There are a few days spent in Bucharest meeting with family and friends and just visiting sentimental places and helping with this and that. This means driving across Bucharest repeatedly to meet someone here, drop something there, buy something at that place and so on. Again we are struck at how ne everything looks in Bucharest especially in the suburbs, new in the sense from communist times. There aren’t any older areas left really as they were razed to build apartment buildings, all similar to each other almost.
Here is also where we reunite as the Cluj half arrives at the airport in the afternoon and we have to drive to pick them up passing by a small protest in front of the Parliament on the way.
On the way back we take on a slightly different route passing the former Royal Palace and then finally arriving at our hotel for the last two nights.
The hotel is a famous one in the middle of the city in the University Square, the former Intercontinental Hotel, now the Grand Hotel. We have looked at it a few times and were wondering how it would feel to stay in it so this visit we decided to finally do it. When we tell at the reception that this is the first time staying here they decide to upgrade us to a suite, how nice!
The upgraded room we received is almost on the top floor and it has some magnificent views. Throughout the day, whenever in the room we really enjoy just looking out and enjoying the expansive view across the city.
As we were upgraded to a suite we now have two rooms, one is the bedroom and one is the living room. We could arguably have a party here and we really enjoy the expanded space.
There is also a jacuzzi, really cool and also lots of free water, always welcome. And a coffee machine which is also cool. But the minibar is unfortunately for extra cash even though previously where we stayed in Bucharest the minibar was also free which was nice.
In the evening we meet with some friends in the nearby Cismigiu Park however it starts to rain and we have to hide under some umbrellas while having some drinks and exchanging stories with our friends.
Back at the hotel we are quite hungry as we haven’t eaten since breakfast so we order some food at the restaurant hotel, a pizza and some pasta. While they are good they are also quite a lot so we are quite full when we settle for the night.
Throughout the stay we continue to enjoy the views from our balcony both during the day and especially at night. It is mesmerizing to watch the cars flow on the main boulevard as they pass next to the hotel and we spend quite a bit just watching them before going to sleep.
The second full day we meet first with family and today we decide to take public transportation from our hotel. Bucharest is always improving its above the ground transportation options but we always prefer the subway which is more fun.
So into the subway we go and we enjoy the short ride to the suburbs, especially now outside of rush hour.
It is a short walk from the subway station to the apartment building where we meet our relative, eat traditional food and help around the house until late afternoon.
We return to the hotel late afternoon as we have to meet some friends next to it. However with the rain coming the decision is made to change the meeting location to Pizza Hut to escape the looming rain.
It actually does not rain, it is sunny in fact but we still meet at Pizza Hut, eat some pizza and catch up for a few hours before returning to the hotel.
Returning in the evening we really enjoy the beautifully colored hotel and then drink some champagne in the jacuzzi before going to sleep.
Last day in Bucharest we decide to explore the area around the hotel before we drive to the airport for our flight to Berlin. We check out and leave our luggage at the hotel storage so we can explore in peace and then it is time to go out and visit the area. Funnily we meet two other guests from the hotel on the way out and they are from Taiwan so we exchange travel stories before helping each other with taking couple photos and then going our separate ways.
The area here is one that hasn’t been destroyed completely during the Communism building spree. But the change continues with new buildings everywhere while some old ones seem to not have been maintained for some time.
What we are looking for is the former Embassy of the USA which we know was in the area. Initially we focus on one building but then after a bit more searching we find the actual embassy building which seems to have been abandoned for some time.
It seems that after the US moved the embassy and sold the building it was never developed again, it is a surprisingly romantic looking ruin in the middle of the city. A ruin which we and our families visited multiple times with various degrees of success.
We continue exploring this older neighborhood with charming houses and dangerous electrical wiring. Or at least it looks dangerous to us, maybe it is completely safe.
Of course there are also grand houses in this area and some fun fountains even though the fountains are not working anymore, likely for quite a few years already.
We then enter into the National Theater, which while open seems to be deserted and then we return to the hotel to pick our luggage for the drive to the airport. Check in is relatively easy and then it is time for our Ryanair flight to Berlin to start the second half of our adventure after almost a couple weeks in Romania.
