Busy. Full of life and people. The bus stop right at the station. Grand architecture and communist blocks that have not been renovated for decades. Beggars in front of some churches, at traffic lights. Homeless people. Lots of trees. City centre lively on a weekend.
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Ruins and rubbish
Far fewer ruins and far less rubbish than in Bulgaria, but some places are shocking - see the hotel below. The demographic decline in Romania was not as bad as in Bulgaria, but still huge - at least 17%.
Generally in a much better condition than in Bulgaria, even though the stock seems older. Big variety of models, many companies.
The side entrance to the north train station - Gara De Nord
This was the only train tainted with graffiti.
Even though the tower is old and a tree grows on top, the exterior wall looks maintained.
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Bucharest is green
And it's not just the communist era urban planning green, but also modern, let's plant trees in the old town, let's put benches and various plants, including flowers, on street corners, let's make make places beautiful green.
A walk from my apartment to the bus stop.
Red roses
Beautiful plants instead of grass. Solid stone (?) bollards.
This is a metro entrance.
A tree shaded bus stop. Trees and bushes in the median.
On Sunday the streets in the centre are open to people, but not on bikes - the police are telling riders off and send them to side streets.
It was rainy and someone rode a bike here.
City bikes.
It was the weekend. Some streets in the centre were open to pedestrians.
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Public transport
Frequent and generally very good. But, no electronic information at bus/tram stops - Sofia had it. No printed information. No electronic displays, no audio announcements on buses. Electronic information only near the driver's cabin.
The old metro lines have marble walls, columns... it doesn't look good, but must have been very expensive to build. They are dark, gloomy, neglected. Stairs and corridors are wide - the system was designed for big crowds. Metro cars are very wide. Seats are plastic.
At least Solaris is Solaris here, not Skoda like in Sofia.
The architecture left by Ceausescu in Bucharest: the grandiosity, the thickness of walls, reminded me of the Capitol in Hunger Games.
According to the guide: that area of Bucharest was chosen because it was most stable seismically.
After a visit to North Korea in 1971 Ceausescu evicted 40 thousand people and demolished the old part of Bucharest to build a palace inspired by the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun.
Apartments in these buildings were given to Securitate and other high level officials in Ceausescu's Romania.
The small balcony over the entrance was the site of his last speech. The square in front was the turning point of the 1989 revolution. Romanians talk about history "during Ceausescu's rule" and "after Ceausescu".
On a Romanian night train to Vienna. There are electrical sockets in the compartment. The couchette compartment was full. A French couple returning from holidays in Türkiye and I assume a Romanian woman - she did not speak a word to us.
The conductor took my paper ticket and returned it at the end of the trip instead of just scanning the QR code like for passengers who showed him the same kind of ticket on their phones. The ticket had my name, date of birth. Weird.
These buildings have a shape of mountain lodges, but are oversized.
Hey, solar panels!
Abandoned?
Look, there's a church spire.
Beautiful farmstead.
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Final thoughts
Similar to Bulgaria, I just scratched the surface. Spending two nights in a capital, visiting some museums, going on a walking tour with a local guide is not enough to know a country or people. At the same time, I know many times more than before. I saw things with my own eyes. I got a bit of a feel for the place and the people. I went to the shops. I took public transport. I almost rode a bike in Bucharest. :-) These were my first visits to these countries, and perhaps not last.
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