Bucharest is a historical gem slowly evolving into a European capital power house. With much of the Communist era suffocating Bucharest’s beautiful buildings, you have a wonderful mishmash of historical prevalence with a city working its way out of what it was to what it is meant to be. There are several things I absolutely loved about Bucharest.
- The People. Super friendly, super intelligent and super helpful. Everyone I came across had a smile on their face and an eagerness to help.
- The Old Town. Very touristy but exactly what every tourist wants. You have cobble stoned streets, it’s pedestrianised and really safe. The buildings are historical and beautiful, too.
- How small the city was. Bucharest isn’t a huge place. You can easily walk from the old town to the Romanian Athenaum (pictured below) easily.
- The National Museum of Art of Romania. it isn’t the best museum I’ve ever been to but the personnel make it memorable. There are no map brochures, the staff point you in the right direction on how to navigate through the many rooms of art. The museum is also houses in the former palace of the Romanian monarchy.
- The history of the country. Not well known but much to my enlightenment, extremely interesting!
- The food and drink. Honestly, Bucharest is incredibly cheap and normally when you get cheap prices you get cheap quality. All of the food and drink I had in Bucharest was absolutely stunning for about a 1/3 of the price I’d normally pay in Ireland.
Take a look at this beautiful capital city below.
The Palace of the Parliament was built for the communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu in 1978 to be an example of his power. He succeeded as this is the heaviest building in the world and is the second largest administration building in the world. It truly has a communist feel approaching the Palace and when standing in front of it, you truly feel like a speck of dust amongst a towering giant. The picture above was taken 1 mile away from it which shows you the extent of this monstrosity. The building itself, because of the massive weight, sinks 6mm each year. If visiting Bucharest, you can’t miss the Palace of the Parliament as it looms over the entire city. It definitely is a sight to see in person.
This church was built in 1724. It’s not the oldest piece of architecture but to have survived during Nicolae Ceaușescu’s bull dozing craze in the l980s is a feat on its own. To walk around the old town and stumble upon this peaceful piece of adornment is like finding a diamond in the rough. It is truly a protected entity amongst a traumatic past.
The museum is the former Palace for the Romanian Monarchy and is still very much as opulent now as it was then. The pure marble twisting staircase located in the left wing is jaw droppingly gorgeous along with the interior doors and walls of the building. The museum itself is lovely and houses European art from some of the masters such as Brueghel, El Greco, Rodin, Rembrandt and Rubens, For about €5 you get to see the former Palace and some amazing art.
Located in Revolution Square, this monument signifies the overthrow of Communism in Romania in 1989. It’s not a beautiful monument, to be fair, the potatoe is suppose to be a crown, but it is definitely a significant part of Romanian history and definitely a triumph that should be celebrated.
This concert hall, opened in 1888, is probably one of the most beautiful buildings, internally and externally I’ve ever seen. The al fresco inside is painted with the most prominent stories in Romanian history and every inch of the building is utilised to make whoever is performing sound and look amazing.
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