This may have been our final day, but there was no let up in cognitive stimulation. During the 1989 Revolution our hotel had been a flashpoint. The world’s media was based within the building and crowds massed outside to draw attention. Our guide, as a young person, was at the scene. Many were killed or injured, including journalists. Today, what remains close to the hotel are a few small memorials that many visitors will pass by unaware of their significance.
We walked on to the Bucharest Municipal Museum nearby. Its focus is the history of this capital, but unlike other museums its first display boards ask the visitor to consider the concept of time, what one has chosen to do with that time and what impact that has on the person’s life. Its exhibits then take viewers on a journey starting with the present and heading further and further into the past, while enabling them to return to the present at any time. This aspect was profound. Many may have missed the display board and its meaning completely. However, they will not have missed the well-presented history of Bucharest, its Communist era, its timeline to the 1400s and display boards going back to pre-historic times. It was a small museum, but much effort had been taken to provide detailed explanations in English.
Our next destination, as part of the group, proved to be the grand finale. This was the Palace of Parliament, the pinnacle of Ceausescu’s Communist vision. The Leader bulldozed a sixth of Bucharest to make space for this colossal building which is identical on each of its four sides. An estimated 2,000 homes, plus churches and other historic buildings, were demolished to make way for the grand project. That took four years. A further five years were needed to build it using only Romanian labour working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and only Romanian materials. It is said that 5 million citizens had some involvement in its creation and is thereby considered a lasting monument to the people of the country. Today it houses the country’s parliament and associated departments, although rooms are available to hire.
We visited the Senate chamber, conference rooms and walked part of the passageways. What hits the visitor upon entry is the size of the interior, including the sweeping stairs in the entrance hall. Everything is on a grand scale.
Our guide confirmed just how many rooms there are, 1294. I had read estimates between 1100 and 3000 so was pleased to get some accuracy. All rooms were palatial and of different styles. The running costs are enormous – a month’s utility bill alone costs €1 million.
This was a perfect visit to end our time in Romania.
Copyright: words and photos Sue Barnard 2019