Bucharest, Romania (3/28/2026)

Saturday, March 28, 2026

Since we have been to Bucharest in 2021, we skipped the included excursion to explore the city on our own. Unfortunately it was raining.

We caught a bus and were able to use
our own credit cards to pay the fare

Palatul Parlamentului/Palace of the Parliament
(1984-1997, by Anca Petrescu in Postmodern and Neo-
Neoclassical style), the largest building in Europe, the
largest civilian administrative building in the world
that is topped only by the largest military administrative
building in the world: the US Pentagon; also with the
title of the heaviest building in the world, it is
sinking at a rate of 6 mm/0.24" per year

The 1.4 km/nearly 1 mile of fountains along
Bulevardul Unirii/Unity Boulevard only operate
May to October, but they are also under renovation

Hanul Manuc/Manuc's Inn (1806-1808 as a khan or
caravanserai/lodging for travelers, merchants, and
caravans traveling the network of trade routes) was
the most important 19C commercial complex in
Bucharest with shops, wholesalers, offices, and a pub;
now it is a hotel with a restaurant, coffeehouse, and bars

The main entrance to Manuc's Inn

Curtea Veche/The Old Court (1559 for a descendant of
Vlad III); it was Vlad III (the Impaler) who had established his
residence here when he declared Bucharest his capital in 1459

Biserica Curtea Veche/Old Court Church (c 1563, in
Brâncovenesc style) is the oldest church in Bucharest

Old Court Church portal (KSS)

Templul Unirea Sfântă/Holy Unity
Synagogue (1908-1910, by Herman Jankovici
and Julius Grünfeld in Neo-Moorish and
Neo-Romanesque styles), now a museum

Martyrs of Bucharest Memorial (2018)
commemorates the 125 Jews killed
during the Bucharest Pogrom in 1941 (KSS)

Sinagoga Mare/Great Synagogue (1847, by
Israil Herș and Asher Ancel in Neoclassical style)

After waiting at a tram stop, some locals sitting nearby
shouted at us and we got the message that the tram was
not running, so we headed to a Metroul București/
Bucharest Metro station and down many stairs to catch a train

Bucharest Metro train

Inside the Bucharest Metro train

Teatrului Național "Ion Luca Caragiale”/National Theater
(1973, by Horia Maicu, Romeo Belea, and Nicolae Cucu
in Brutalist style) with a sculpture group as the
The "Caragealiana" Monument: Cărucior cu clovni/
Cart with Clowns (2010, by Ioan Bolborea) for
Romanian playwright Ion Luca Caragiale

Monumentul lui Ion Constantin Brătianu/
Monument (1903 by Petre Antonescu and
Ernest Henri Dubois) to the Prime Minister
of Romania from 1881-1888

Biserica Sfintii Trei Ierarhi Colţea/Three Hierarchs
Church Colţea (1702) was one of the first churches
built in Brâncovenesc style that evolved during the
administration of Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu
(1688-1714), blending Byzantine, Ottoman, and
late Renaissance elements; on the right is Statuia lui
Mihail Cantacuzino/statue (1865-1869, by Karl Storck)
honoring the founder of both Colţea Monastery
and the first hospital in Bucharest

Spitalul Clinic Colțea/Colțea Clinical Hospital (1704,
rebuilt 1888-1897 after the 1802 earthquake, by
Joseph J Schiffeleers and George Mandrea in Eclectic style)

Biserica Sfânt Nicolae/St Nicholas Church
(1905-1909) a Russian Orthodox church

Biserica Doamnei/Lady's Church (1683) is one of the
hidden churches in a courtyard behind apartment blocks

We had lunch at Pizza Hut!

We were surprised that our pepperoni pizza had
cheese-filled "balls" around the edge

Gathering in the rain for a Pro-life March in front of a
statue (1935, by Ion Jalea) of Spiru Haret, a Romanian
mathematician and astronomer who developed the 
modern Romanian education system through reforms
during three terms as Minister of Education ending in 1910

Also in Piața Universității/University Square
was a statue (1886, by Ion Georgescu) of
Gheorghe Lazăr, a Transylvanian Romanian
scholar and the founder of the first Romanian
language school in Bucharest, in 1817

Statue (1876, by Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse)
of Mihai Viteazul who was Prince of Wallachia
and Moldavia, and was the first to unite Wallachia
Moldavia and Transylvania in 1599-1600

Statue  (1879-1880, by Ettore Ferrari) of
Ion Heliade Rădulescu, a poet, newspaper editor,
writer, and champion of Romanian culture

Separation of recyclables

We caught a tram to see the Catedrala Patriarhală/
Patriarchal Cathedral as we passed by, but missed it!

Astra Imperio Metropolitan articulated
tram #3874 (2024)

Passengers tried to help us find the "cathedral," but gave us directions to the National Cathedral. The directions took us to the JW Marriott Grand Hotel, just in time for the 14:00 optional excursion!

V3A-93-CH-PPC articulated tram #158 (2006)

Next: Mogoșoaia Palace.