In and Around Bucharest

Most.. no, maybe just some pictures here were taken from a moving (read: speeding) taxi -- so forgive the lack of artistic flair :-)

typical apartment building

The Arch of Triumph

I have no idea what this building is.. but it is representative of a lot of buildings in Bucharest -- official looking and gray

The picture above just looks like any street in any city but if you look carefully in the middle of the picture -- near the top half of the building the beautiful statues below are located on a ledge. The street itself seemed ugly on first glance.. but if you could look underneath the grime and graffiti there was still beautiful architecture hidden...

In a garden we found while wandering the city ...

It was about 98 degrees as we walked around Bucharest waiting for Club Count Dracula to open (more on that in another post)... as we walked through a garden we discovered this little terrace cafe and stopped for diet cokes by the pond.. it was fabulous!

Boys taking advantage of a river that runs through the city...

This river (?) acted as a median on one of the streets we walked

just an example of the architecture that is hidden among the concrete Communist era buildings

The Palace of the People... we didn't go inside just walked by the outside... it is the 2nd largest administrative building in the world (the Pentagon in DC is the first).

Street lights outside the Palace of the People

I loved this street!! Piata Unrii.. Boulevard Unrii -- one of the most peaceful walks we took in the city. Cars parked on the sidewalk, fountains lined the median... the fact that it was shaded may have played a part in my finding it beautiful but there was a peacefulness as we walked down this boulevard.

We walked and walked until we located the mall where the Carrefour Unrii was located. The mall is so different that malls in the States. It is made up of small shops which seem to be hapharzardly put together with no rhyme or reason.

just a building

The roundabouts entering and exiting the city have a variety of sculptures in the center... this cab was FLYING so the pictures are even more horrible than normal car shots! LOL