București, also called Bucharest, is the capital of Romania. The cosmopolitan high culture and the dominant French influence of the city's neo-baroque architecture resulted in its nickname "Paris of the East". The city has several universities, various other colleges and numerous theatres, museums and other cultural institutions. With approximately 1.8 million inhabitants, it is by far the largest city in Romania.
Getting to București
With 2 Polish siblings I drove from Vama Veche to București. We waited quite long for our bus in Mangalia. Finally a Romanian came up to us and said he could organize our journey. The paper ticket he gave us was not very professional, but we arrived well and paid even less than our other friends. On the bus we played cards with another Polish couple.
When we arrived in our Airbnb in București there was some confusion at first, because the owner had been out and had given us the code for the wrong room, because we had ordered a 3-bed room instead of a 2-bed room. But the problem was quickly solved.
Delicious dinner in the oldest restaurant of the city
For dinner we went to the "Caru' cu Bere", the oldest restaurant of the city, which exists for more than 135 years. It is an architecturally remarkable restaurant with wood panelling, stained glass windows and a courtyard. I ate a delicious bean soup and eggplant cream. I liked it so much that I came back here a few days later with 3 friends from Belgium, Serbia and Romania.
One of the most beautiful bookstores of the world
The next day we visited an art museum and some bookstores. In București there is one of the most beautiful bookstores I ever entered: the Cărturești Carusel. While it is unimpressive from the outside, the curved shape of the floors inside create a dynamic atmosphere that resembles a moving carousel. For Instagram models, this bookshop with its huge white columns is an ideal setting for photo shoots. It has 4 floors and upstairs I could drink coffee and browse through the books. Also the prices for the books are very reasonable. I bought two classic books of Russian literature for a good price.
Afterwards the Poles flew home and I moved into a hostel. In București I experienced for the first time a hostel where I could check in myself without a receptionist being present. Nevertheless the hostel was very clean and good.
Visiting a metal bar
In the evening I went to a great metal bar where they played good metal music. But the people were not very friendly and I didn't really get into conversation with anybody. One of the guests approached me and asked me where I was from. When I said Germany, he took off his hat, shouted loudly "I like Germany but I'm not a skinhead" and slammed my beer bottle with full force on the desk and left the place. Weird! In general, the Romanians are one of the most unfriendly people I have met, although there are positive exceptions.
Joing the free walking tour
The next morning I joined the free walking tour, which I found extremely interesting. The guide told us a lot about the history of the city and the legacy of the dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu. With his communist command economy he made the country debt-free, but he let his people work and suffer for it. He built himself a huge presidential palace and had much of the old town torn away to build a huge promenade, because he wanted to have his palace built in the most earthquake-proof part of the city.
A gigantic palace
This palace definitely impressed me the most in this city. I took a guided tour and marvelled at the huge marble ornaments, chandeliers and huge columns. The dictator invested a huge fortune in this palace, but he never saw its completion, because at that time he was already murdered by his own people.
I have never entered such an immense building before! The rooms were gigantic, the furnishings abound in pomposity and the finest materials were used everywhere. It is one of the heaviest buildings in the world and is the second largest building in the world after the Pentagon. The Palace has a height of 84 metres, a floor area of 365,000 square metres and a volume of 2,550,000 cubic metres That's why we didn't even get to see 5% of the building during the tour! Still today Romania is nibbling at the costs for the construction and maintenance of the building! The Palace of the Parliament is valued at €3 billion, making it the most expensive administrative building in the world.
Afterwards I watched the Romanian version of the Arc de Triomphe and walked through the nearby park. I had my lunch in a better restaurant. With the prices in Romania this is quite possible. And it tasted really damn tasty! It was a vegan eggplant dish!
Old town full of strip clubs and aggressive restaurant members
Since much of the old town had to be torn down, it no longer seems to possess much charm. It depends much more on young men and bachelor parties, because there are countless strip clubs. The nightlife in Bucharest is pulsating and is one of the best in Eastern Europe.
In addition, there are many restaurants in the old town, where in front of each one there is a restaurant employee, who massively urges the passers-by to enter the restaurant. I did not like that at all.
In general I didn't like the city, there were many construction sites and the people were quite unfriendly and for that they are known all over the country. A lot is concentrated in the old town and it is hectic, loud and full of tourists. There are some parks in the city, but they are not as well maintained as those in Bulgaria.
