My friends live about 50km out of Bucharest. We went into the capital to have a look. Bucharest reminds me a little of Prague except poorer. You can see that the old run down parts of the city must have been beautiful once. There is development happening though, lots of new shopping malls and refurbishment and I think the place will look quite different in years to come.
One of the main sights (and the biggest) is the Palace of Parliament built under Ceausescu's regime. It is the world's second largest building after the Pentagon and it is an impressive sight looking up from the street.
Although the building is impressive, they haven't quite got around to doing the landscaping! This is a viewof the gardens behind the Palace.
There are a few similarities between Romania and Libya which I noticed. These are the creative electical wiring....
...and the complete lack of signage / safety barriers when there is any street works. 
Although a lot of old Bucharest has been demolished there are still some remnants of past beauty. This is the Stavropoleos Church, dating from 1724, which is nestled amongst the newer buildings.
The next day, we headed north into the mountains at the bottom of Transylvania. My friends told me that there had been more snow on the ground a couple of weeks ago but it was still stunning.
Mountains at Muntele Rosu
Whilst in the mountains, it seemed only right to try some traditional mountain fare. Thus we tried (from front) wild boar, venison and bear (Yes, that's right Bear!!!). The wild boar and venison were quite tasty but we found the bear a bit tough. The sauce was quite spicy.
One of the big problems in Romania are feral dogs. There are dogs absolutely everywhere. They don't look wild, they all look very domestic but they run wild in packs all over the place, including Bucharest and other towns and cities. The ones that live near human civilisation get fed scraps by kind people. Anyway this just one of the (apparently) hundreds of thousands stray dogs.
Life does move a little slower in Romania. It is quite common to see people going down the road in the horse and cart.
There is some great architecture, remnant from years gone by before Ceausescu tried to move everyone into the many horrendous tower blocks of apartments. There is a real gothic feel to the place, especially in winter when the sky is so grey. You can definately understand how the legend of Dracula evolved!
On my last day in Romania, we headed back into the mountains again to a town called Sinaia which is a base for many skiiers. The highlight there is Peles Castle which was built by King Carol 1 in the later nineteenth century.
And of course I can't finish this blog entry without one more foodie delight. This dinner was spectacular. On my wooden plate is a sausage, smoked pork, liver, peasant potatoes and cabbage rolls. This alone is worth a trip to Romania....
Thanks goes to my dear friends and their new little daughter for showing me around their new coountry.
Whilst in the mountains, it seemed only right to try some traditional mountain fare. Thus we tried (from front) wild boar, venison and bear (Yes, that's right Bear!!!). The wild boar and venison were quite tasty but we found the bear a bit tough. The sauce was quite spicy.
One of the big problems in Romania are feral dogs. There are dogs absolutely everywhere. They don't look wild, they all look very domestic but they run wild in packs all over the place, including Bucharest and other towns and cities. The ones that live near human civilisation get fed scraps by kind people. Anyway this just one of the (apparently) hundreds of thousands stray dogs.
Life does move a little slower in Romania. It is quite common to see people going down the road in the horse and cart.
There is some great architecture, remnant from years gone by before Ceausescu tried to move everyone into the many horrendous tower blocks of apartments. There is a real gothic feel to the place, especially in winter when the sky is so grey. You can definately understand how the legend of Dracula evolved!
On my last day in Romania, we headed back into the mountains again to a town called Sinaia which is a base for many skiiers. The highlight there is Peles Castle which was built by King Carol 1 in the later nineteenth century.
And of course I can't finish this blog entry without one more foodie delight. This dinner was spectacular. On my wooden plate is a sausage, smoked pork, liver, peasant potatoes and cabbage rolls. This alone is worth a trip to Romania....
Thanks goes to my dear friends and their new little daughter for showing me around their new coountry.Anyway, the Desert Rat and I are off again tomorrow for our next exciting adventure, this time Dubai. It will probably be more exciting for me as The Rat has to work and I will have a few days to myself to have a look around.
Sahara Gal
