Month: August 2018

Wednesday, August 8

Today we visited the Spring Palace – Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu’s residence in Bucharest.  The house is in the northern district nestled along a beautiful tree lined avenue.  It’s a very pretty neighborhood where many of the high officials in the communist party lived during the communist occupation.  The common people were not permitted to enter that neighborhood and had little knowledge of the opulence in which their leaders lived.

From the street the house seems to have a rather small footprint and doesn’t look like it would contain a mansion of more than 170 rooms.  You can only see the house via guided tour and must make a reservation in advance.  At a cost of about $27.00 for two people it is probably one of the most expensive tours in the city.

Our guide was a young Romanian man with a very funny, deadpan delivery, who entertained us with stories about the excesses of the House and the Ceausescu family (if that can be entertaining).  The tour started with a walk through a study and a game room before we entered the grand dining room.  These rooms were adorned with many pieces of carved ivory that were gifts from Mobutu Sese Seko, dictator of the Congo.

All of the rooms were richly decorated and everything was highlighted in real gold leaf.  Just about every room had thick, luxurious Persian carpets many of which were gifts from Nicolae’s friend the Shah of Iran.

The majority of the house was built underground to help conceal it’s size from the street.  There’s even a nuclear bunker.  We headed downstairs to see an elaborately carved wooden bar before entering the theater where the family screened many first run films.  The theater contained over 50 seats but the guide told us that absolutely no one except the immediate family were permitted in the house – no friends, no relatives, no business associates – not even Nicolae or Elena’s parents.

On the next level down we were treated to the sight of an indoor swimming pool with walls that were decorated in elaborate mosaics depicting the signs of the zodiacs and scenes featuring Neptune/Poseidon.  Nearby we saw the spa area consisting of a hair salon, a massage room, a whirlpool and a water therapy room all provided as a gift from the government of East Germany.

(Mosaics Decorating the Pool)

Eventually we went upstairs to see the living quarters.  At the top of the stairs was a large light fixture that was custom made in Paris.  Nicolae and Elena had three children and each had a suite of rooms consisting of a bedroom, sitting room, study and bathroom – all trimmed in real gold.  Elena’s suite had even more rooms but was primarily just for show as she normally used her husband’s suite.  One of the dressing rooms had a display of Elena’s dresses, handbags and shoes.  All were couture.  Designers from all over the world flew into Bucharest to make things for her.

Up another level we found an indoor solarium, which was also elaborately decorated with mosaics.  Great efforts were made to keep information about the house secret.  The artisans who worked on the house were sworn to secrecy. If they talked about their work at the house their families would be un peril from the secret police.  Once their work was completed they were given a choice to stay in the country and join the communist party, immigrate permanently to another country or to disappear.  Most chose immigration and many went to the United States.

(Golden Bathroom)

Ceausescu was obsessed with status and built over 70 mansions throughout the country.  All of them were as elaborate as this one and he rarely used any of them.  No one was ever permitted to visit them.  Today 20 of them are still standing.

After our tour we decided to walk around the nearby park and explore the Arcul de Triumf – a smaller version of the Arc De Triomphe in Paris (which is an homage to the Arch of Constantine in Rome).  We were surprised to find a sculpture of Mark Twain there.  Nearby was a memorial to Michael Jackson, who’d performed in the city and in the Palace of the Parliament several times.  We also ran into the Village Museum.  We knew it was in the area but thought it was a bit further away.  We had planned to see it later in the week but decided to stop in while we were in the neighborhood.

The Dimitries Gusti National Village Museum is an outdoor park containing samples of culturally significant buildings from villages throughout Romania.  All of the structures have been moved from their original locations and are completely authentic.  There were examples of many different styles of houses (complete with cellars), animal shelters, churches and workshops.

(A Sheep’s Pen)

One of the more interesting houses was the half-buried house.  The roofs of these houses were barely visible above ground and helped keep the interior temperatures regulated.  We really enjoyed seeing the antique wax press that was used to squeeze honeycomb into high quality beeswax that was sought after throughout the region.  There were also several windmills that were used to grind grains.

The rather large park was divided into two parts.  One contained buildings from the early 1700s until the 1850s and the other from the 1850s until the early 20th century.  The parks were lined with wooden fences made of long and slender tree branches woven into intricate patterns.  They added a great deal of charm.

(Wooden Church from the 1730s)

The park is a great place for families to spend the day together.  There were a number of activities for children.  In one area we saw ceramics being made using potter’s wheels and in another area we saw children painting pictures and eggs.  There was a restaurant in the museum but it was rather expensive so we went in search of food elsewhere.

We finally made it to the Arcul and took a bunch of pictures before heading back towards our apartment.  By now it was close to 2:00 pm and we were looking for a place to eat.  Finding places to eat in Bucharest has been a bit of a challenge.  Unlike so many other places we’ve been there don’t seem to be restaurants or coffee shops on every corner.  We’re usually good at sussing out the places where locals eat but so far we’ve had no luck.  We finally stumbled across an Italian restaurant and ordered a pizza with spicy salami.  It was quite good.

(Arcul de Triumf)

Distance walked: 9.8 miles

Wednesday, August 1

Another round of our favorite activity – free museum day.  What’s not to like?  These National museums are free on the first Wednesday of every month.

Our first stop was at the Zambaccian Museum.  The museum is housed in the former home of Krikor Zambaccian, a businessman and avid art collector.  The artwork was donated to the city on the condition that it remain in the house.  The museum opened in 1947.  During the communist period the artwork was moved to another location but it 1992, after the fall of the communist government, the artwork was restored to its rightful place.

The house is an impressive mansion with a grand two story entry way. The interior is decorated with custom woodwork.  Every room in the house was adorned with paintings and sculptures.  Most of the works dated between 1850 and 1930 and most were by Romanian artists.  There were, however, several works by Renoir, Pissaro, Picasso and Matisse.  It’s unusual to see a collection of this caliber outside of a museum.  We would strongly recommend this museum to any art lover visiting the city.

One of the Romanian artists that we particularly liked was Stefan Luchian.  He was born in Bucharest and was active during the latter half of the 19th century (the photo really doesn’t do it justice).

(Lorica by Stefan Luchian)

The second museum was a larger, more traditional museum.  It was the National Museum of Art.  This museum is housed in the former Palace of the King of Romania.  In the north wing we saw an exhibit of medieval art that included many triptychs and two very large and impressive panels that held many icons.  On the second floor there was a large exhibit of modern art by Romanian artists.

The south wing held an exhibit of European art starting with the 17th century.  The Flemish school was well represented.  We also found several works by Rembrandt, Reubens, Van Dyke, Tintoretto, Renoir, Monet and Rodin.  It was a very nice collection.  Downstairs was a small exhibit of Royal jewelry consisting mostly of rings and pendents.

(David Cutting Saul’s Cloak by Rembrandt)

Distance walked: 7.2 miles

Sunday, August 5

After a few days rest we decided to tackle some of Bucharest’s Municipal Museums.  The city hosts 12 museums and we identified three that we thought would be interesting.  Most of them are not traditional museums; they showcase the houses and collections donated to the city by wealthy families.  In many cases the collections were ransacked by the communists and the portions that survived have been restored and are back on display.

We began our day at the Storck Museum.  This is the former residence of Frederic and Cecilia Cutescu-Storck.  The Storck’s were a family of artists.  Karl Storck was a well known sculptor in his day.  His son Carol, also a sculptor,  moved to Philadelphia after his education but made frequent trips back to his homeland.  Frederic, his second son, was also a sculptor.  He and his wife Cecilia were both teachers are the Bucharest School of Fine Arts.  Cecilia was a painter and she decorated the house with frescos and murals.  The house was donated as a museum in 1952 and showcases the works of the entire Storck family.

Our next visit was the nearby George Severeanu Museum.  Mr. Severeanu was a medical doctor who, along with his wife Maria, had a passion for collecting antiquities.  His collection of Greek Pottery is one of the finest in the world.  He also purchased several “hoardes” of medieval and ancient objects found in Romania consisting mainly of coins and small gold objects.  One of the most interesting displays was a series of handwritten, signed royal decrees pertaining to administrative matters from the 16th century.  The entire collection includes over 3,000 archeological objects and 9,000 coins.

The museum was completely renovated and restored in 2013.  The house is absolutely beautiful and detailed information on all the exhibits is available through multi-language, touch screen computer interfaces.

For lunch we stopped at a Spanish restaurant in University Square.  The pizza we ordered was nothing special.  That’s what happens when you go to Romania and order Italian food at a Spanish restaurant. 😀

Our next stop was the Palatul Sutu, which is on the edge of University Square.  The building is a former royal palace and houses two separate museums.  We saw them both.

The first museum was a display on Romanian history with strong emphasis on the history of the royal family.  We saw samples of china, costumes, swords and other ceremonial pieces.  Perhaps the most interesting displays were the old films of the royal family taken during many public functions during the 1920s and 30s.

The second museum was an exhibit of Romanian contemporary art.  For that we had to climb the sweeping, grand staircase to the second floor.  The exhibition was fairly small but had some nice pieces.

The Storck and Severeanu museums were quite interesting and would be worth a visit.  Photos were permitted but only for an extra fee.

Distance walked: 5.2 miles

Monday, August 6

Today we visited the Palace of the Parliament.  This building has an interesting history and a fascinating story.  Nicolae Ceausescu wanted to construct a grand building as the home of the Romanian Communist party.  In 1983 a competition was held to determine the design of the new building.  Ceausescu chose a design by a young woman named Anca Petrescu – not because her design was to his liking but because the model she presented was larger than anyone else’s.  During the 13 years it took to construct the building the young and inexperienced designer directed the efforts of over 700 architects.

(The Palace of the Parliament)

After the revolution of 1989 the building was only 60% completed.  The Romanians hated the building and what it stood for but determined that it would be more costly to tear down than to complete; all of the building supplies had already arrived or had been ordered by this time.  The building was finally completed in 1997.

The building is the second largest administrative building in the world after the Pentagon in Washington and is estimated to have cost around one billion Euros to construct.  On the south side there are several balconies that overlook a grand boulevard that was modeled after the Champs Elyse in Paris.  To make room for all of this an entire neighborhood was destroyed and over 40,000 people were relocated.  During this time the Romanian people suffered from food shortages and strict rationing.  Heat was only available two hours per day and hot water was rarely seen.

The tours are given in several languages but most of them are conducted in English with only two in Romanian each day (Romanians choose not to visit on principle).  Reservations are strongly suggested.  At around 50 people our group was very large.  After we went through airport style security procedures we entered into one of the many grand galleries.

Everything about the building is large and meant to impress.  The interior of the public spaces is mostly marble and the ceiling heights often reach 70 feet. Our tour started two floors below street level and ended one floor above.  The palace has eight underground floors with one being a nuclear bomb shelter.   We saw quite a few grand galleries, many large conference rooms, several ballrooms and a theater.  The building contains the two houses of Parliament, two museums, a library and 440 government offices.  Only about 60% of the building is used and many of the conference rooms, ballrooms, etc. are available for rent.  Many trade shows and proms are held there every year.

Our tour lasted about 90 minutes and covered 300 stairs and two kilometers.  Still we saw only about 5% of the building.

(The Ballroom where Nadia Comaneci was Married)

Here’s a few fun facts…

• Ceausescu was a rather short man.  He had the builders remake the grand marble staircase three times so it would comfortably fit his gate.
• The marriage of gymnasts Nadia Comaneci and Bart Conner was held there in 1996.
• Given the number of floors and the amount of marble used the building is considered to be the heaviest in the world.
• The largest chandelier weights over 6 metric tonnes.
• Michael Jackson was the first person to speak from Ceausescu’s balcony.  He said, “Hello Budapest, I love you.”
• Ceausescu was executed before the Palace was completed and never enjoyed  the use of it.
• Most of the building has no air-conditioning because Ceausescu was afraid that it could be used to poison him.
• The Palace was never intended as a residence and it contains no bedrooms.

Distance walked: 5.8 miles