Around the World With Uncle Moose: October 2013

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Romania

Friday, 13SEP

This morning we disembarked at Oltenita, Romania, and traveled inland to Bucharest.

Our first view of Romania

Abandoned factory outside Bucharest

On the road outside Bucharest

Based on our trip to Bucharest, Romania seemed to be in better economical and physical shape than Bulgaria, but significantly worse than Hungary. Most of the communist-era housing seemed to be renovated, although there was still a lot of stuff in disrepair.

Housing in the suburbs of Bucharest

Another apartment building

Street on the outskirts of Bucharest

The city of Bucharest itself was in fairly good shape. It has a lot of wide boulevards, and a lot of the pre-communist buildings have been renovated. The main site in the city is the Palace of the Parliament, which was built in the 1980's by the Communist leader Nicolae Ceaucescu. It's the second largest building the world (after the Pentagon), and building it and the surrounding buildings caused a large part the city to be leveled, at a time when a large part of the population was starving and freezing. Did I mention that people in Eastern Europe don't care for the Communists?

Parliament (center right). Picture taken from about 3/4 mile away

University building

On the streets of Bucharest

Early 20th century building, half renovated

Part of our tour included a visit to the Parliament building. The building is not completely finished, and Ceacescu was overthrown and killed before he could occupy it.

Parliament building, from about 1/4 mile away

Hallway inside the Parliament

Inside the Chamber of Deputies

Another hallway in the Parliament building

Chandelier in the Parliament building

Meeting room in the Parliament building

Ceaucescu also built a mile-long wide boulevard (originally named Victory of Socialism Boulevard, now Unirii Boulevard) that ended at the Parliament, and constructed large buildings on either side of the boulevard.

View down Unirii Boulevard from Parliament

Another view of Unirii Boulevard

Buildings facing the Parliament

Driving down Unirii Boulevard--Bucharest has a bit of a traffic problem.

Central Bucharest

Arcul de Triumf, based on you know what.

Another boulevard in Bucharest

Central University Library

Old Parliament Building

Strada Lipscani, a pedestrian street in the old part of Bucharest

Another view of Strada Lipscani

Coltea Hospital

Flea Market in the courtyard of the Bulgarian Church

Romanian Atheneum, home of the Romanian Philharmonic

Athenee Plaza Hotel, where we spent our night in Bucharest

My chance to smoke a Cuban cigar in the hotel bar, which I didn't do

Artwork which was probably not on display 25 years ago

Saturday, 14 SEP

Up bright and early to our drive to the Bucharest airport. From there, it was on to London, then JFK, then RDU. Nothing worthy of pictures.

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Bulgaria

Wednesday, 11 SEP

This morning we arrived at Vidin, Bulgaria, and got on a bus for the town of Belogradchik (literally "small white town"). Belogradchik is famous for its rock formations and a fortress.

Abandoned factory outside Vidin.

In Belogradchik

One thing we observed quickly is that the Bulgarian language is written using Cyrillic characters.

Death notices on a public display

A view of some rock formations from the center of town.

More of central Belogradchik

Hotel-Restaurant Belogradchik--not yet renovated

Belogradchik Fortress and some rock formations

More of Belogradchik Fortres

View of Belogradchik from the Fortress

Some rock formations


Still more rock formations

Even more rock formations

Back in the town of Belogradchik

From Belogradchik, we headed back to Vidin. In general, Bulgaria appeared to be the poorest of the countries we saw on the trip. It reminded me a lot of what Ukraine looked like about 10 years ago, and probably looks like today.

Bulgarian countryside

A town near Vidin

More Bulgarian countryside

Eventually, we arrived back in Vidin. This was the most "Soviet" looking town we saw on the trip. Lots of big apartment buildings in deteriorating condition an, and Soviet-style architecture and monuments everywhere. In all of the countries we visited, the guides were unanimous in their distaste (putting it mildly) for the Communists.

Apartments in Vidin

Street scene in Vidin

Baba Vida, a medieval fortress in Vidin

Another view of Baba Vida

Vidin's synagogue, currently abandoned, but scheduled for renovation

Practice your Bulgarian: "Supermarket"

Housing in Vidin

What I believe to be the theater in Vidin

Panorama shot of central Vidin

The school that our tour guide went to

Central Vidin

Apparently Mr. Clean is not permitted to enter Bulgaria

A shopping center in Vidin. No, that's not a Food Lion on the right.

Communist statuary in Vidin

More of central Vidin

An apartment building in Vidin

Thursday, 12SEP

This morning we docked at the city of Ruse, Bulgaria and I took a tour to the town of Veliko Tarnovo, while Brenda stayed on the boat and tried to recover from a cold.

Bulgarian countryside

We stopped at a hotel in Veliko Tarnovo for a morning snack, and then went to a Arbanasi, a small town nearby.

The hotel we stopped at in Veliko Tarnovo

View of Veliko Tarnovo from the hotel

Kaltenberg Brewery--despite my name, they didn't offer me a free sample.

In Arbanasi, we visited an ethnological museum, located in the oldest building in town, dating from the 1500s.

Street musician in Arbanasi

The Ethnological Museum

Inside the Museum

There are several churches in Arbanasi that look very modest from the inside, but spectacular on the inside. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed inside, so you'll have to settle for a picture stolen off the web.