Bucharest is contrasting, commercial, sprawling, overwhelming and trying desperately to be Paris.
B-dul Unirii.
When you’re travelling the main topic of conversation with those you meet is travel. In fact I have told people my travel story so many times I feel I need it tattooed on my face. In this time people feel it necessary to give their opinions on your destinations, usually in the form of hostels to stay at, land marks to visit and places to eat and drink. When discussing Romania’s capital city, Bucharest in these discourses with my fellow travellers the discussion was always the same: “Oh it’s sooooo dangerous there” and “You won’t have to stay long, it’s boring” were common catch-cries. After several of these discussions while stealing breakfast food to eat at lunch, I became quite apprehensive about my trip to Bucharest. Fortunately for me, I rarely trust other people’s negative opinions on destinations and I had to come and see the place for myself.
Contrasting styles.
Luckily there were 3 other people from the hostel heading to Bucharest so I had some company for the journey. So after I spent the last of my Bulgarian leva on delicious cheese filled pastries, we set off on the 6 hour journey. The train ride from Veliko Tarnovo was a long one because of the quality of the train and tracks, but it was a nice way to catch up on some sleep and reading. My first impressions of Bucharest were that is a large and intimidating city, bigger is better and the more grand a building is the more pleased they’ll be. In addition to this, it is such a strange mismatch of styles it is oddly beautiful. 19th century lodgings with wooden roofs stand next to ugly stucco concrete housing blocks covered in billboards and layers of grime. Close by is a gorgeous Parisian style 5 story hotels with spires and intricate detail. Next to this you will find an ultra modern glass office buildings that look like they belong in the most cutting edge city. Hiding behind all of them were tiny churches and monasteries painted in beautiful bright colours. I found myself captivated by the fact that I never knew what was around the corner. Well, actually, one thing is ever-present on the streets of Bucharest, commercialism. The old communist apartment blocks are now giant ads themselves (Oh the irony). Perched on top of or draped across the buildings are large adverts and billboards. Consumerism is in in Bucharest and the streets are lined with designer labels, the ‘old town’ is a mass of restaurants, bars and cafes and has nothing ‘old’ about it. I suppose that’s why they call it the ‘historical centre’ instead.
Billboards.
The mish-mash of styles are all attempts to be different things at different times. To be ‘Little Paris’, an independent communist state, the centre of the Roman empire, a powerful trade route off the silk road and now to be a modern capital. It doesn’t have the effortless elegance that its hero Paris does. It doesn’t have the vibrancy of other European night-life hotspots. But oh how it wants to be those things. Its gentrification is happening before my eyes. Bucharest is trying to be so many things, it left me wondering who the city actually is. The dissimilarities are so huge that it is the contrast that has become the trademark.
Parisian meets Communism.
Many of my wanderings around the city took me down the The B-dul Unirii. This boulevard is the Champs-Élysées of Bucharest and is deliberately 30 cms wider and 6m longer than the street it was designed after in Paris (way to show ’em, Bucharest!). The communist leader at the time even made the city’s river, Dambovita, run underground for his boulevard to be completed to his size and specifications. But this was just one of his strange decisions. At the end of the 3.2 kilometres of the B-dul Unirii is the second largest administrative building in the world (and you get the feeling if they knew how big the Pentagon was, it would be the biggest) Formerly named The People’s House, now, The Palace of the Parliament. The place is stunning to look at, it is so large, white and grand that it takes over the landscape. Speaking of white, it is definitely more that just white in colour, it is also a white elephant. 1000s of rooms remain unused and many areas around it like fences and roads are in a state of disrepair. I was told that in a vote to decide on Bucharest’s most beautiful and ugly buildings it topped both lists. Many locals hate the place because when it was built not only did the government knock down homes for it, the people starved to pay for the massive construction.
The People’s House.
I am really enjoying taking free walking tours in the cities and towns I am visiting and I must say the tour I did in Bucharest was the best one so far. It was led by a former anthropologist and current all-round funny dude. He explained to us much of the communist past and present day realities of living in Romania. He was by no means complimentary of the former regime and was open and honest about his dislike for the House of the People and the way churches were destroyed and moved during the period. He did all this with plenty of gags and knowledge to back it up. All was running smoothly on the tour when suddenly, out of nowhere, a women came up to the group. She was passionate and angry. She told us that life was better under communism; her main points were about education and worker’s rights and how they have been forgotten since the revolution in 1989. I have never seen that before, a local approaching tourists to enlighten them of the ‘truth’. Or her truth at least. I for one was glad to get two sides of the story as I don’t really understand what the people here feel about their past.
A monument to victims of the regime.
I spent a morning exploring Herastrau Park, which although not the best maintained park, was very relaxing. You can hire a bike for free and cruise around the park at your own pace. The area is a weird mix of recreation activities and sculptures that look like they belong at a local garden centre. Interestingly, one area of the park had an area dedicated to literature so there was busts of Shakespeare, Tolstoy and Hugo amongst others. No Romanian writers. The flowerbeds were filled with weeds, the pavement was cracked and the roses are floppy, but it was still nice to be there and escape the incessant traffic on the city’s streets.. Maybe I’ve been in Eastern Europe to long, but I am really finding beauty in the decay.
Herastrau.
Certainly, it seems my travelling companions were wrong. I have been fascinated by Bucharest’s attempts to be Western and recreate a little Paris. It is strange and in many ways quite endearing. As for danger, I’ve seen more unsavoury types on the streets of Madrid, Paris and Rome. There is no problem here. I have barely seen a beggar, which is more than I could say when I was in Western Europe. I tend to believe my guide and Bucharest local when he said to me “Bucharest is a lot of things, but it is certainly never boring”. I couldn’t have put it better myself.
Ali's adventure 