2013-10-05-Bucharest, Romania-Romanian Cultural Village,...

2013-10-05-Bucharest, Romania-Romanian Cultural Village,...

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The Village Museum (1936) (The Village Museum (Muzeul Satului in Romanian) is an open-air ethnographic museum located in the Herăstrău Park (Bucharest, Romania), showcasing traditional Romanian village life. The museum extends to over 100,000 square meters and contains 272 authentic peasant farms and houses from all over Romania.)

Rural Romanian House

Our guide describes unique Romanian architectural styles

18th Century Romanian Barn

Shingled compound gate

Religious motifs are common in vintage Romanian rural architecture

19th Century Romanian barnyard

Thatched and wood shingled roofs

Intricate, woven fence with thatched and spiked top

Wooden church spire

Early 20th century rural house

19th century home a relatively prosperous family. Note the intricacy of the wooden roof shakes

Maramureş Region church

Maramures Region Wooden Church (Maramureș is one of the better-known regions of Romania, with autonomous traditions since the Middle Ages - but still not very much visited. Its well-preserved wooden villages and churches, its traditional lifestyle, and the local colourful dresses still in use make Maramureș as near to a living museum as can be found in Europe.)

Orthodox Cross atop a Maramureș Region Church

Maramureș Region Church

Wandering around the Romanian Village Museum

Wooden Grave Marker

Wooden Grave Marker

Maramureș Region Church

Cat on the hunt

Orthodox Spire Cross

Orthodox Spire Crosses

A pussycat wets his whistle

A rural home with a steep wooden shake roof

Wooden Orthodox cross

Maramureș Region Church

Earth houses of Straja, dug in to the ground and topped with thatch (Straja is in the western Carpathian Mountains.)

Earth houses of Straja, dug in to the ground and topped with thatch

Georgia at the Village Museum

Chris and Georgia at the Village Museum

Romanian stilt house

Intricate wood flashing and roof shingles

Beautiful well with magnificent wood shingle roof

At the Village Museum

Romanian Expo Center

US Embassy Compound

Art Nouveau Touches in Bucharest: The Cantacuzino Palace (Located on Calea Victoriei (Victory Avenue), the most famous street of the capital, the sumptuous Cantacuzino Palace is not only an architectural monument of outstanding value, considered one of the most beautiful houses in Bucharest, but a major cultural landmark as well, housing the Memorial House and a museum dedicated to the greatest of all Romanian composers George Enescu (1881-1955), one of the 20th century's giants of classical music)

The Cantacuzino Palace (Designed in French academic style with conspicuous Art Nouveau features by Ion D. Berindei, Romanian architect trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, The Cantacuzino Palace was conceived after the model of Parisian nobility and contributed to Bucharest’s image as “The Little Paris”. The façade is distinguished by the spectacular shell-shaped glass awning above the entrance, a visual emblem of the city of Bucharest. The interiors were adorned with monumental paintings made by George Demetrescu Mirea, Nicolae Vermont and Costin Petrescu (professor at the School of Fine Arts and the royal court painter).The palace was built in the early years of the 20th century for one of the richest men of the time. In 1937 it became the residence of George Enescu who married Maruca Cantacuzino, the widow of the elder son of Grigore Cantacuzino .Enescu and his wife did not actually live in the main building of the palace, but in the small austere pavilion at the back of the garden, behind the palace.)

The Museum of Art Collections (The Museum of Art Collections is a branch of the National Museum of Art of Romania and is situated in Bucharest.)

National Gallery of Romanian Art

The National Military Circle (The Officers’ Circle, 1910-1923 (Resembling the Opera Garnier in Paris, The Officers’ Circle Palace (the construction started in 1911 but due to occurrence of the WWI, it was officially inaugurated only in 1923) is one of the most beautiful and representative buildings in Bucharest. The architect, Dimitrie Maimarolu, was among the Romanian architects who promoted the Beaux-Arts school’s models which changed the appearance of the city in the late 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. The edifice was built for the Officers’ Circle of the Bucharest military garrison, organization of the Romanian Army officers founded in 1876. The palace was famous for the glamorous balls held there in the period between the two world wars. The fountain in front of the Officers’ Circle Palace bears the name of the old Sarindar monastery, the earliest edifice on site.
The Officers’ Circle Palace is today the central cultural institution of the Romanian army. The sumptuous interiors are currently used for various cultural events.)

The Flag of Romania (The national flag of Romania României) is a tricolor with vertical stripes, beginning from the flagpole: blue, yellow and red. .Red, yellow and blue were found on late 16th century royal grants of Michael the Brave, as well as shields and banners. During the Wallachian uprising of 1821, they were present on the canvas of the revolutionaries' flag and its fringes; for the first time a meaning was attributed to them: "Liberty (sky-blue), Justice (field yellow), Fraternity (blood red)".)

The Savings Bank Palace (1900)

Dracula's Blood Bank

The Parliament Palace (1984-1990)

The Chamber of Deputies (1904) (The former Palace of the Chamber of Deputies (1904), a monumental portico building with a unique dome, which once housed the National Assembly, and later the country’s Parliament.)

The Chamber of Deputies (1904) (The Palace of the Chamber of Deputies (now the Palace of the Patriarchate also known as the Palace of the Great National Assembly during the Communist regime) is a building in Bucharest, Romania located on the plateau of Dealul Mitropoliei. The building served as the seat of successive Romanian legislatures: of the Assembly of Deputies during the Kingdom of Romania, then of the Communist-era Great National Assembly, and after the Romanian Revolution of 1989, of the Chamber of Deputies. Parliamentarians vacated the building in 1997, when it passed to the Patriarchate of the Romanian Orthodox Church.)

Right-The Patriarchal Cathedral (1658) Left- Palace of the Chamber of Deputies (1904) (This complex is located on a small rise in the center of Bucharest know as Patriarchy Hill. Important Romanian historic events unfolded here- on the 24th of January 1859 the Elective Assembly voted for the the Unification of the Romanian Principalities of Wallachia and Moldova, by choosing Alexander Ioan Cuza as Prince of both countries. On Patriarchy Hill the Independence of the country was declared (1878) and the Kingdom formed(1881).)

Ornate Orthodox Cross atop the Patriarchal Cathedral

Portico-The Patriarchal Cathedral

Patriarchal Chapel to the west of the Cathedral

Patriarchal Palace (R) and Chapel {L) (On the Western side there is the Patriarchal Palace (1935), residence of the Patriarch, and its Chapel (1723) with the Brancovan style porch. The Brâncovenesc style, also known as Wallachian Renaissance and Romanian Renaissance, is an art and architectural style that evolved during the administration of Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.Brâncoveanu was an administrator of the Principality of Wallachia (between 1688 and 1714) under Ottoman Empire overlords, an extremely wealthy aristocrat, and a builder of fine palaces and churches.The design style developed in Wallachia, in present day southern Romania. Brâncovenesc style is synthesis between the Byzantine, Ottoman, late Renaissance, and Baroque architecture. It was also a unique hybrid of Romanian Orthodox Christian ediface styles working with the dominant Islamic architecture of the Ottoman Empire, of which the Principality of Wallachia was then, as a vassal state, an integral part.)

Orthodox Cross motif

The Bell Tower (1698) of the Patriarchal Cathedral complex (To the east of the cathedral rises the Bell Tower (1698), the only remaining vestige of the original walled precinct.)

Bell Tower dome and unique Orthodox cross

Chamber of Deputies (The façade, done in a neo-classical style, is 80 m long. The imposing ground floor is dominated by the centre of the façade, the entrance area, detached and having a peristyle featuring six Ionic columns, the four in the centre grouped as pairs. The main façade has two side wings, architecturally subordinate to the entrance.)

Detail-Patriarchal Residence. The Romanian Patriarch's coat of arms

The Patriarchal Residence

Patriarchal Cathedral

Mosaic-The Crucifixion of St Andrew, Chamber of Deputies Building (St. Andrew, brother of St Peter, was crucified in Greece and is especially venerated in the Orthodox tradition.)

The Patriarchal Residence

Patriarchal Chapel

Magnificent gate on the Cathedral Grounds

Magnificent gate on the Cathedral Grounds

Patriarchal Cathedral

All Saints mural, Cathedral Grounds

Detail-All Saints mural, Cathedral Grounds

Entering the cathedral behind an Orthodox priest

Interior-Patriarchal Cathedral

Interior-Patriarchal Cathedral

Interior-Dome of the Patriarchal Cathedral

Interior-Patriarchal Cathedral

Interior-Patriarchal Cathedral

Interior-Patriarchal Cathedral

Interior-Patriarchal Cathedral

Interior-Patriarchal Cathedral

Interior-Patriarchal Cathedral

Interior-Patriarchal Cathedral

A member of the Orthodox faithful

Interior-Patriarchal Cathedral

Interior-Patriarchal Cathedral

Orthodox priest

Interior-Patriarchal Cathedral

Interior-Patriarchal Cathedral

Laurie and Georgia-Interior-Patriarchal Cathedral

No photo sign-Interior-Patriarchal Cathedral. Oops, guess I missed that

Exiting the Cathedral into the courtyard

Cathedral Courtyard

Cathedral Courtyard

Chamber of Deputies dome and cupola

Filigree cross motif

Paul and Laurie cross the Cathedral courtyard

A senior member of the Orthodox faithful on the Cathedral grounds

Orthodox cross motif

A babushka-Cathedral Courtyard

Spire detail-Patriarchal Cathedral

Cross detail-Patriarchal Cathedral

Detail-The Patriarchal Crest

Cross atop the Bell Tower

A religion pigeon

The Romanian Eagle atop the Chamber of Deputies

Bucharest-A capitalist icon tops a communist era apartment building

Bob and Chris observe the Parliament Palace from our bus

National Gallery, Bucharest

Parliament Palace, Bucharest (Commonly known as “Ceausescu’s House” and popularly referred to by Romanians as “The House of the People”, this building now houses Romania’s Parliament and is considered a major tourist attraction. It is the second largest administrative building in the world after the Pentagon. Originally named “The House of the Republic”, it was conceived by the communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu as the seat -and the symbol- of his political power. Together with the Boulevard “Victory of Socialism”, the building was going to be “a suggestive emblem of the greatness and dignity of the new destiny of the Capital, worthy of the Communist era”, as official propaganda claimed. No resources were spared, but little did Ceausescu know, during his frequent visits to the construction site, that he would not live to see it finished. He and his wife Elena were summarily executed by a machine gun firing squad at the height of the 1989 revolution before this building was completed.)

Interior-Parliament Palace (The palace is often compared to a pyramid, and for good reason: the dimensions, the appearance and the intention, as well as human sacrifice it caused, recall the Pharaonic constructions. The interiors are breathtaking, but not in a positive way. Visitors are impressed by the size and the opulence of the rooms and halls -all marble, carved wood and crystals, truly over the top. The interiors were used in 2002 by the film director Costa Gavras as a setting for some scenes of the movie “Amen”, where they were intended to represent the Vatican.)

Interior-Parliament Palace (For many of Bucharest’s inhabitants the House of the People is not a building to love or be proud of. To make room for it, Bucharest lost the old Uranus neighbourhood with sloping cobbled streets, low-rise houses and old churches, and the elegant architecture of the Izvor neighborhood. Thousands of families lost their homes and were forced to move. The pain for many Bucharest families is still being felt.)

Interior-Parliament Palace (The House of the People involved huge costs, both human and economic. Nearly 30,000 workers and all the specialists in the country were deployed at the House construction site, working on a three-shifts program. While raising the extravagant and excessively decorated building, the communist regime imposed heavy privations on the population.

Ceausescu’s House changed forever the appearance of the city. The building overwhelms the city by its gigantic size, which is alien to the spirit of the city. The House of the People will remain an ever lasting symbol of communist dictatorship in the capital of Romania.)

Interior-Parliament Palace

Interior-Parliament Palace

Parliament Palace. Paul adopts the lotus position as he meditates upon Ceaușescu's megalomania.

Interior-Parliament Palace. A vast, pointless space. One of many in the building.

Interior-Parliament Palace

View from the portico of the Parliament Palace

On the portico of the Parliament Palace

On the portico of the Parliament Palace

View from the portico of the Parliament Palace

On the portico of the Parliament Palace

Interior-Parliament Palace

Interior-Parliament Palace. The Romanian Eagle.

A hero of Romania: Stefan the Great of Moldova (1433-1504) (Stephen III of Moldavia (also known as Stefan the Great), was Prince of Moldavia between 1457 and 1504 and the most prominent representative of the House of Mușat. The western part of what was then known as Moldovia is now part of Romania.

During his reign, he strengthened Moldavia and maintained its independence against the ambitions of Hungary, Poland, and the Ottoman Empire, which all sought to subdue the land. Stephen achieved fame in Europe for his long resistance against the Ottomans. He was victorious in 46 of his 48 battles, and was one of the first to gain a decisive victory over the Ottomans at the Battle of Vaslui, after which Pope Sixtus IV deemed him verus christianae fidei athleta (true Champion of Christian Faith). He was a religious man and displayed his piety when he paid the debt of Mount Athos to the Porte, ensuring the continuity of Athos as an autonomous monastical community.)

Coltea Settlements Hospital (1888) (The Sword Bearer Mihai Cantacuzino, great Christian and philanthropist, and also a scholar of his time who studied humanist disciplines in Padua, Italy, erected at his expense, between 1695-1698 a stone church, and later established around it a monastery, a belfry, a school and a hospital.
The Coltea hospital was the first great hospital in Romanian Principalities, and has been functioning uninterruptedly ever since. Coltea Hospital sheltered and treated the wounded of the Independence War (Plevna) in 1877, of the war for Cadrilater region (Southern Dobrudja) in 1913, of the Great War for Reunification (1916-1918), of Don Bend and Tatra Mountains’ battles in 1940-1944. To this hospital were brought nearly all the young men injured in the Romanian Revolution in December 1989.)

Coltea Settlements Hospital (1888) (Ioan Bolborea is a Romanian sculptor who was born in 1956)

Bronze sculptures by Ioan Bolborea (Ioan Bolborea is a Romanian sculptor who was born in 1956)

The Bucharest University of Economic Studies (The Bucharest University of Economic Studies is a public university in Bucharest, Romania. Founded in 1913 as the Academy of High Commercial and Industrial Studies, it has become one of the largest higher education institutes in both Romania and South-Eastern Europe.)

Restaurant Pescarus (A run of the mill tourist restaurant where busloads of tourists are mass processed and offered substandard local food while being entertained by obviously bored folk dancers.)

Laurie and Chris lunching at the Restaurant Pescarus

Romanian folk dancers at Restaurant Pescarus

A lovely Romanian folk dancer at Restaurant Pescarus

Romanian folk dancers at Restaurant Pescarus

Romanian folk dancers at Restaurant Pescarus

Romanian folk dancers at Restaurant Pescarus

Romanian folk dancers at Restaurant Pescarus

Romanian folk dancers at Restaurant Pescarus

Casa Scanteii – “House of the Spark” (1957)from Bucharest's Lake Hersatru (A replica of the famous “Lomonosov” Moscow State University, this edifice built in the characteristic style of the large-scale Soviet projects, was intended to be representative to the new political regime and to assert the superiority of the Communist doctrine. Construction started in 1952 and was completed in 1957, a few years after Stalin’s death that occurred in 1953. Popularly known as Casa Scanteii (“House of the Spark”) after the name of the official gazette of the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party, Scanteia, it was made for the purpose of bringing together under one roof all of Bucharest’s official press and publishing houses. It is the only building in Bucharest featuring the “Hammer and Sickle”, the Red Star and other communist insignia carved into medallions adorning the façade)

Marine terminal, Giurgiu, Romania. Our voyage on the Danube originated here. (Marine terminal, Giurgiu, Romania. Our voyage on the Danube originated here.)

Giurgiu (Giurgiu is a gritty river port situated amid mud-flats and marshes on the left bank of the Danube facing the Bulgarian city of Ruse on the opposite bank. Three small islands face the city, and a larger one shelters its port, Smarda. The rich grain-growing land to the north is traversed by a railway to Bucharest, the first line opened in Romania, which was built in 1869 and afterwards extended to Smarda. Giurgiu exports timber, grain, salt and petroleum, and imports coal, iron, and textiles.)

Boarding our Danube River cruiser, the Viking Embla. (We passed through the floating dock in the foreground before boarding our vessel.)

We passed through the floating dock in the foreground before boarding our vessel.

The Bulgarian side of the Danube, opposite Giurgiu

Aboard the Viking Embla, Liza aims to serve

Our first dinner aboard the Viking Embla

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