"A Thrill, a Challenge, a Laughter " a Bucharest Travel Page by Romanian_Bat

There are many contradictory statements when it comes to Bucharest: stray dogs, "le Petit Paris", the world's second biggest building, the Gypsies, the Village Museum, the Balkanic air... Maybe a best way of defining Bucharest would be "city of the contrasts". Bucharest cannot be put in the books as a tourist attraction, because its look and its sometimes dizzy nature are proofs enough to demonstrate this: this city has not been conceived for tourists, but rather for its inhabitants... Furthermore, it is not convenient, as it did not develop in a place where "convenience" has ever had any sense.

I love Bucharest with its small, old times' houses and fine, secluded, small and unadvertised museums and churches (have you ever heard of Casa Melic or of Casa Zambaccian, what about Antim or Radu Voda monasteries, not to mention Darvari Convent?), I enjoy grabbing some of that great pastry (I mean real pastry and not the Fornetti crap) in the street or having some tripe soup at La Berbecu'.

I hate Bucharest at times with its desperate, brainless drivers that only respect the one next to them when they fear that by hitting him/her, they would scratch their shiny metal boxes. I like it generally speaking, because it has a bad reputation (and it is not likely to turn into any sort of mass tourism destination during my lifetime, thank Nanak for that), and yes, because this is not a place where one can get bored. Ever.

Then, to the good, bad and definitely to the challenge of it, this is what I call "home". As someone once said, the greatest insanity is getting out of the house in the morning. Once one dares do that, figuring out the life details is a piece of cake. As always, walk along anything but straight paths and ride horse-pulled carts, not cars!