Thursday July the 29th
Total distance driven: 3.853 Km
Today’s distance: 0 Km
Walked distance: 12 Km
Budapest and Bucharest. Similar names, many people mix them up. But they are fundamentally different cities.
Bucharest is an absolutely large city with huge spaces. The touch of the dictator Ceausescu is very much visible, especially in buildings like the Palace of Parliament. He kept investing in it even if his own people were starving at that time.
I had been warned from different people about leaving the motorcycle unattended while in this city. So I stayed at the Continental Forum hotel with a private parking and 40€ per night including breakfast. The place is just behind the Parliament and it’s very neat.
With such large spaces and distances, Bucharest is the perfect city for electric scooters and there are plenty.
Again a day with 38C so opted for something fresh. Alex (again) told me about a museum Dimitrie Gusti with historical houses from all over Romania. It took me 30 mins with the scooter but finally I got there.
The last photo is from the Merry Cemetery, famous for its colourful tombstones with paintings describing, in an original and poetic manner, the people who are buried there as well as scenes from their lives.
I also wandered in the Herastrau Park nearby and found a great restaurant for lunch.
Beside the Parliament the city is reach of museums and monuments.
George Enescu’s Museum 
Calea Victorei 
Independence Square 
Interestingly Romanians got independent from Ceausescu’s dictatorship in 1989, the same year of the fall of Berlin’s Wall.
I clocked over 20 Km with the electric scooters đŸ›´ Just to give you a feeling of the distances here.
Did you know that Bucharest was also called the Paris of the East? Have a look at the old town.
If I had to choose to visit again Bucharest or Budapest, I would definitely go for the latter. But the countryside in Romania, especially Transylvania, beats everything so far. Spectacular!