Palaces and Gypsies
Trip Start
Aug 23, 1996
1
169
453
Trip End
Ongoing
Bucharesti,
Romania
Wednesday, August 3, 2005
Palaces
We jumped on an early train to escape Brasov, and to get out of Transylvania. Whilst in Brasov, we kept being told that we should be careful on the bus as we WOULD get ripped off. Nothing happened, so we hopped on the plushest train that Romania had to offer. I do mean plush and I am not taking the piss when I say that. The ride was beautiful. The scenery was as good as the Bukovina train ride, and we went up into the mountains. We were heading for Sinaia. Home of the rich and the best ski fields, but we were not here for that, we were here for the palaces. Peles Palace. Home of the old King. We paid for a tour, as this was the only way to see it. I do not have photos as we were not allowed to take any, but all I can say, was that maybe this is the reason why they do not have a royal family anymore, but before we could start, we had to wear slippers over our shoes as they were worried that we would damage the floor !!!!! The furniture, and the fittings were superb. The first room, everything was made of wood. The painting were not paintings but would inlay !!!!! We moved onto the armament room. There were weapons and armour throughout the ages. There was an Italian room, a German room, a hall of mirrors, a Turkish room and a Moorish room where the men could smoke. Pointless explaining really as you need to see it for yourselves. The tour finished, so we wandered around the gardens, which were pretty crappy actually.
We moved onto Pelisor palace, which was a baby version of the previous one. We could walk on our own here, but we had to wear the slippers again !!!! This palace was done in Art Deco style. Some of the pieces were amazing, of to have the money, but then again, some were in your face. This being the gold room, where everything in it was painted gold. A little hard on the eyes. It was much nicer taking it in on your own, but as it was loads smaller, our tour ended as fast as it started. We dropped our slippers off, and left.
Down the road, was Sinaia monastery. Somehow, in style, we managed not to pay. It was ok, but there was an older one out the back, which was better. We took some photos, then it was time to leave, as we had a capital to see
Capital
At the train station, we were all excited, as this was the line where the plush trains go. An old shitter pulled in though, so we had to jump on, or we would be still in Sinaia !!!!!
The train pulled in, we looked for our usual lady/man, to take us away to our dream hotel/room, but it did not happen. Our old Lonely Planet, showed us some hotels, but they were all closed. We did see one, and as we went to enter the door, thats when it happened, our dream princess, came over, and swept us off of our feet, and we were lead away to her apartment. It was a fucking shithole actually, but it was our home and we loved it !!!!!
We set about walking the town. It was quite large actually. They say that for every two people, there is one dog. I was looking forward to this. We walked, we seemed to be getting nowhere, then the sites came into view. Well, mainly the women actually. Most of them come from the trailer park trash variety. It is quite funny to look at !!!!! We moved on. And there it was. The second largest building in the world. The Romanian Parliamnet house. We bought some tickets for the tour. We were told that in ten minutes, we would be on the tour. We waited over an hour. A riot started to take place. The police were called in. All was explained, and the English speakers got their tour. Now, if you buy another ticket, you are allowed to take photos. Fuck that. We took them anyway !!!!! There are two corridors that are 150 metres long !!!! And, if I had 300 friends, and we all chucked in 80US each, we could have the mother of all parties. But it would never happen, as I think I have 300 enemies !!!!! The tour finished, so we moved on, looking at churches as you do. Then it happened. We came across the Arch of Triumph. A direct copy of Paris's one. Fourth one I have now seen !!!!! It was good to walk around Bucharest as we had been told by a few people that it was not a nice place. Never saw the dogs though. Just a few here and there. I think they must have culled them all
Summary Time
We really liked Romania, but we could never understand the lack of bras on women. I think at least 80% of women here do not own a bra. Be it young or old, they are braless wonders. You look at the old ones, and the tits are down at their knees. If only the young could learn from the old, but then again, the young never listen to the old, until it is to late.
Bulgaria, here we come
