Bucharest

July 25, 2015

Our first flight to get to Bucharest was a 6:30 pm flight from Toronto to Paris.  At checkin, Anton was recognized by Alphonso from Waterloo Mazda.  Anton almost bought his new car from him.  Two months later, Alphonso still recognized him.  They were on the same flight but headed to Italy.  We also chatted alot with another couple who was on the same flight but going to Madrid.  So by the time we got on the plane, we had all these people waving at us.  The flight itself was probably the quietest overnight flight we've been on, but REALLY cold!  We didn't get much sleep because the seats were not very comfortable.  We had a 2 hour stopover in Paris, then a 3 hour flight to Bucharest.  No onscreen entertainment here, but 90% of the passengers slept.  I guess we all had redeyes. Both planes were so old that they had ashtrays in the seat rest.  We arrived at 2:15 pm local (7:15 am our time). We donned our Viking stickers and they met us there.  We met Liz and Valerie from Barrie, and Ginger and Larry from Texas.  After the Viking driver took us to our hotel, we checked in, and went out on our own to explore Bucharest.

Bucharest is called the “Paris of the East” because it was remodeled by French architects during the late 19th century. Bucharest has its own Arc de Triomphe. This is actually the third Arc. The first one was wooden and erected in haste in 1878 when Romania gained its independence, so that the victorious troops could march under it. The current triumphal arch was built in 1936, and is about half the size of the Paris one.

We walked down Victory Avenue, we had to go through an underground tunnel which went under the big roundabout.  This is where the crosses that mark the massacre of the protesters.  We are staying in the Intercontinental Hotel, where the journalists watched it happen.

Stavropoleos Church is squeezed into the center of Bucharest in the Old Quarter. It was built in 1724 and continues to be used by the nuns for worship. It has beautiful stone and wood carvings, with beautifully carved wooden doors. It has lovely frescoes. A fresco is a technique of mural painting done upon freshly-laid or wet lime plaster. The water helps the pigment to merge with the plaster. When the plaster is set, the painting becomes an integral part of the wall. There is a nice courtyard outside filled with tombstones dating from the 18th century, some of which are being restored.

It's on the same street as Caru' cu Bere restaurant.  Caru’ cu Bere is Bucharest’s oldest beer house that serves classic Romanian food. No, we are decidedly NOT beer people, but we did enjoy the architecture.  At first we thought it might be a converted church,  especially because it has lovely stained glass windows.  Then when we looked closer, one of the stained glass scenes was a guy with a beer stein.  We sat in the "non-smoking" section which was fine until a guy lit up a pipe 10 feet away from us. Yuck. Glad we don't get that back home!

Some local graffiti.