Bucharest (Buchuresti), located between Transylvania's Carpathian Mountains and the Black Sea, in southeastern Romania, is an often misunderstood city. Its lovely neoclassical buildings and wide tree-lined boulevards inspired the nickname ‘Paris of the Balkans' a century ago, but many gems are obscured by post-Stalinist, North Korean-style grey housing blocks built, intentionally, to hide finer architectural moments. To spot Byzantine-style chapels and bell-towered mansions visitors have to work a little. Impressions depend on how deep a sightseer goes.
On the side streets of the historic centre are bars, eateries (French, Italian, Transylvanian), antique shops, a 15th-century court attributed to Vlad Dracul, and Piata Revolutiei, the heart of the 1989 protests that ended communism here in a sudden, bloody swoop (culminating with the execution of Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife).
In the ritzy north (reached easily by metro) is a local favourite, the sprawling Herastrau Park, with boat rides and an open-air Village Museum displaying traditional homes. Locals are equally fond of classical music (particularly works by Bucharest's own George Enescu), which is played often at the 19th-century Romanian Athenaeum.
Romania joined the EU in January 2007, and the sense of a new dynamism all over town is evident in construction projects (though sadly nothing in terms of a tourist office as of yet). Bucharest enjoys a temperate climate, but mid-summer is not a good time to visit, as temperatures soar, air conditioning is rare and many of the locals leave for the coast.
On the side streets of the historic centre are bars, eateries (French, Italian, Transylvanian), antique shops, a 15th-century court attributed to Vlad Dracul, and Piata Revolutiei, the heart of the 1989 protests that ended communism here in a sudden, bloody swoop (culminating with the execution of Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife).
In the ritzy north (reached easily by metro) is a local favourite, the sprawling Herastrau Park, with boat rides and an open-air Village Museum displaying traditional homes. Locals are equally fond of classical music (particularly works by Bucharest's own George Enescu), which is played often at the 19th-century Romanian Athenaeum.
Romania joined the EU in January 2007, and the sense of a new dynamism all over town is evident in construction projects (though sadly nothing in terms of a tourist office as of yet). Bucharest enjoys a temperate climate, but mid-summer is not a good time to visit, as temperatures soar, air conditioning is rare and many of the locals leave for the coast.