Although there is a law that people can't smoke in offices and other public places every elevator, bathroom or hallway is filled with smoke! I went to this restaurant/bar in Bucharest where the "non smoking" section was 2 tables with 2 chairs each separated from the rest by ropes! Funny stuff.
Any way, I did as stint in Bucharest and I was expecting that it would be a mess in that it only joined the EU in 2007, was under Ciuscescu's dictatorship and soviet rule for so long. In addition, all the reports about the orphanages and stories about gypsies had created a "bad" impression on me.
Bucharest was (well the parts I saw - most central areas) surprisingly orderly and it has some fine architecture and big homes. Many of these structures are in need of renovation but many others are in fine shape and it clearly seems they are moving towards cleaning up the place. They have a nice tram system and a subway system.
There are far too many cars for the amount of road or amount of parking. People park everywhere (they even create parking Islands in some of the larger plazas or roundabouts). However, there is not much traffic noise in the way of honking.
Bucharest boasts the second largest building in the world (after the pentagon) which is their parlaimnet building. Built in the 1980's it is an impressive builidng and one that looks much older than 20 years (in its architectural style).
My hotel had a "chinese' restaurant in the lobby and out of curiosity I went in. Kind of funny. The only chinese person they have seen at this restaurant is perhaps a movie with Jackie Chang in it.
There isn't much to do in Bucharest....
p.s. my favorite part of this post is that the Net Nannies can't change the first sentence
, too bad its only during summer , also check out the mountain resorts for some stunning landscape and medieval cities (eg: Brasov, Sighisoara-home of Dracula and the only habited fortress today in Europe , Rasnov fortress , Sibiu- cultural capital of Europe in 2007 and the list goes on and on.