Day 23 – July 5th – Bucharest
We enjoyed yet another slow start. Today is a very special day. Forty years ago Julie and I were married at The Salvation Army Church in Braddon, Canberra. It is a great privilege to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary in this great city. We took time to get going, Julie listening to the St Kilda game which was beamed live on Melbourne radio just as dawn was breaking here. I was happy to write yesterday’s blog.
Breakfast was delightful. At about 11:15am we headed out to find the bus-stop for the Bucharest ‘hop on, hop off’ tourist bus in order to explore some beautiful parts of Bucharest that are a little beyond walking distance. The ride on the rooftop of the bus will be a great experience – the day promising to be warm and sunny.
We walked to the southern end of the Piata Unirii, the large park just south of the Old town that is probably considered the centre of town, which is the intersection of the two main Boulevards that cut Bucharest into quarters, one providing the grand entry to the massive Palace of the Parliament building.
Before jumping on the bus, we walked up the grand driveway of the beautiful Romanian Patriarchal Cathedral, which runs off the massive round-a-bout at the intersection of the two main Boulevards. Built in the 1650’s, it is still an operating Cathedral which was in the middle of celebrating Sunday morning mass as we arrived. It was packed with standing worshippers, with the continual singing of a most beautiful choir. We managed to slip inside to be part of the worship for a brief period – the singing of the choir was continuous, the place was so packed with everyone standing that it was difficult to see what the Priest was doing, although it appeared he was blessing people individually as they waited patiently in very long and packed queues. It was a very sacred experience.
We hopped on the bus and headed north, with the Old Town to our left. The first stop was outside the beautiful ‘Spitalul Clinic Coltea’, the historic Coltea Hospital. It was the first hospital in Bucharest, built in 1704 as a hospital for the poor. The hospital was actually part of the Monastery and provided hospital services to the poor (in early centuries the churches provided hospital/medical care for the poor). The building is beautifully preserved and maintained, and is adjacent to the Orthodox Church next door by the same name.
From the top deck of the bus we could get great views of the very grand buildings, not all of which were in good condition, but the experience reinforced our thoughts that this has been a proud city which has taken great care in its construction of wonderful buildings, the equal to any of the great cities of Europe.
We hopped off the bus at the northern side of the city centre at the Piata Charles de Gaulle to enable us to walk through the large park ‘Parcul Herastrau’, which is an extensive city park that surrounds a large lake ‘Lacul Herastrau’. It was a nice change to the bus, with children on bikes and families walking and cycling together. We came to another major round-a-bout at the intersection of yet more grand Boulevards adjacent to the park with Bucharest’s equivalent to the Paris ‘Arcul de Triumt’ (Arc de Triumph), from where we turned due north again on the edge of the main Boulevarde by which we will be leaving Bucharest tomorrow. The first triumphal arch was built of timber in 1878 when Romania first gained independence, with the current arch being constructed in 1936 and under which military parades are held each 1 December, the occasion of Romania’s national holiday.
This led straight to the ultimate goal for our walk – the Piata Presei Libere (Plaza of Liberty). However, still with the park to our right, we stumbled on the ‘Museum of Romanian Life’ which included a replica Romanian village covering many acres within the Park. Julie was in heaven because as we entered, the first thing she discovered was a large room with displays of Romanian wedding dresses from recent centuries and from various provinces of Romania. Even to my eyes, the costumes were very beautiful and impressive. We lingered here while Julie examined every stitch and pattern! It was wonderful to stroll through the model of ancient Romanian life with its quaint houses, churches and farming implements.
Our ultimate destination was the top of the Boulevard with its ‘Casa Presei Libere’, the ‘House of Free Press’, the tallest building in Bucharest. Initially called ‘Casa Scinteii’ in 1956 when it was built, named after the Communist Party newspaper ‘Scinteii’, and resembling the main building of the Moscow State University. It was meant to house all printing presses and newsrooms in Bucharest. It also had a statue of Lenin out front, but which was pulled down in 1990 following the Romanian Revolution, and the name changed to ‘House of Free Press’ as a consequence also of the revolution.
We were happy to get back on the bus for the long, slow trip down the broad, beautiful Boulevard back to the old town, Bucharest. It was late afternoon. The day had been sunny and warm, and we felt again like we had ‘walked our legs off’. Our daily count is averaging about 13,000 steps with today being 14,000 and some recent days upwards of 18,000. We were happy to rest in our lavish hotel room before going out for our wedding anniversary dinner.
Just on dusk we strolled through the cobbled lanes of the old town for the final time looking for just the right place to eat. We passed by so many which were now filling up with hundreds of mostly young people who flock into the old town every evening. We settled on the ‘Aubergine’, a lovely quaint restaurant that specialized in healthy food. It felt just right. We had a table right on the laneway and enjoyed our wedding anniversary dinner while mesmerized by the passing Romanian population who by now were packing the pubs and nightclubs/restaurants that entirely dominated this part of the old town.
Tomorrow our hire car is delivered to our Hotel at 9am, and we will be driving north out through the ‘Arcul de Triumf’ and past the ‘Piata Presei Libere’ on our way to the town of Brasov in the Transylvania Mountains and the magnificent ‘Dracula’ Castle at the village of Bran.
As the sun sets over this most beautiful country of Romania, and knowing that we are experiencing our final night in the magnificent city of Bucharest, we send our love. Until tomorrow…..
KRA
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