After last nights tiring hunt for a hotel, the team began the day only by 11.30 am.
Denis, Mookambika's friend was to show them around the city. As they manoeuvred through the city, they realised that this city was a blend of the old and the new. Some buildings were some shoddy and uninspiring while others were gracefully ageing.
The mammoth parliament is a sure-fire head turner! It was built by Romania's former dictator, Nicolae Ceaușescu. It is the most controversial building in Romania and is one of the most extravagant and expensive projects in the history of mankind. To build this edifice, he demolished most of Bucharest's historic districts including 19 orthodox Christian churches, 6 synagogues and Jewish temples, 3 Protestant churches and 30,000 homes in two neighbourhoods alone. In total, one-fifth of central Bucharest was razed for the project. As it the construction of the building was nearing completion in 1989, the Romanian revolution started and Ceausescu was executed on 25th December 1989.
It took 20,000 workers and 700 architects to build this massive structure that boasts of 12 stories, 1,100 rooms, a 350-ft. long lobby and four underground levels, including an enormous nuclear bunker. Food rationing and heating blackouts were everyday norms; people lived in squalor and poverty as the Ceausescu's themselves exhibited outrageous extravagance.
Driving around further, they spotted all the main landmarks including The Arch of Triumph and Revolution Square. The team had lunch at a nice old town bistro as they watched the passing faces of the city, and then they drove to the MogoÅŸoaia Palace. The palace was built in 1702 and has a beautiful park and placid lake to add to its magnificence.
They were back at the hotel by 7:30, ready to hit the bed with a heartful of Bucharest!
Denis, Mookambika's friend was to show them around the city. As they manoeuvred through the city, they realised that this city was a blend of the old and the new. Some buildings were some shoddy and uninspiring while others were gracefully ageing.
The mammoth parliament is a sure-fire head turner! It was built by Romania's former dictator, Nicolae Ceaușescu. It is the most controversial building in Romania and is one of the most extravagant and expensive projects in the history of mankind. To build this edifice, he demolished most of Bucharest's historic districts including 19 orthodox Christian churches, 6 synagogues and Jewish temples, 3 Protestant churches and 30,000 homes in two neighbourhoods alone. In total, one-fifth of central Bucharest was razed for the project. As it the construction of the building was nearing completion in 1989, the Romanian revolution started and Ceausescu was executed on 25th December 1989.
It took 20,000 workers and 700 architects to build this massive structure that boasts of 12 stories, 1,100 rooms, a 350-ft. long lobby and four underground levels, including an enormous nuclear bunker. Food rationing and heating blackouts were everyday norms; people lived in squalor and poverty as the Ceausescu's themselves exhibited outrageous extravagance.
Driving around further, they spotted all the main landmarks including The Arch of Triumph and Revolution Square. The team had lunch at a nice old town bistro as they watched the passing faces of the city, and then they drove to the MogoÅŸoaia Palace. The palace was built in 1702 and has a beautiful park and placid lake to add to its magnificence.
They were back at the hotel by 7:30, ready to hit the bed with a heartful of Bucharest!