I knew little about my destination to the capital city before I ventured there other than what I read in the trusty guidebook. (Although actually, the guidebook used was a few years old, and was not all that trusty at all.) My friend Max and I took the quick bus ride from the Danube city of Ruse in Bulgaria, crossed the only bridge linking Bulgaria and Romania, and were dropped off in a parking lot in the middle of town. After finding the hostel we were ready to hit the town.
Well, we tried anyways. We avoided the overcrowded and hot city buses and took to the even hotter streets by foot. It must have been at least 100 degrees out. We walked and walked and walked. And then walked some more before we could even find a corner shop selling water. Our first impressions were not good, but I was willing to give Bucharest a fighting chance. Alas, Bucharest put up a lousy fight.
The city was, to be honest, probably one of the worst cities I have ever visited. It was ugly with ornate fountains ruined by dyed water (look at the picture above). The public transport was lacking as the buses were overcrowded and few and far between. The streets were super sized with an immense traffic problem. Not to mention the city was hot, noisy and dusty at all times. There was no real center to the city and it definitely did not cater to tourists at all. We couldn't even buy a cheesy souvenir. Postcards were even hard to come by. And finally, we were almost shocked at how expensive things seemed to be. I know it is a European capital city, but I guess I expected something different.
1 comment:
hey! i got here clicking through links on other people's blogs and i noticed your entry on bucharest - incidentally the city i was born in and where i live. no, it is not tourist friendly, yes, it does have its lovely spots if you can find them, but that depends on one's taste.
it surprised me to read that people were nice - many romanians brag about the 'national hospitality', but from what i can see in the street, most of the aren't that friendly...
the ruins bar ('la ruine') isn't in the building you photogaphed. it's in open air, between two building, but it might be closed now (it was closed last summer, too, because of construction work).
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