Sightseeing In Bucharest

Here are some views of Bucharest from the balcony of our hotel room on the 18th floor of the Intercontinental Hotel in Bucharest. On Wednesday our morning bus tour began with an hour-long visit to the Parliament, built as a Presidential Palace by communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena. Vast sections of the 19th century city were torn down to accommodate the second largest building in the world, only eclipsed by the USA's Pentagon. Three billion dollars were spent to construct the opulent, overblown, eclectic "palace," which the megalomaniac rulers never occupied. They were shot at the end of the Communist era in 1989, as justice for their cruelty and cupidity. A walking tour of the Old Town followed. Many large public buildings were built in the late 19th century during the benevolent era of King Carol I, who ruled until 1914. These Beaux Arts-style structures, often designed by French architects, gave rise to the city being called the "Paris of the East." Some older, small and exquisite 18th century Orthodox churches also survive. For lunch we had more authentic Romanian dishes at Caru cu Bere, which a guide had earlier called the most famous restaurant in the city. Jim and I shared a table for two outside, and we ordered Romanian carp with polenta. But the interior of this 1879 restaurant, with its fanciful oak wood carved decorations resembles a room from one of "mad King Ludvig" of Bavaria's ornate castles. After lunch we visited the National Museum of Art, which contains a small but interesting collection of European Paintings including three El Greco works and a nice portrait of the famous castrato singer Faranelli. - Dan