After our pretrip tour of Transylvania, we went back to Bucharest, where we were joined by the rest of the group that were going on the riverboat tour of the lower Danube. We had a quick tour of the city of Bucharest before we headed for the boat. Below is a shot of Revolution Square. The monument is dedicated to the people who died during the revolution of 1989 when Ceausescu was deposed and executed and the country began to move away from Communism. The locals refer to this monument as the olive and the toothpick. It's always good to know that humor lives on no matter what.
The building below has the second largest footprint in the world--behind the Pentagon. It is now called the People's Palace, but it was originally built by Ceausescu as a residence where he intended to live and host state functions to impress the world with his power and importance. He never moved in. Our tour guide here was pretty snide in her references to this man who was executed before she was even born.
This was a communist government building of some sort. Today it has been gutted and is slated to become an upscale shopping center. How ironic.
This is Romania's version of the Arch of Triumph. It is a little smaller than its Parisian counterpart, but equally impressive. As in Paris, several wide boulevards radiate out from it. Our Romanian guide proudly told us they are wider than those in Paris. It is no wonder that Bucharest is known as the Paris of Eastern Europe.
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