May 29, 2024
The hour-and-a-half bus ride from our dock in Giurgui to today’s tour in Bucharest gave our guide ample time to educate us on current events in the area, especially as they pertain to Romania’s relationship with Ukraine. The view as we hit the highway provided the perfect set up.
We apologize for the quality – it was a little tough to get a good shot from the bus as we sped down our side of highway – but if you look at the oncoming traffic lanes you will get a visual of semi-tractor trailer rigs as far as the eye can see. At this point we had already traveled a good five-to-ten miles down the road and this had been the scene the entire distance. Our guide explained that more than 50% of these trucks are carrying goods from Ukraine.
Russian missile attacks have destroyed much of Ukraine’s transport and logistics infrastructure, with air cargo totally suspended and port activity severely interrupted. This leaves Ukraine with only two routes for getting their goods out of country so that they can keep their economy alive – Poland and Romania. Romania has the longest border with Ukraine; goods and services leaving Ukraine pass through Romania, and military supplies from Bulgaria, Turkey and other countries pass through Romania on their way to Ukraine. This is just one of the ways Romania is supportng Ukraine in its war against Russian aggression. They are also providing electricity, have assisted with military training, donated 1 billion Euros worth of ammunition and are providing refuge to several hundred thousand refugees while even more pass through on their way to finding safety elsewhere. All of this while their own citizens continue to endure very difficult conditions.
Eighty-five percent of the Romania’s GDP is produced within eight cities; forty-five percent of its citizens produce fifteen percent of its GDP. The unemployment rate is so low they are having to bring workers in from other countries to subsidize their work force. The country has lost major manufacturing contracts because they could not provide the work force to support operations. Most recently they brought in 150,000 workers from Asia. And yet the city we will be visiting today, Bucharest, boasts 30,000 “official” millionaires (our guide noted that Bucharest is the 6th most corrupt city in Europe – how they know these things we do not know – so it is assumed there are many more “unofficial” millionaires. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, Hungary is #1 for corruption). Our first viewing stop was a perfect example of this.
The Palace of Parliament is one of the largest buildings in the world, second only to our own Pentagon.
Built by the President of Communist Romania between 1984 and 1997 at a cost of more than 6 billion euros, the 3,930,000 square foot building is currently home to both chambers of the Romanian Parliament, three museums, a restaurant for the use of politicians only and an international conference room. It also has bullet-proof windows, a nuclear bunker buried nearly 400 feet below ground, and its own subway station for use only during an emergency evacuation. Nothing in the construction of the building was imported; a special factory was created to make the bullet-proof windows, but once the project was complete the factory went out of business and everyone lost their job because there was no market for its product. Seven hundred architects and 25,000 works (23,000 of whom were soldiers) were employed in the construction of the Palace.
It costs the people about 100 million euros a year to keep the lights on, and the building accounts for 20% of Bucharest’s total energy consumption, even though they only use about 60% of the building – and there is NO air conditioning! In fact, despite the time and money spent, only 400 of the planned 1,000 rooms have been completed. Sources estimate it would cost another 2.5-3 million euros to finish it. Did I mention that this behemoth is also the heaviest building in the world? It weighs in at a whopping 9.04 billion (there’s that word again) tons!! One more fun fact? Donald Trump tried to buy the building a few years ago for $600 million. Needless to say his offer was rejected.
Kitty-corner from the Palace is a boulevard full of luxury two-story apartments built for the elite of the Community party. No expense was spared in the design and building of these babies; they can even withstand an 8.0 earthquake. But no one wanted to live in them. Might have something to do with all of the little cameras and microphones installed during construction. If you’re interested, starting price is 1 million euros.
One of the most unfortunate parts of this story is that more than 6500 historical buildings were destroyed to create this Parliament Square area.
Our next “stop” was the Orthodox cathedral, second largest in the world, and like the Parliament Palace, despite 100 years of construction, it is only about 60% complete. Building costs are being paid for by the church, its members and local and national government entities. It can fit 7,000 people inside, and is expected to cost 500 million euros before all is said and done, though no one has any idea when that will be. With a church income of more than 500 million euros a year, no one’s really worried about it either.
As we made our way towards the old town area of Bucharest we got a glimpse of where all those millionaires keep their money. All of these buildings are banks, one of which is now and has always been state-owned and funds the military.
The entrance to the old town area provides a stark contrast to these monuments to wealth.
According to our guide, individuals who came into power after the end of Communist rule in Romania had no interest in the economic development or historical preservation of the country. They lost a decade of economic recovery/advancement and much of Bucharest fell into disrepair. But today Romania has a very interesting approach to historical conservation. Individuals may buy historic buildings and restore them, but in the restoration, they must use only materials available at the time the building was originally built. For example, a friend of our guides bought a building and attempted to use concrete to rebuild the foundation and walls. He was told he could not do this because the concrete used today was not available when the building was originally constructed (!). However, if the building falls down, they can do whatever they like with the property. Crazy! So you see all these buildings that look like they should be condemned and upon closer inspection there are people living in them!
After lunch we continued our walk through the town. Almost all of the larger buildings in the pictures below are banks, including the building with the dome. The picture in the middle of the next to last row and the one on the left in the last row are examples of buildings erected during the Nazi occupation. They tore down historic buildings and replaced them with what our guide referred to as “this Nazi mess.”
We also came across a business named for our son-in-law, Jack!
After a drive through Embassy Row, where most governments house their embassy and there were no stops for pictures, we made our last stop of the day, an outdoor museum that offers a history of the different villages that have existed throughout Romania’s life. Consisting of old traditional houses gathered from all the regions of the country, the museum illustrates the different architectural styles of historical areas like Moldova, Wallachia, Transylvania, Maramures, and Dobrodja. To be honest, it had been a long, hot day and we were pretty much done by this point. We didn’t pay a lot of attention, and actually left the tour early, but Ken did snap a few pictures.
At long last it was time to return to our hotel. After 23 days, 8 countries and 25 tours our time on the Viking Lofn has come to an end. Tomorrow we begin our land tour in Transylvania! This is something we’ve been looking forward to since we booked the cruise!
We’ll sign off with the views of and from our hotel, a JW Marriott that provides a touch of home…
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