QUÉ VER EN BUCAREST EN 1 DÍA

A new journey begins, very short. I'm going to make a chapter of Bucharest, the capital of Romania. If you have seen the previous videos, you will have seen that I was also in Moldova before being here in Romania, which is the neighboring country. And in the last video I took a night train that brought me from Kishinev, from the capital of Moldova, to here, to Bucharest. There is like a grade now, we are in December 2022, so I'm going to look for a place to be quietly until dawn. And we already make a visit, which will be quite express, because then in the evening I have to take a plane back home. I'm on my way, it's already dawn, I'm already touring the city. In the part of the train station there are not many points of interest, but hey, it's cool because you can already see what the city's architecture is. There have been very important leaders, the most important in the last 60 years has been Nicolae Ceaușescu, who was the leader of the Socialist Party here in Romania, and he was governing from the 60s until he was executed in 1989, on Christmas 1989. The time when Nicolae Ceaușescu was governing had several stages. You can live in the initial part, which was quite positive for the people, the people saw it as something very good, because it brought a lot of prosperity, a lot of food started to come in again from abroad, there was a supply that did not exist until then, the issue of medicine, that is, health improved a lot. People started to live much better, a lot of infrastructure was created, so people were very happy because they started to live much better than what they had lived since the Second World War. Especially from the early 80s, all this changed and became a bit what it was, and the economic issue began to go down a lot. The government, led by Ceaușescu, began to make very bad decisions, began to waste a lot of money, as I will be showing you now during the day, in different points that I will be visiting. And then they made an uprising in the population of Tiroasara, here in northern Romania, they arrested Nicolas Ceaușescu along with his wife, they judged them quickly, I mean, this was in Christmas of 1989, and they executed them both, thus hidden in the back of a house, which to this day can still be visited in that town. And from there, the economic transition in the country began, and a bit what was the opening to the West. I'm already walking along Victoria Avenue, which is one of the most important streets in all of Bucharest. It was built in the 70s as part of the reform or Sovietization or communization that Nicolas Ceaușescu sought, and among which there are quite important buildings, especially there are many monuments, museums that are worth visiting. For example, this museum that is behind me is the Museum of Art Collections. It is a museum of the 19th century, of neoclassical style, it is famous for showing private art collections that have been donated to the Romanian government. This area is very cool because in the architecture of the buildings you see how the architectural styles are constantly changing. You go from an area of totally neoclassical buildings to others with much more modern architecture, to then purely communist blocks. Behind me is the Romanian Athenaeum, which is a palace in which there are concerts especially of classical music. It is a neoclassical style building, it is from the 19th century, and it has a dome that is 40 meters high. The truth is that it is a building that impresses in person. It is super beautiful, the details of everything that is the facade are super super beautiful. I have now arrived at the Plaza de la Revolución, which is near the Athenaeum, it is two minutes away, and it is a very important square because here there were quite important events in the history of Romania. Today, the building behind me is the Ministry of Interior Affairs, but this building used to be the headquarters of the Communist Party of Romania. In fact, it is important because from that building is where Nicolas Ceaușescu gave his last speech in 1989 to the nation, before having to be evacuated in a helicopter prior to its execution. And in the same square we find, on the other side, the National Art Museum of Romania, and there is also one of the most important libraries, the library of Carol I, who was one of the kings that Romania had before ending with the monarchy. In fact, the National Art Museum is located in the building that was the Royal Palace, which was reconverted after the monarchy in this, in an art exhibition. And Bucharest is not only buildings of concrete and huge avenues, but it also has some parks, like this one where I am now, which is the Kismiriu Park. There are several throughout the city, this is the most central one, it is not the largest or much less, but it is also a good excuse to escape a bit of the bustle of the city and have an area that is a little greener, although now it is not very green, because between the cold that it makes and that we are in mid-December, it is in the state in which it is, but still very beautiful, with areas of water, ducks, grass, well, it is a good way to take a break here in the middle of the city. BUCHAREST Returning to the main road, I have reached the University Square, which is obviously famous for the university, as its name suggests, which is this building behind me. Not only this one, but there are several faculties here, here is the University of Bucharest, then there is the Faculty of Geography, of Literature, of Computer Science, of Mathematics, all these faculties are here behind, in different buildings, but this square is also very famous because this is where they usually do and where the largest protests in the city have historically been held, and it is surrounded by several historical buildings. HISTORICAL CENTER The historical center is super beautiful, the only thing that I would change is that it were totally pedestrian, because even being pedestrian, cars can pass and the truth is that there are times when it gets quite heavy and it makes quite ugly what it is that vans are passing all the time in front of such beautiful buildings, but apart from that, as I said, it is a beautiful area because it combines this older medieval part with neoclassical buildings, with others even more modern, or places like this one that is behind me, which is the Statropoulos Monastery, which is an orthodox Catholic style monastery. It was built in 1724, although at the beginning of the 20th century it had to be rebuilt for a large part for some damage it received from an earthquake that occurred in the area. HISTORICAL CENTER The area of ​​the historical center, apart from being super beautiful because of the architecture, the floor, it is also a very important place with a lot of atmosphere during the afternoons, nights, weekends, etc. Now it looks very quiet because it is 9 o'clock in the morning on a Monday, but if you come here, for example, on a Saturday or a Friday afternoon, it is full of atmosphere. The last time I came here was 6 or 7 years ago. This is the area where we were having dinner and it seems to me that this is also where we were going out to party. There are quite a few areas like this, so if you are here on a weekend or in the evening, especially in summer, do not stop by here because you are going to have a bestial atmosphere. Inside the historical center we have the Church of Curte Abetxe, also known as the Old Church or the Church of the Annunciation, and it is the oldest church that is preserved here in Bucharest. It is also very important because between the 16th and 18th centuries is where the coronation of the kings that existed during that time took place. All this area is very worth getting lost in the streets because you are going to find very curious things, especially in terms of the architecture of the buildings, but not only areas that are declared as historical monuments or that are announced as such, but many of the restaurants, for example, also in the area are historical heritage. So it is worth it, even restaurants that you see that are open, that have a more medieval look, that you enter because you can be surprised by the interior courtyards or the interior details, or the details inside the restaurants are going to be very beautiful. THE UNIRI BOULEVARD And leaving the historical center, you are going to see one of the biggest contrasts that there is in the city in terms of architecture, and that is the Uniri Boulevard, which is a huge, very long avenue that reminds a lot of the Champs-Élysées of Paris, and it is not a coincidence, since Nicolas Ceaușescu saw the Champs-Élysées of Paris and wanted his own, so he built these, crowned at the end of the avenue by the Parliament of Bucharest, from where he ruled. To build all this he had to throw neighborhoods that existed here. Nicolas Ceaușescu traveled to North Korea in the 70s and from there he took a few ideas, among which were the large avenues with a lot of space and the giant buildings. The pity is that in this case he destroyed many neighborhoods from here, in fact it is said that he destroyed up to 40% of what was the city of Bucharest at the time. UNIRI BOULEVARD As I was telling you, the Parliament of Bucharest is a giant building, in fact it is the second largest administrative building in the world, after the Pentagon, and more than 100,000 people were needed to build it. In fact, many people died during the construction, and it is said that their bodies are buried under the foundations of the building. The budget of five years was spent on the construction of it, and it was one of the keys that caused the economic collapse of its trajectory, and where everything that I have been explaining to you later began to decline, on the subject of lack of food supplies, of lack of budget in general, to be able to spend it on improving society. UNIRI BOULEVARD And to finish the day in Bucharest, before going back to the airport, I have come to a restaurant that is one of the best known here, especially the hysterical helmet, but in general in Bucharest, especially for tourists, which is the Karukubere, and it is a restaurant that is beautiful, that's why I was telling you before that it is worth going into one of them, just to see the decoration. Here, even if you don't come to eat, I recommend that you go in, take a walk, but if not, a good option is to come here to eat, although it is a tourist site, the food is quite good, I came here six years ago and it is very tasty, and the prices are a little higher than the average in the area, but they are good. I have already left the Karukubere, which literally means beer cart, it is a restaurant that was created in 1879, although until the 1920s it did not begin to become a restaurant, before it was more like a brewery, so they have a beer cart that has a lot of fame. I have eaten a soup like this, with noodles and chicken, which is very good, so hot and such. Then for the main course I have also taken a pork rib, with another part of the pork, which I don't know what it was, but it was very good, everything that is glazed was perfect, super crispy, toasted, very good. And then for dessert, a pavlova cake, which is like merengue, with cream and a lot of pieces of fruit, like a kind of macedonia at the bottom. It is also delicious. In total, all that plus an orange juice and such, have been about 30 euros, so that's why I tell you that, well, it's not what it should be, because of the country's standard of living, but hey, it's something different. And if you don't, you have many other options in the area, which is going to be much cheaper, and you can also find food that is very good. But hey, I felt like it because I was here six years ago. I'm going to close the Bucharest chapter here. I hope you liked it, all the options you have to do in a day in Bucharest. If you have more time, you have a lot of parks to visit, although if you come more days, I recommend that you visit the rest of Romania, that there are a lot of castles and a lot of towns that are worth it. It's something I've been thinking about for a long time, in fact it's something I should have done on this trip, but I got sick and I had to cancel it. So well, I'll leave it for a few months, I hope. And that's it. If you have anything, put it in the comments, or contact me on Instagram, any questions or whatever you want. And see you next time.