Elysees. During the construction process, architecturally significant houses, churches and monuments were bulldozed to make way for this grand boulevard. Seeing the true scale of what a dictatorship can do to a city or country is one that I will never forget. I am glad that I grew up in a democracy.

I like traveling on the Bucharest metro because it is cheap and convenient. At 2 lei (0.50€) per ride or 6 lei (1.50€) for a one day pass of unlimited travel, it is really affordable. The metro is linked to Gara de Nord which is the main train station for trains heading to other parts of Romania as well as neighbouring countries. However, there is no metro connecting to the Henri Colanda International airport, so it is a bit of a hassle to get from the airport to the city centre. You can take a local bus and change to the metro, but luckily my friend came to pick me up in his car.

My favourite food in Romania has got to be the chicken served with polenta (a type of carbohydrate made from potatoes and flour). Eating out is relatively cheap as well, you can get main courses for around 5€ and you add on a beer which would cost around 2€.
Stay tuned for more stories about other cities in Romania, such as Constanta, Sibiu.