PSA: Flights from the US to Bucharest, Romania cost approximately $500-600 roundtrip. Check out what we did this past weekend and then go book your tickets!
Some of you may know that Matthew and I celebrated our 13th anniversary on September 21st. I still can't believe it's been 13 years already. Oddly enough, Matt has taken me to 13 different countries leading up to this past weekend. What can I say? We ā¤ļø adventure! He had a work trip that took him to Bucharest the weekend of our anniversary and had the brilliant idea that Christopher and I join him. It also happened to be a holiday weekend in Bulgaria (Independence Day), and Christopher was out of school on Monday. Flights were more expensive, so we opted for cheaper transportation and took the bus. A $25 bus ticket was well worth the 7-hour drive versus the $150 airline ticket. That's one-way, btw. Plus we got to see the countryside of Eastern Europe! Huge ā!
WARNING: TAXI DRIVERS ARE SCAM ARTISTS!
Upon arrival in Bucharest, my phone was not working in roaming mode unexpectedly, and I needed a taxi to get to the hotel where Matt was waiting for us. The first taxi driver tells me the drive to the hotel will cost 100 lei. (Side Note: 100 lei = $23, approximately) I've seen enough shows on the Travel Channel to know that taxi drivers across the globe are worse than used car salesman and will steal every euro they can get. I did NOT say Uber drivers. I'm talking strictly taxi drivers. He would need to drive 10km to get me from the bus station to the Doubletree Hilton, and his car clearly states 1.99 lei/km. So I'm not sure where he got his math so terribly wrong, but I told him he was too expensive and walked away. I found a more honest driver (apologies to this guy for lumping him in with the rest of his industry) and was only charged 27 lei ($6). Watch out for these guys or just use Uber if you have access to global roaming.
Our first stop was the Palace of the Parliament! This building is the largest of volume in Europe and comes only second to the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Equipped with 1000 rooms, only 400 of the rooms are occupied as offices! The building rises twelve stories high, and rumor has it that the building extends underground another 18 stories although official reports only claim eight with the final floor being a nuclear fallout shelter. It was built under the dictatorship rule of Nicolae Ceaucescu during the Communist era of Romania. The locals have mixed feelings about the structure. This behemoth of a building is considered to be one of the seven wonders of Romania, but the Romanian people are not prideful of it given its origins and the sacrifices made to create it. Nicolae drained the National Treasury to create this palace, and his intent was to consolidate all governing functions under one roof. He was never able to live in the palace because Communism fell in 1989; Nicolae and his wife were arrested and convicted in one day and sentenced to execution on Christmas Day 1989. All of the materials used were cultivated in Romania. They even started to grow their own silk worms to make Romanian silk for the drapery and other upholstery rather than importing it into the country. The Palace of the Parliament was Nicolae's Versailles.
One of the most stunning sights of this tour was the mother of 1000 chandeliers! It is made of Romanian crystal and weighs over five tons! It takes four people to crawl inside the chandelier to occasionally clean it. The auditorium seats over 600 people and is now used for Classical Music concerts.
The staircase pictured here and all surrounding surfaces are made entirely of marble. No one told them that marble is a porous stone and difficult to keep clean. They should have went with quartz. š The curtains behind us are made from velvet and each weigh 650kg! That's 1433 lbs...EACH!
We only toured two floors of the palace, but the highlight for me was the balcony! I have a soft spot for balconies dating back to the first time I read Romeo & Juliet.ā¤ļø Yes, I did my royal wave because I am a princess. Ask Matt. Nicolae had a balcony built to address the people of Romania. Although he never had the opportunity to use it, one famous celebrity, Michael Jackson, sure did. Although when he addressed the people of Romania, he said "Hello Budapest!" *Ahem* "Mr. Jackson, it's, uh, Bucharest." š¤
Check out the gallery below for more palace pictures.
For lunch, we found a Romanian version of KFC called Chicken Staff. While the food was fantastic, the most memorable offering was the hand washing station built into the wall at the front door. You stick your hands in to activate the soap dispenser. Then it moves to the second step and rains water onto your hands for washing. Lastly, the dryer kicks on to get your hands eatin' ready! It is also beneficial to use AFTER you've destroyed a basket of fried chicken. Neato idea! Not many American restaurants make it this convenient to wash your hands before eating. PDQ is only place I can think of at the moment.
Old Town Bucharest is where we spent our afternoon looking at the historical architecture, shopping the antiques market, and huffing the second-hand hookah. Romanians love their hookah bars in that area so much so that Christopher started to feel a little ill.
Dinner was spent at the oldest hotel in Bucharest, Manuc Inn. We sat in the courtyard under the trees and yard lighting.
A small band playing traditional Romanian music with a pipe flute, upright bass, and a different unrecognizable instrument entertained the crowd. We may have looked a little American because we were of the few people who clapped after each song. The locals didn't seem to notice the music playing. Cats and baby kittens were moving from table to table looking for scraps.
Matt and I had an opportunity to fancy up and I wore my European XL dress. Ironically, my ogre dress is green.š§ We feasted on Slow-Roasted Lamb Knuckle with a Red Wine Gravy, Green Beans, & Potatoes. The meat was so tender that it shredded right off the giant bone. Look for Christopher in the gallery gnawing on what was left of the bone. Dessert is not pictured, but I had a piece of dark chocolate cake covered in drunken sour cherries. Most delicious!
Stay tuned for Romanian Weekend: Part 2 where we explored Peles Castle, Bran Castle (Dracula's crib!), Sinai Monastery & Brasov, Romania.