Experience Bucharest Part II: The Trip

As I walked briskly across the crowded walkway leading up to the majestic Piata Unirii, I could see Alex move forward, Kostas keeping up right beside him, and cursed myself, under my breath, for being an asthmatic dumb ass.

Hurry, hurry, because the show will end soon!

When I reached the fountain, famous for the convergence of the four sectors of Bucharest – truly the centre of the town, much of the excitement had died down, and we looked around, trying to find the large gathering of bloggers and influencers from all over the world, to experience three days of sheer madness, as a part of Experience Bucharest. My flight had been on time to Otopeni Airport, but it had left me no time to keep my bags in the hotel, so my first real memory of the city was a bit of a blur – hurrying down the lanes to the fountain.

With the end of the light and sound extravagance, we were asked to move to NOMAD SkyBar, a swanky new place where I ended up sharing a table, eating truckloads of food that seemed to magically drop in, and drinking wine. Here I met Anda and Tudor Maxim – the couple who made this entire experience possible – and later checked into my hotel. My room at JW Marriott, Bucharest, was warm and inviting, and after the day’s travel, I was all too happy to turn in.

Finding the Rroma

The second day shone bright and sunny, and I made the miscalculation of that translating into a day that would not be cold. I was wrong. The chill down my spine at the first touch of cold kept me wanting my windcheater, a sentiment I shared with Val, another blogger, as we walked down to meet our guide, Stefan, from Open Doors Travel, and we walked down to the region where the Rroma were settled.

Whether you call them Gypsies, the Rroma, or Banjara, as they are popularly known in India, their story is rather incredible – a group of people who left their native Rajasthan/Gujarat, and travelled across Central Asia, from one country to another. In the process, they were often at the receiving end of incredible hardships, and also adapted themselves to many traits, picked up from the road, as a form of survival.

Today, the Rroma occupies different roles, including, but not exclusively so, that of flower sellers, and we walked around the flower market to see some of the incredibly colourful blooms in the morning, that seriously uplifted my mood.

Stefan explained to us how the Rroma were utilized to become slaves and craftsmen during olden days, and how the government is trying to provide a better state of living for them. I was also interested in the way they had adapted, and it was interested to hear the Rroma language, in bits and pieces, that had strangely familiar intonation and terms.

Lunch was at a lovely Mexican restaurant, El Torito, with a huge spread, Enchiladas, tacos, and plenty of margaritas to keep everyone well-hydrated. We had some music, and I met Zazou, who has his own Instagram page. I might have petted him a lot, and trailed after him, because clearly my life’s priorities are sorted.

The Neighbourhood of the Giants

Post-lunch, Stefan once again joined us to take us to the Pantelimon district of Bucharest, a rather quiet region that strangely reminded me of Kolkata, especially with the tram lines and houses that looked unremarkable and slightly worn. Here was a plethora of housing blocks, built during the communist era, and as someone who grew up in similar circumstances, I started seeing certain similar patterns.

It is, however, really interesting, to get up onto the Art Tower, to see how people had created beautiful art on top of buildings – something I did not get to see, since I wasn’t feeling fit enough to get up all the way on top of the tower. However, if you feel fit enough, I do hope you take this tour, to see a side of Bucharest that’s really different.

Pălincă for Dinner  

After we returned to the central part of the city, the fountain was lit again, and this time we caught the entire show, which left me feeling slightly overwhelmed because it was really beautiful. Dinner was slightly early, because we had a night of revelry ahead of us.

Here, Tudor was at the bar, and he took me through four kinds of Pălincă, brandy made out of fruit. I have to admit, I had slightly mixed feelings before tasting, but overall, if you are in Bucharest, you MUST taste the Pălincă. I remember tasting flavours like Apple, Pear, Plum, and then we settled down to a meal filled with cold meats and Sarmale, a dish that has been featured in different parts of the Balkan region in different formats. Satiated, we moved to the Pura Vida Sky bar for a drink, and then partied afterwards, well into the night.

Arcul de Truimf and Stories of Vlad

Sunday morning we chose to get up late and move to Arcul de Triumf, or the arch of the triumphant, right after breakfast, which reminded me of the one in Paris. I didn’t ponder upon it much, since the view from the top was pretty glorious on a clear, sunny day. We walked down to meet Ioana from My Secret Romania, who took us to La Copac, and regaled us with tales from medieval Romania, and the story of Vlad the Impaler, the one famous Romanian who was the Prince of Wallachia.

Legends were unfolded over lunch, and then came the stories of witches, warlocks, and horror, and I think I might have been way too into the morbidity, which was all too evident from my fascinated face.

The food was simple enough, doused with more than enough garlic to ward off enough vampires for a lifetime, and we walked down to Caramel, a small patisserie, where a few of us chose to indulge our sweet tooth as we waited for the rest of our team to join us for the remaining walks.

The Royal Century Tour

Post-lunch, we really needed to work off some of that meat and sugar, and a walk to see the influence of monarchy and other architectural influence was rather pleasant. We started with the Romanian Athenaeum, a concert hall, clearly sporting a Neoclassical design, founded in 1865, designed by the French architect, Albert Galleron.

In 1919, this was the location where a conference was held that led to the formation of Greater Romania, by unifying the Romanian Old Kingdom with Transylvania, Bessarabia, and Bukovina. I was particularly engrossed to see some of the more interesting architectural achievements, more so because of the impact of the World Wars, and a city torn between different ideologies, that resulted in a really interesting set of relics from the past.

We also visited some of the most instagrammable places in Bucharest, for those who wanted to shoot some photos for their ‘grams.

Old Town Stories

I ended up walking down the Old Town with BTrip Bucharest, walking around to hear stories about Vlad the Impaler and the legend of Dracula. Despite being loathed by the people outside of the country, the significant impact that Vlad had on the Romanian people can be felt even now.

To them, he brought a sense of safety and order that few during the medieval times could have, and his significant win against Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II is one that is revered even now. The old town, especially the region around the National Bank, is truly a place which needs to be explored further, and the tour we took was one that explained it in great details.

Dinner and a Whole Roast Lamb

Naturally, after a days’ walk, we were all pretty hungry, and a glass of wine and the promise of good food was enough for me to take a trip to Hop Garden. I could not take my eyes off the whole roast lamb, and despite the five-pound burger I saw inside, my heart belonged to the lamb, seasoned simply with paprika and sumac, if I am not mistaken.

The chef took mercy on my starved face and sliced off morsels from the roasting meat – a delicious treat to start off a rather decadent buffet, featuring plenty of food and alcohol. More dancing and dining ensued, and we parted ways for the night, to prepare for the conference on the next day that signified the end of my Bucharest trip.

In the next post, I will discuss in details the food I would recommend and places to stay, but I would like to thank Team #ExperienceBucharest, and specifically Tudor, Anda, Alu and Alex, for the incredible hospitality and kindness they showed during this trip.

Disclaimer: Poorna Banerjee was invited to be a part of #ExperienceBucharest.