Backstreet Bucharest

Tour leaders bravely took dozens of American tourists who have never ridden mass transit for a ride on the Bucharest Metro this morning. This group demonstrated yesterday, when we checked into the hotel, that getting on an elevator was a challenge for them. However, without too much comedy, they managed to get us herded onto the subway for a brief ride to the next stop.

Once we had disembarked, we emerged at the University Plaza. Unfortunately, most of the university buildings are under renovation, and were shrouded in scaffolding. But nearby we saw the National Theater and other nearby buildings.

We then walked a short distance to the National Bank of Romania which, unlike the beautiful building across the street, has been fully restored to its socialist mediocrity.

Walking further into the Old Town district of Bucharest we visited a Medieval caravanserai (an overnight stopover inn for traders and their animals) that is now a fancy restaurant.

We also visited one of the oldest Orthodox churches in Bucharest, where we witnessed a very unusual act of veneration for the relic of a particular saint. The relic sat on a marble table, and beneath the table was a cushion. We watched an elderly woman get down on the cushion and crawl under the table to the other side. She then walked around to the front of the table and repeated the action, for a total of three times.

Nearby, we saw the ruins of one of the many castles that once belonged to King Vlad (a.k.a. "Dracula"). It's in bad shape, but is also being renovated to become a high class restaurant. More's the pity.

Along the way, we came across part of a high school graduation ceremony taking place outdoors in a park. Because of the heat, students were shedding their black gowns. They were dressed to the nines underneath.

Thanks to Google Maps on my phone, we managed a long walk in the hot sun to the old Jewish quarter. There we made a "donation" in order to visit the Great Synagogue of Bucharest, which is now a Holocaust museum. We didn't have time to stay long.

Back at the hotel, we were granted a late checkout in order to prepare for our bus ride to Transylvania. But we were a little too slow to get to the bus, and because others seemed to assume that they were entitled to spread out over two seats, we weren't able to sit together. Mark was in the back with all the coughing and sneezing. There are suddenly a lot of sick people on the trip.

The Carpathian Mountains are not the Alps or the Rockies, but they are quite beautiful and the wealth in the resort villages along the way demonstrates that money does, indeed, flow uphill. Unfortunately, we drove through fog and heavy rain much of the way, so we got few photos.

As we neared Brasov, however, the skies cleared and we were able to see that this city of 300,000+ still shows its communist past, but like Bucharest, has dressed it up with fresh paint.

Our hotel is in the old city center and surrounded by charming old buildings that are well preserved. The entire old town area, which is quite extensive, is a pedestrian-only zone. We walked to dinner, but we are anxious to see more.