Hi everyone, as you can see I got some sightseeing done today. I also exchanged some money so that I could pay for things. The Romanians use Lei as there currency. I took the subway (they call it the Metro) to get to the places I went today. The Metro is a great system with stops all over the place and very inexpensive. I took the Metro to Revolution Plaza. This is the place in Bucharest where the 1989 revolution began that overthrew the communist regime. The leader Nicolae Ceausescu made a speech on December 21st from the balcony that you can see in the picture above. There was a problem in one of the other Romanian cities and he was telling the people of Bucharest that it was no big deal and that they (the government) would soon put it down. Boy was he surprised when the crowd started to boo him. The army was called in and several thousand people were killed. Ceausecu was executed on Christmas Day 1989.
In this photo you can see (well actually you can not see very well) engraved on the plaques around this monument are the names of the Romanians who died in the Revolution. This looks a little like the Viet Nam Memorial in Washington D.C.
This is the monument to the Revolution. The people call it the big potato. This is right in the middle of Revolution Plaza. The names of the people who died are placed around the bottom of the monument.
This last picture shows the view from one of my windows. You can see that there are many apartment buildings (they call an apartment building a Bloc) around here. Most people in Bucharest live in these type of buildings. I am staying at Strada Mamulati 2, Bloc C1, Scara (entrance) 2, on the 5th floor. Of course we would consider this to be the sixth floor but here in Romania the ground floor is called the parter and the floor above it is the first floor. So to get to my apartment you have to go what we would consider the 6th floor. Fortunately there is an elevator. I also visited the former Royal Palace which now houses an museum of European art. I saw painting by Degas, Monet (not his well known ones) some painting from an art school that was run by Rembrant. There also were several sculptures by Rodin. So that is all for now from Bucharest. Talk with you all soon and please feel free to make comments, ask questions, or just say hi.
Hi everyone, as you can see I got some sightseeing done today. I also exchanged some money so that I could pay for things. The Romanians use Lei as there currency. I took the subway (they call it the Metro) to get to the places I went today. The Metro is a great system with stops all over the place and very inexpensive. I took the Metro to Revolution Plaza. This is the place in Bucharest where the 1989 revolution began that overthrew the communist regime. The leader Nicolae Ceausescu made a speech on December 21st from the balcony that you can see in the picture above. There was a problem in one of the other Romanian cities and he was telling the people of Bucharest that it was no big deal and that they (the government) would soon put it down. Boy was he surprised when the crowd started to boo him. The army was called in and several thousand people were killed. Ceausecu was executed on Christmas Day 1989.
In this photo you can see (well actually you can not see very well) engraved on the plaques around this monument are the names of the Romanians who died in the Revolution. This looks a little like the Viet Nam Memorial in Washington D.C.
This is the monument to the Revolution. The people call it the big potato. This is right in the middle of Revolution Plaza. The names of the people who died are placed around the bottom of the monument.
This last picture shows the view from one of my windows. You can see that there are many apartment buildings (they call an apartment building a Bloc) around here. Most people in Bucharest live in these type of buildings. I am staying at Strada Mamulati 2, Bloc C1, Scara (entrance) 2, on the 5th floor. Of course we would consider this to be the sixth floor but here in Romania the ground floor is called the parter and the floor above it is the first floor. So to get to my apartment you have to go what we would consider the 6th floor. Fortunately there is an elevator. I also visited the former Royal Palace which now houses an museum of European art. I saw painting by Degas, Monet (not his well known ones) some painting from an art school that was run by Rembrant. There also were several sculptures by Rodin. So that is all for now from Bucharest. Talk with you all soon and please feel free to make comments, ask questions, or just say hi.
Hi Mark - OK I think I figured out how to both post comments and be a follower on your blog. I really must figure all this out for Valerie's blog also. Next thing is the IM feature you seemed to have used last night (PDT). I guess you could tell I was online. I was trying to post my follower photo on Valerie's blog. Bucharest looks interesting-the names/designation remind me of spy books I've read about Russia.
ReplyDeleteIt's great you have a balcony. does it cool off in the evening so yu caqn sit and enjoy it? I assume you have air conditioning. You mentioned in your photo of the government building they each had an air conditioner whee most people did not.
ReplyDeleteMichelle
Hello, I know what an impaler is. Can I play along? You have some nice pictures. Well Brother dear I'm going to try to post this. Love Cathy
ReplyDelete