Bucharest

A one day stopover in Bucharest.
We caught the train from Brasov, which took about 2 and half hours.

The first part of the trip was a climb  which was slow but some beautiful surroundings. Even though it is mid spring there still is snow on the mountain tops.
The rest of the trip is through uninteresting rural farm lands.
We got to our apartment which is in the "old town". The "old town" is actually a marketing idea for tourism. This part of the town is no older than other parts. But the authorities have cut off cars from a lot of it and put cobblestones on the street etc... There are now over 250 restaurants and bars in a fairly small  area.

After some grocery shopping, we walked around the old town and up to Orthodox Christian Cathedral.

We once again did a Walkabout tour, I highly recommend these as a great introduction to a city.

Bucharest has some magnificent  buildings and a grand Boulevard (30 cm wider than the Champs de Elysees)  and it wouldn't take much to become one of the great Eastern European cities.  The parliament building, commenced building in the communist times, is the 2nd biggest building in the world , only the Pentagon  being bigger. Apparently  underutilised now.
After the  tour we had a torrential downpour and thunderstorm and some of the streets started to flood. So outdoor dining was out of the question, so we grabbed some lamb gyros and a beer and dined at our apartment.
Off to Moscow on Monday.
Cheers,
A & K.