Bucharest may be around 500 years old, but it still has an atmosphere of newness about it.
Ever since the fall of the Soviet Union, Bucharest has been working its way into becoming a high-energy culture and economy. Walking around this city is a real treat with a lot to see and do.
Bucharest has been dubbed, “the little Paris,” not just because it has its own Arch de Triumph, but because it is known as a center of culture.
We lived within a short distance of two different malls. These malls are busting at the seams with shops and cafés, including, a joy to our homesick eyes, Starbucks.
After a little bit of time in the malls, we decided to explore further. One night, we headed out to Herastrau Park, the largest park in Bucharest with more than 400 acres of land. It is home to the Arch, the Village Museum, which shows what life for Romanian villagers was like, and many monuments and walking paths.
Another day, my teammate Stephanie and I went to the old town district. This quickly became our favorite part of town, to which we returned several times.
At the outskirts of the old town stands the Parliament Building, which is one of the largest buildings in Europe and is in “The Guinness Book of World Records” as the biggest administrative building in the world.
Farther down, you find the Bucharest financial district. The images of century-old buildings reflect off the glass of shiny new offices.
Turn right, and you’ll find yourself in the middle of cobblestone streets, cafés and intricate architecture that has survived World War II and the Soviet Union.
We stopped at a couple cafés during the course of our stay in Bucharest. One café, Pals, had fantastic salads and fresh summer beers on tap. We followed the meal up with some gelato at a small café down the street.
We stopped in at an Eastern Orthodox Church to look inside for a moment. Religious people were kneeling in front of various gilded items, crossing themselves and kissing the icons. On one wall, massive, intricate stained glass windows with old saints and apostles stared down at us.
Every part of the church was crammed with gold and religious icons. Everyone was silent and the atmosphere was heavy. The sense of history and tradition was so heavy that you could almost cut it with a knife. On the way out, we passed a gift shop full of beads and small home-icons.
On another day, we came back to Lipscani Street in the old town district and found a huge beer hall called Caru cu Bere, a restaurant dating from 1875. Huge glass mirrors and carved wood pillars filled the hall. A staircase spiraled up to another room. Foggy windows looked over the old district.
For the equivalent of $8, we each bought a five-course meal. Tomato salad, meats, creamy soups and desserts crowded the table. Somewhere in the mass of food we managed to squeeze in some beer mugs. It was a fantastic meal.
We spent a little time at the old town district open-air market. The booths were full of clothing items, dishes and antiques.
There is still so much to say about the growing city of Bucharest, but I’ll highlight only one more place.
Skybar is the perfect spot to enjoy some coffee, a whiskey and coke, or perhaps a Cosmopolitan. The establishment has a removable roof and large open windows to go and watch the sunset or gaze at the stars. It’s a great place to bring friends and have a drink and a smoke. We arrived just as the sun was setting, and I couldn’t have asked for anything more beautiful.
Bucharest is a city that has captured my heart. The shopping, eating and sightseeing make this city the perfect place to come for the stingy traveler.
By MICHELE HOP
Staff
mhop@ius.edu
Editor’s note: This is part three of a four-part series by Michele Hop. She traveled overseas this past summer and wrote about her experiences for The Horizon.