Vacation to Romania- Part I

Tulip Restaurant in Chisinau

Train Station in Chisinau

Memorial to the Moldovan Deportees

Old and New

Leaving Chisinau

Sylvia and sleeper car Lux

Lover's Park in Bucaresti

a caravan of dog catchers

got to stay in shape

Spring bouquet

the fallen soldier

Izvor Park with Parliament in background

Romanian super slide

Parliament Palace towers above the trees

the River Dambovita runs through the city

Old elegance

New design

art museum

interesting brick work

churches

Monastery Stavropoleos

cobblestone streets

Vlad Tepes (Vlad the Impaler)

Man and the Wheel of Time

Charles DeGaulle

Good Restaurant

another good restaurant

Arch of Triumph (1918)

Museum of Villages

Metro in Bucharesti

dog park

Romanian Athenaeum  (1888)

Mihai Eminescu

Revival Memorial (1989)

Romania is romantic.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Vacation in Romania, Part I.   This part is all about visiting the capital city of Bucuresti.  English speakers like to drop the last "i" off of the name, but we're going to keep it in for flavor.  We began our vacation with a romantic meal in Chisinau at the Tulip Restaurant which is known for its Thai food.  Our mode of travel was the overnight train from Chisinau to Bucuresti which left at 4 pm and arrived in Bucuresti at 6:30 am.  The picture above shows the Chisinau station and the Monument to Moldovan Deportees that was just unveiled this past year.  It is a reminder of a forced relocation of 300,000  Moldovans to Siberia, Azerbajan and other parts of the Russian Soviet Empire in the 1940's.  As you can see from the train schedule, today Moldovans take the train to Moscow and St Petersburg for many reasons including work, school, and visiting relatives.  

All aboard!  We have a private sleeper car.  When we reach the boarder of Romania, Moldovan customs officers come by to check our passports.  The train also has to change its wheels as the track gage between Moldova and Romania is different!  We cross the boarder and now the Romanian customs officers come by to check our passports.  This whole process takes four hours.  It's just after sunrise when we pull into Bucuresti and we can only check our bags at the hotel.  Our rooms will be available later.  So we go for a walk to a beautiful park.  Spring is in the air.  We come across an army of dog catchers who are beginning their day by purging the park of all stray dogs.  There are flowers, statues, and exercise equipment for us to enjoy.  After a coffee and some apple pie, we walk to Izvor Park which is near the Parliament Palace.  The wonderful play structures at the park completely distract me.  But you can see the Parliament in the background.  I've heard its the 2nd largest government building in the world, right after the US Pentagon.

The River Dambovita flows through the downtown area.  There are elegant old buildings and new modern designs all mixed in with each other.  Museums, churches, cobblestone streets.  A monument to Vlad Tepes, know around these parts as Vlad the Impaler.  His reputation has had some influence on the development of the vampire/dracula legend.  A modern sculpture depicts man caught in the wheel of time.  Another statue recollects the French WWII general Charles DeGaulle.  We visited one or two very nice restaurants in Bucuresti.  The Arch of Triumph dates from the end of WW I (1918).  A park near the arch has an outdoor museum that has homesteads from all around the country showing their distinctive types of design.  I've provided several pictures from there for you.  

Bucuresti has a very user friendly Metro system that helped us get all around.  And yes, they even have doggie parks ("spatiu pentru caini").  While in Bucuresti we saw the new movie "Noe" in 3D at one of the big multiplex theaters.  It was in English with Romanian subtitles.  For more serious entertainment, like the filarmonica, you'll want to go to the Romanian Athenaeum which is a beautiful place built in 1888.  In front there is a statute to the great Romanian poet, Mihai Eminescu.  And it is located on Strada Benjamin Franklin.

The National Revival Memorial is a modern sculpture marking the place of the overthrow and capture of the Communist Dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu who ruled Romania from 1965-1989.

The last park we visited in Bucuresti was the Parcul Carol I.  It is the location of the Memorial to the Unknown Soldier and has an honor guard and eternal flame.  

Romania-Part II is going to be about our trip to Sibiu in Romania.  It's a beautiful train trip through the Transylvanian Alps.