INCOMING ROMANIA

Romania is a wonderful land of extremes. Stiflingly hot during the summer, freezing cold during the winter. A land where an obscene amount of wealth is locked into the hands of a tiny number of people, a land where poverty is ubiquitous. Romania is where the Western world ends, and where the Slavic East begins. The last territory to be incorporated in to the Roman Empire, when Rome comprehended the fairest part of the Earth, and the most civilised portion of mankind, and the first to be left to its fate. Two thousand years on Romania now looks to join the European Union: another empire born of a Treaty of Rome.

For the traveller Romania offers many things. The opportunity to see genuinely wonderful places, to meet wonderful people, to experience the last frontier-land in Europe. Romania has a multitude of cities in this endlessly fascinating country, not least of all the capital Bucharest. But Romania is a whole lot more than the capital: Brasov and Constanta both have much to offer. Enjoy.

BUCHAREST, BETWEEN OCCIDENT AND ORIENT

Bucharest is the capital and the most important city of Romania. The city is a blend of Oriental and Western civilizations, with loud commercial streets and intimate cafes, with crowded beer houses and cosmopolite restaurants, with monumental buildings and romantic parks that create a Parisian atmosphere. The city has an occidental cultural life, art galleries, museums and an exuberant nightlife in night-clubs and casinos.

Main points of interest :
- Arc de Triomph- initially built in wood in 1896 to celebrate the royal wedding between Prince Ferdinand and Queen Maria. It was transformed and rebuilt in stone in the memory of the victory of Romanian army in the first world war.
*Romanian Athenaeum. Inside there are round frescoes depicting scenes from Romanian history.
- House of Press is a typical Russian architecture building, proof of powerful Russian influences from the 50’s in Romania.
- Museum of Natural History & Science is the oldest museum, founded in 1831, holds a huge skeleton of Dinotherium Gigatissimum, a unique species of dinosaur.
- The University beautiful ensemble in a neo-classic style, opened in 1869.