When I came out to the car I looked down the small street my apartment is located on and there was Wally the dog. He saw me and ran like crazy down to me; its almost like he came around early because I never see him around until about 10am. i fed him the rest of my salami and dog treats and said one last goodbye to him and his friend.
The drive through the Fagaras was great with a beautiful sunrise and fog throughout the route. The forest and mountains look so much crisper and cleaner with the early morning light too and I was able to get better photos of them than I had before.
Once I reached Petresti I discoverd the A1; WOW! 130km an hour. For some reason on my way to Pitresti on my first day the GPS told me to take the DN7 which is much slower and only 2 lanes' but the A1 is 3 to 4 lanes and much faster!
Once I arrived in Bucharest I attempted to get to the hotel and somehow was lost even with the GPS for about 2 hours, driving through consttruction zones and around the city. Somehow I managed to do a loop of the northern part of the city and finally found the hotel. Thank God! Romanian city driving is for the birds! I prefer the country, "National Roads".
I checked into my hotel which is very nice and has a very comfortable bed; except the air conditioning does not seem to have any force to it. I still have to ask the front desk about that, because it is very hot and humid today; however there is a cool waterpark behind the hotel, one of europes largest, maybe I will see if they are open tonight.
Lastly, I visited the Palace of Parliment, the second largest building in the world behind the Pentagon! Talk about oversized! It is 12 storys tall and measures 270 m (890 ft) by 240 m (790 ft), 86 m (282 ft) high, and 92 m (302 ft) underground. It has 1,100 rooms, 2 underground parking garages and is 12 stories tall, with four underground levels currently available for the general public and in use, and another four in different stages of completion. The building is constructed almost entirely of materials of Romanian origin. Estimates of the materials used include one million cubic meters of marble from Transylvania, most from Ruşchiţa; 3,500 tonnes of crystal — 480 chandeliers, 1,409 ceiling lights and mirrors were manufactured; 700,000 tonnes of steel and bronze for monumental doors and windows, chandeliers and capitals; 900,000 m2 (9,700,000 sq ft) of wood, over 95% of which is domestic, for parquet and wainscoting, including walnut, oak, sweet cherry, elm, sycamore maple; 200,000 m2 (2,200,000 sq ft) of woolen carpets of various dimensions, the larger of which were woven on-site by machines moved into the building; velvet and brocade curtains adorned with embroideries and passementeries in silver and gold. WOW! Tke a look at the pictures and video and you will see what I mean.
I take off tomorrow and hopefully can see downtown Warsaw during my 5 hr layover there and the back home tomorrow evening. I will post a wrap-up final blog on Saturday with my views and thoughts about this trip, this wonderful country and the journey it has taken me on.
Tom
Wally saying goodbye.
The sunrise over Transylvania with the foothills of the Fagaras in the distance
The drive through the Fagaras Mountains
Entering Bucharest and exploring the streets
Cool old electric tram cars. I guess they have an extensive Metro or subway system here too!
The RIN 4 Hotel
Th Palace of Parliment, formerly known as, "The Peoples House" by Communist President and dictator, Nicolae Ceauşescu.
A little background info.
Built on the site of a hill variously known as Spirii Hill, Uranus Hill, or Arsenal Hill, which was largely razed for this megaproject, the building anchors the west end of Bulevardul Unirii and Centrul Civic. Constructing the Palace and Centrul Civic required demolishing much of Bucharest's historic district, including 19 Orthodox Christian churches, six Jewish synagogues, three Protestant churches (plus eight relocated churches), and 30,000 residences
Though no figures have been officially released, it is said that some 20,000 workers toiled in 24-hour shifts, seven days a week, to build the Palace at the pace at which it was being constructed. To finance the project, Ceausescu had to take on enormous foreign debts. In order to repay these debts he systematically starved the Romanian people, exporting all of the country's agricultural and industrial production as the standard of living in Romania sank to an all time low. Food-rationing, gas electric and heating blackouts became everyday norms; people lived in squalor and poverty as the Ceausescu's themselves exhibited outrageous extravagance.
The Romanian Revolution of 1989 broke out just as the People's Palace was nearing completion. Mass protests in December 1989 in Timisoara caused martial law to be declared, a Bucharest rally turned to riot and the Ceausescus were forced to flee the capital by helicopter. They were soon after captured by police in Targoviste after abandoning their chopper, were sentenced to death by an ad hoc military court on charges ranging from illegal gathering of wealth to genocide and were executed by firing squad on Christmas Day, 1989.
Entering Bucharest and exploring the streets
Told you the ambulances always have their blue, "K-Mart" special lights on Whether there is an emergency or not?
Cool old electric tram cars. I guess they have an extensive Metro or subway system here too!
Under the city traffic tunnel.
I know we have these mobile billboards at home too...but this one had audio too!
The Otopeni or "Henry Coanda" airport in north Bucharest (Otopeni)
Th Palace of Parliment, formerly known as, "The Peoples House" by Communist President and dictator, Nicolae Ceauşescu.
A little background info.
Built on the site of a hill variously known as Spirii Hill, Uranus Hill, or Arsenal Hill, which was largely razed for this megaproject, the building anchors the west end of Bulevardul Unirii and Centrul Civic. Constructing the Palace and Centrul Civic required demolishing much of Bucharest's historic district, including 19 Orthodox Christian churches, six Jewish synagogues, three Protestant churches (plus eight relocated churches), and 30,000 residences
Though no figures have been officially released, it is said that some 20,000 workers toiled in 24-hour shifts, seven days a week, to build the Palace at the pace at which it was being constructed. To finance the project, Ceausescu had to take on enormous foreign debts. In order to repay these debts he systematically starved the Romanian people, exporting all of the country's agricultural and industrial production as the standard of living in Romania sank to an all time low. Food-rationing, gas electric and heating blackouts became everyday norms; people lived in squalor and poverty as the Ceausescu's themselves exhibited outrageous extravagance.
The Romanian Revolution of 1989 broke out just as the People's Palace was nearing completion. Mass protests in December 1989 in Timisoara caused martial law to be declared, a Bucharest rally turned to riot and the Ceausescus were forced to flee the capital by helicopter. They were soon after captured by police in Targoviste after abandoning their chopper, were sentenced to death by an ad hoc military court on charges ranging from illegal gathering of wealth to genocide and were executed by firing squad on Christmas Day, 1989.
King Stefan of Romania
All of these large wooden doors recess into the marble walls
The diplomatic room where Ceausescu would meet other Communist leaders
The staircases were rebuilt 7 times so Ceausescu and his wife would not have to look down while coming to greet guests and were sized for their exact footsteps.
View from the mezzanine balcony of the "Socialist Victory" mall as Ceausescu called it.
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