//Day 23 /03-04-22 /Bucharest

Today no cycling. I walked instead 17 K through the Bucharest city. I found an walking itinerary online which brought me through the “historic” center of the city. Besides the old town (“Rue du Boucher from hell”) the route directed me mainly  from one Orthodox Church to another (all of them in full operation as it was Sunday) and some important governance (office) buildings. 

The churches are not big in size as result a PA system is used outside so to cater for all the people follow the mass. People come and go, stand in the sun to follow the mass. I walked the icy between 10 and 15.30 and even at 14.00 I saw a mass going on. Most of the churches are now standing between the office blocks and apartments. A mix of rather new and communist era buildings, completed, half completed, in ruins , half in ruins. One thing is clear  the bigger the better…As mentioned yesterday besides the old town I could identify  a real city center, think Brussels South, city of London, La Defense on a Sunday…shabbier, buildings with cars passing by the main activity. 

My walk brought me also to the Palace of Parliament or originally named the palace of the people commissioned by Ceausescu.It is named the biggest, heaviest building,  of the world. One can add : ugliest, most-non-functional (most of the rooms are not used),…700 architects and 13 years where needed to build the monstrosity. Today it holds the Senate, The Chamber of deputies, The National museum of contemporary art, The museum of Communist Totalitarianism and the museum of the Palace….I could only find the National museum of contemporary art which had a retrospective on display of Ion Grigorescu, A Romanian painter and photographer who was one of the first Romanian conceptual artists. I spend an interesting time at the exhibition, mostly the only visitor, but being watched by around ten female museum attendants all typing on there smartphones.

My walking tour lead me eventually to the old town, where I had a nice soup at a Greek restaurant as lunch. I continued to walk and returned to my hotel around 16.00…

I would not recommend to visit Bucharest to my friends. Except, if you are a friend who wants to see and experience what can happen with a city if under control of totalitarian nutcase…or a friend interested in Orthodox churches. Bucharest is though a good place to recommend to your enemies who do not like Rue du Boucher style restaurants…The Ion Grigorescu was interesting and I must say the hotel (19th century style interior) I stayed was also very good. Bucharest an acquired taste, an interesting place an English person would say.

Tomorrow I will leave Bucharest direction Black Sea. I plan to cycle around 120 K to the small city called Calarasi (sounds like a Game of Trone place). I did not book any accommodation (something I did until now) as test to see  how easy/difficult it is to find a spot on the spot….Let’s see…

Lessons learned : 

• Turkish pide at home is better.
• The Bucharest old town cobblestones need urgently some European funding. 
• The streets around my hotel look more scarier during daytime then at night (also true for the prostitute standing on the corner of the street of my hotel). 

Song of the day : Am ende denk ich nur an dich - Element of crime