March 2017

Thursday, March 23, 2017

We left for Amsterdam Airport Schiphol last night and stayed overnight at the CitizenM hotel, which is a few minutes walk from the departure hall. Our flight with KLM to Bucharest has to leave at 9.20 pm, but a dent has been discovered in the tail wing and an expert has to come to  assess whether we can get into the air. Three minutes later, everything seems to be within the security margins and we can finally leave. We will arrive 45 minutes late in Bucharest. We are met by a taxi driver from Holiday Taxis, who we booked through Rent-a-guide. It's about half an hour to the K+K Elisabeta hotel, close to University Square. Our room is scorchingly hot. 30 degrees! The temperature rises to 30.5. The airco is blowing air, but does not cool anything. The sun shining is on the big window, which can only open slightly. We will call the reception and are told that the air conditioning will not be repaired until next week. We ask and get a room on the other side of the hotel, where it is about 5 degrees cooler.

After a short rest, we go into the old town for a drink and a snack. We walk through the passage Macca-Vilacrosse. This is a horseshoe-shaped passage with a yellow-colored glass roof. Today there are restaurants and cafes with an outdoor terrace. Then we walk past the National Military Circle palace. It was built in 1911 as a banqueting hall for the officers association of the garrison that was stationed in Bucharest. Now it's a cultural center of the army. It is built in French neoclassical style. Then we go to the Orange shop for a SIM card for prepaid internet. For 27 Lei we get 2 GB, which is valid for a month.
In the evening we eat at Cara Cu Bere (beer garden), a traditional and large restaurant in the old town. We have reserved a table and it is very busy. Beautiful classically decorated building with lots of wood panelling and stained glass. We eat traditional Romanian dishes, which are quite filling and salty. To that we drink a delicious Romanian merlot reserve. It costs a total of almost 60 euros. That really is not bad at all.
We walk back to the hotel and continue along the beautifully restored bookstore Carturesti Carusel on the Lipscani street.

Weather: in Bucharest sunny and 16 degrees

Friday, March 24, 2017

Breakfast in the hotel is very good. After breakfast we go out for a coffee on the assumption that our guide will pick us up at 10 o'clock. It turns out to be at 9 o'clock and he calls us just when we get our coffees. Fortunately we are close by and we are at our meeting point in no time . We booked our guide Christi through Tours by Locals Christi takes us to his Renault Laguna. We drive first to the north of the city. We see the former house of Ceaucescu and then the Arcul de Triumph. This victory arc was first raised in wood in 1878 when Romania became independent (from Turkey). The current arch dates back to 1922 and reminds us of Romania's conclusion of the First World War on the winning side and the expansion of territory that came with it. Not far from there is a statue of Charles de Gaulle. De Gaulle visited Ceaucescu in 1968 because he did not participate in the surpression of the Prague uprising. De Gaulle was not very impressed by the conducator. He himself got to deal with the student revolt in Paris that year.
Christi points us to the red round signs on some buildings. These signs indicate that the building has a weak structure and is not resistant to earthquakes. The designation also states a hazard class. Bucharest lies on a vault line is often plagued by heavy earthquakes. The last heavy earthquake was in 1977.

Then we drive to the Museum of the Village (Muzeul Satului). This is an open-air museum with traditional farmhouses from all regions of Romania. They were broken down and built up again here. The museum was founded in 1936 by Dimitrie Gusti. With 300 buildings on 100,000 m2, the museum gives an idea of Romania's farm and village life in the 19th century . After visiting the museum we drive through the center to the old city. We look at the Villacross Mall and then walk to the Stavropoleos church on the Lipscanist street. The Lipscanist street is called Leipziger street after the merchants from Leipzig who were already trading here in the 15th century. The Stavropoleos church dates back to 1724. There was also a monastery and an inn. The inn and the monastery have disappeared in earthquakes and communism respectively. Christi tells us that there are still 7 nuns living in the monastery. We take a look at the small but richly orthodox church.
Then we walk to Hanu’ lui Manuc (Manuc's inn). This inn was built in 1808 in the form of a caravansail from Ottoman times.
Founder was a Armenian merchant Manuc Mirzaian and was the location off the negotiations for the Treaty of Bucharest, which ended the Russian-Turkish war (1806-12). There is now a restaurant. Christi still has a lot of text about everything and anything, but we get a bit full and we finish the tour. We are going to have lunch in the courtyard of the serail. We take the set of 29 Lei lunch (€ 5.50). Not expensive, but the food is mediocre. Then we go back to the hotel for a rest break.

In the afternoon, we take the metro to the Parliament Palace. The metro stations are badly designed and illogically laid out, but the metro trains are modern and Spanish built (CAF). We travel from Universitate to Izvor Station with a transfer on Piata Unrii (Unity Square). From there we walk through a park to Palatul Parlamentului. This is the former Palace of the People that was created for Ceaucescu  glorify communism in Romania. The construction started in 1983, but was only completed by a quarter during the fall and execution of the dictator. After a few years of stagnation it has been finished. The parliament is resides here now and international conferences are held here too. The building is the largest in the world after the Pentagon and has more than 1,000 rooms. More than 600 architects were involved in its design and 20,000 construction workers from all over the country worked on it. A whole district was demolished. Large boulevards were built with Stalinist apartment buildings leading up to the building. We do the standard tour for 35 Lei pp. Before the tour begins, we need to undergo a safety check, which is nothing less than an airport check. The tour runs along the main halls and corridors. Everything is very big and richly decorated in a mix of styles. Carpets, stairs, ceilings and walls are matched. Hundreds of chandeliers hang in the halls and corridors, but are not all switched on. Ceausescu and his wife interfered - not hindered by any architectural knowledge - intensively with the construction and some staircases were taken down twice before they were approved. It is not particularly beautiful. It is impressively large of scale. We are also allowed on the balcony, from where Ceauscescu would like to have  spoken to his people, but he did not have the time of life. On Christmas Day 1989 he was executed. From the balcony we have the perfect aligned view of the Unity Boulevard. After the tour, we return to the old city by subway where we have a drink on a terrace. Then to the hotel.

Then we take a subway to Victory Square, where a small group of protesters demonstrates against corruption. From here we walk to the Vinexpert where we drink a cocktail. Then we go to The Artist, a top notch restaurant on the Calea Victoriei, run by a Dutch chef. We eat a delicious three course dinner. The spoon tastings are the specialty. A grand appetizer or a grand dessert served as a one bite dish on spoons.
After the delicious dinner take the metro back to the hotel.

Weather: sunny 17 degrees

 

Saturday, March 25, 2017

After breakfast we walk to the Intercontinental hotel, a few minutes from our hotel. There is the AVIS branch where we pick up a rental car today. It is a Ford Fiësta (machine). We drive out into the Mogosoaia Palace. This 18th century palace is about 10km outside the city and is beautifully restored. It consists of a residential building, a kitchen and some outbuildings and is on a lake. For the palace is the St George Chapel, where an orthodox service is in progress. The church is muddy and we can not help it anymore. Unfortunately, the palace is closed. Why is not clear. We are inquiring at the souvenir shop. The salesman is convinced that the palace is open, but that is not true. The door is sealed. We'll wait another 20 minutes, but at 10.20 we'll really get away. Our next destination is the Snagov Monastery. That is north of Bucharest, about 35km from the palace. The monastery is on an island in a lake. It is connected by a bridge to the shore, but not on the side of Snagov. You have to drive to Silistea Snagovului. The monastery is no more than a small but beautiful church. The monastery was founded by the infamous Vlad Tepes, also known as Vlad the Spietser or Count Drucula. Vlad was ruler of Wallachije in the 2nd half of the 15th century and delivered a lot of struggle with the Ottoman Turks, until he was defeated by the Turks in 1476 and was killed. Vlad is reportedly buried before the altar of this church is buried. At least, because his headless body has been excavated for research. During our visit to the church there is also a worship service here. There is only one believer beside the priest and a costume, who in his beautiful voice takes the singing.

It's then half past 12 and we're thinking about a new plan. We drive to Brasov, which is 175km north of Bucharest. It is almost two hours drive. We eat a pizza in a road restaurant on our way. If we reach the Carpathian mountains after 90km, the road becomes 4 lanes, 2 lanes and becomes tortuous. The road goes through villages and towns, including a few ski resorts. We mostly follow a river valley. Shortly before Brasov follow a lot of hairpin turns. At half past three we arrive in Brasov. It is bigger than we expected, but the center is compact and well maintained. Many historic buildings, including the black Lutheran cathedral. Originally, Brasov is a German-speaking city, called Kronstadt, founded by German ansiedler. In the 13th century, these Germans arrived at the invitation of the Hungarian king to Transylvania to defend the country against the Turks. The whole region of Transylvania has many of these types of cities and is called in German Siebenburgen. The Germans are known as the Saxony in Romania. There is little left.
We visit the black cathedral, which is from the inside of the cold, but interestingly decorated with Turkish carpets, brought by Kronstadt traders from Istanbul. It is a German-speaking Protestant church. The church was built in the late 14th century and went to Lutheran doctrine in the 16th century under the influence of Jan Honter. During a fire in the 17th century the church was blackened - hence the name.
A little further down is a large square with an Orthodox church, a museum and a former town hall. The city looks prosperous and well maintained.
We are still drinking a brasserie before we accept the return journey. The last part of the trip is about the A3, one of the few motorways of Romania. We return the car to Avis and have dinner at Gilda lounge. Trendy bar and restaurant with fairly good food. Then to the hotel.
Weather: cold and cloudy. 9 degrees.

Sunday, March 26, 2017

 

After breakfast we take a walk through the city to Revolution Square (Piaţa Revoluţiei). Here is the former headquarters of the Communist Party. From the balcony of this building, Nicolae Ceaucescu gave his last speech to the people on 21 December 1989. The speech was intended to announce increases in salaries and benefits, thus tempering the heated moods among the people. After 8 minutes, the crowd began to push towards building encouraged by revolutions in other East European dictatorships in that year to the building. The square was cleared, but the masses returned. Ceauscescu managed  to escape the next day by helicopter from the roof of the building. He was arrested and executed on Christmas Day together with his wife Elena.

Right in the middle of the square is a Monument to the Rebirth. A 25 meter high pole with a kind of wreath around it. It is also called the olive to a skewer. A little further down is the equestrian statue of King Carol I from 2010. The original statue of the Croatian artist Mestrovic was taken down in 1948 by the Communists and forged into a statue of Lenin. The statue stands fin front of the university library, which was completely looted in December 1989. About half a million books were lost. Beyond this building begins the Piaţa Enescu, named after Romania's most famous composer. On this square is the Ateneul Român, Bucharest concert hall and home of the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra. It is a neoclassical, round building with a domed roof. It was designed by the French architect Galleron in 1888.
On the north side of the square is the  Athénée Hilton hotel dating back to 1912. From the 1930's this was a hotbed of espionage. Under communism, the hotel was thoroughly renovated in the 1950s and equipped with eavesdropping equipment. We go for a coffee in the hotel's café. On the wall are photos of a selection of famous international guests from top sports, art, music, film and politics. We see pictures of Angela Merkel, Sting and many others.
After the coffee we walk back the other side of the square. We come past the former royal palace (Palatul Regal) from 1927. After burn down of a simpler accommodation, King Carol II decided to make something more prestigious. Since the 1950's it serves as the Muzeul Naţional de Artã..
A little further down is the church Besirica Creţulescu from 1722. Founded by nobelman Iordache Creţulescu and his wife Safta. The church is tall and narrow with false arches. The façade consists of bricks in jagged pattern. The church was built in the style of Brancoveanu, a ruler from the 18th century, who  established a national style for church construction. The church we saw on the island in Snagov yesterday looks like this, like many churches we have seen in the city. The church was heavily damaged by an earthquake in 1940 and the riots in 1989.
We walk back to the hotel and wait for the driver to take us to the airport. We are well on time at Henri Coanda Airport for our flight to Amsterdam.

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