I’ve mentioned before that I frequently come across at least one day during a week of travel upon which all the museums are closed. For example – much of Florence seems to be closed on Mondays.
Well Bucharest has done them one better – Most things here are closed on Monday and Tuesday. I’m not certain if this is seasonal or perpetual, but I have only two days here – Monday and Tuesday – so I have timed things poorly. I had thought to look into this before the trip, and for some reason didn’t find such wide closures, but I was wrong.
Fortunately last night I bought a ticket for the parliament building, which is open every day, and that occupied a good portion of this afternoon.
The one museum welcoming visitors today is the Open Air Village Museum, which was a subway ride away from my hotel. The museum was mildly interesting, as they transported homes from some of the Romanian Villages to display here in town.
Some were even open to entry.
For a local who knows the regions of Romania, this would all probably be more interesting than it was for me. As a visitor from a foreign land, the nuance of different parts of the country was more difficult to detect (although it was clear that those regions closer to the Black Sea used more tile in construction).
A few vendors were set up representing their local villages at the tables. Most things held little attraction for me, being things like flowers craft of felt or cross-stitch. A few plates caught my eye, being beautifully made by hand, as did some honey, but ultimately I walked away happy with my memories.
What I found to be even more interesting, however, was getting to the Open Air Museum. The communist-era brutalist architecture is incredible.
I have absolutely no idea when this building was built but I cannot look away.
And I haven’t seen subway stations so linear, spare, drab, and poorly lit since I was in East Berlin.
The parliament building occupied my afternooon, and I’m glad I went – it really was very impressive. Its cornerstone was laid in 1984 (cold war era) and it is the second largest building in the world (we have to say that) by square foot, the largest civilian governmental building by volume, and the largest building weight. The only larger building is the Pentagon.
It is interesting listening to people here discuss the building of this massive structure. Its design was heavily dictated by Ceauşescu, and his maniacal beliefs guided its construction. Neighborhoods were destroyed, people were killed, and lives were altered. They have no love for him, but have pride in this place.
When he was deposed and put to death in 1989 the building was 75% complete, and there was some debate as to whether or not to finish, but neither option was cheap or easy, so they moved forward, completing construction in 1997.
It really is a lovely structure, with grandiose ballrooms, galleries, and theaters.
There are two of these staircases, constructed of beautiful Romanian marble. As an example of Ceauşescu’s megalomaniacal needs, they were rebuilt several times, however. He was not a tall person, so wanted the steps to be the right height (15cm) to feature him when he was walking up them.
Following the tour I headed toward Obor Market, which was on the opposite side of Bucharest. I frequently visit local markets, viewing available offerings. This one was nice, but nothing seemed especially fascinating or surprising. I was mostly interested in the numerous cases of cheese and meat, eventually buying some smoked sausage to gnaw on while I had a glass of red wine.
This wasn’t the day I had expected, but it was fantastic nonetheless. Bucharest is a great city, and I’m glad I’m here.
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