Parcul Cismigiu is close enough to old town to be called its Central Park, but is, by no means, the largest park in Bucharest. Heading diagonally toward the Palace of Parliament (or “hypotenusing”, as we like to call it, given we’ll take the other 2 sides of the triangle home), we first came to Parcul Cismigui.
The first park map sign was intriguing, showing Easter Island icons, so we looked forward seeand and taking pics of those.
As you might imagine, we were a bit disappointed to find that it only referred to “regular” bust-type statues on pedestals.
Alas, disillusioned, we headed through the much smaller Parcul Izvor toward the Casa Poporului (palace of the people), said to be the world's biggest parliamentary building (and one of the largest buildings of any kind, with three-million-plus square feet and more than 1000 rooms). Alternatively called a folly and testament to the megalomania of former dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu or a display of Romanian materials and engineering skill, it is arguably both. It came at a high cost, both literally paid for through the poverty of the people it was claimed to serve and by the razing of much of the surrounding neighbourhoods.
Ceaușescu and his wife, Elena, both played a direct role in the construction. It was originally intended to house the presidential offices and the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party but was never finished. We learned that, on Dec 25, 1989, the people put and end to his rule, executing them both. This revolution is remembered via the Rebirth Memorial in Revolution Square (see yesterday’s post).
The palace was closed, so unfortunately, our pictures are confined to the exterior.
Walking, we’ve noted various car brands, most familiar - Ford, VW, BMW, Renault, but also the Opal, with its sideways lightning bolt, and the most common, the Dacia.
There are a lot of cars in Bucharest and no parking lots. Everyone parks on the street, or sidewalk, double and sometimes triple parked, only barely leaving a lane for moving Dacias.
Among the graffiti “artists” this one stands out because the images are always the same, apparently drawing attention to the stray dog problem (which our guide yesterday says was resolved 3 years ago by rounding up and euthanizing them all). Or perhaps the artist want to recall the solution.
On the way home, we stopped at La Trattoria Buongiorno for beer and pizza. Yummy.
This featured blog entry was written by Deb Godley from the blog Deb Travels the World.
Read comments or Subscribe
