The People's Parliament (part 2)

Lotsa construction and roadwork going on all around the Parliament building. What's going on? You'll find out soon...

Don't look at this one

Hidden Alley

I found a cozy little covered alleyway with shops and restaurants. I didnt stop to eat because there was a noisy car alarm at one end.

Billboards

There are a lot of billboards around - this building on the left is an extreme example because it has two large electronic billboards as well down low. I guess it would suck to live in one of those apartments whose balcony gets covered up by them. Most buildings get covered up completely by them.













I saw 5 or 6 guys installing this billboard. Lots of shouting and pointing and arguing - I was hoping for a nice gust of wind - but then I watched them work a while and realized that even though the way theyre doing it may be half-assed, they would get it done without a problem. I bet one of them even checked the weather reports...

More graffiti

Funny Building

The steel and glass go all the way down to the ground, inside the old facade.

Nice Churches

It's tough to get a decent picture of these churches - theres always a foreground wire, and they always seem to be crammed in against taller buildings.

Toothpaste, Razors, Sweatpants

All taken care of.

I have absolutly no idea (part 1 of probably a lot)

You can see a large hula hoop type thing hanging from the left side. What does it do? Does it move? Does its swing? Does it move up and down? Who knows...

How many people does it take to tow a car in Bucharest?

I can't imagine a towtruck on these streets - cars are parked on corners, on sidewalks, just about anywhere (the best place to park is anywhere you feel like it, and if someone yells at you within 3-5 seconds, you should probably move). But believe it or not, there are actually "No Parking" zones, so these guys come in and pick them up and take them away. It was pretty quick operation - I almost missed getting the picture.

Trains in the street

This one is for Jacob and Max: here is a train that travels down the street. If youre not careful, that train might hurt you.

Try metal trash cans like everyone else

How do you know youre in the Third World?

Technically, Romania may not be the Third World. But when you walk the streets, there is little doubt.

Graffiti

Heres some pics of some graffiti scattered around the city center

Things I forgot

Toothpaste Its been 2 days without the paste. Beer makes a good mouthwash, but not at 8 in the morning.

Razor blades. Do they even have disposable blades in this country? So far, no.

Sweat pants. A gym at the hotel is my reason to get back in shape. The lack of sweat pants is my excuse for blowing it off.

The People's Parliament (part 1)

This is the Palace of Parliament. Its one of the largest buildings in the world in terms of square or volumetric footage. Its 84 meters above ground, the tour book says most of it is unoccupied, that it was built during the darkest days of the communist regime, the largest room has a 14 ton carpet woven on the premises, and 3500 tons - yes, that's right, 3500 tons - of crystal were used for the buildings chandliers.

What I learned from walking around it was that there is parking underneath, and the perimeter at street level is two and a half miles minimum. Which mean driving around it at 90 miles an hour would take almost 2 minutes. (Why am I talking about fast cars? You'll see in a few days)

Oh yeah, the security wall is falling apart.

Dont walk on the luggage carousel

Jacob learned not to climb on the baggage carousel at JFK. There were plenty of signs, and a helpful security agent reminded us not to climb on the carousel.

Here in Bucharest, there are no signs or security agents like that.

Jacob covered the bottom bag with Space Shuttle stickers right before I left. Two of them managed to stay stuck all the way to Bucharest.

That's my Pith Helmet on top, there.

Hello Bucharest

After travelling for 14 hours, across 10 time zones, April 18-19 was the shortest day of my life.

Hello Goodbye Paris

The first time I was in Paris I tok a cab from Gare du Nord to Gare du Lyon. This time, I walked from Terminal 2f to Terminal 2b.

If you click on the picture of the engine, youll get a high rez image and see another plane off in the distance - she took off the same time we did.