//Day 22 /02-04-22 /Rouse-Bucharest

I left Rouse through empty streets around 8 in the morning, Based upon the number of people on the street Bulgarians do not seem early morning people (maybe caused by all the dancing on Friday night). I found a bakery which was open and had 2 industrial croissants servers by an unfriendly lady. I returned the same to the border as I had entered the city a day before with the difference that there was almost no traffic. At the border though there was a big line of lorries wanting to go to Romania. I passed them, crossed the small (but long) bridge over the Danube, got my ID checked by the Romanian border agents, was waved through , back in Giurgiu, Romania.

From Giurgiu to Bucharest it was a 75 K via the “touristic” route. The first 15 K along the busy E70 with some limited climbing to get out of the Danube valley. Once I left the E70 I was for 50 K on a quiet departmental road aiming straight to Bucharest. It had rained at night and temperatures had dropped, blue sky, ideal cycling weather. I passed big farming fields, a natural reserve and crossed an inventious bridge. As I had most of the time backwind I made good progress and by noon arrived at the outskirts of Bucharest.

Cycling into Bucharest was quite the adventure. Busy traffic, big roads , the lack of the concept of cycle ways (and non motorised traffic) required all my attention (I even put on on my bicycle helmet). Entering the city took more time then expected, cycling the busy big roads, finding the route through big and multiple soviet style apartment estates (as I need to focus on safe cycling no photographs). Ceausescu made sure that Bucharest will not become the tourist destination of the year soon. Most of the 1.6 million habitants life in soviet style apartment estates, the city is crossed by big highway style roads. No identifiable city center. The old city center (the part that Ceausescu did not had time to tear down) has become a “Rue de Boucher” from hell : restaurants, bars, blaring loud music with people standing outside to lure you in. Not an easy city to visit. Tomorrow I plan to visit the palace of the people, the biggest building of Europe, maybe even of the world, which was build on Ceausescu’s order. I have visited Bucharest more more then 10 years ago during a business trip and one of of my reasons to visit again to observe the changes. For what I remember the city has definitely changed and modernised, I remember horse carts in the city center, but I experience the city as a work in progress…with the challenge that the available/existing material is not easy to work with.

More insights on Bucharest tomorrow…..

Lessons learned :

• Rouse Bulgarians are not early risers
• No Bucharest bar or restaurant without football on a television.
• Bucharest…..not sure.

Song of the day  : Bucharest - The Klezmorim