It’s not like these two places are close together; they’re on opposite sides of Europe, two time zones apart. But this is the way the work worked out: one week in Lisbon, Portugal followed by a weekend stop in Prague, Czech Republic, followed by two weeks in Bucharest, Romania. I’d been to these places before, so I tried to concentrate on seeing and doing new stuff.
Lisbon
Part of the fun was getting here. Part of that was running the Green Jewel 100K race *just before stepping onto the plane. But that’s another story.
There was too much work and no time to explore. That’s too bad, because Lisbon is lovely. I did do a bit of running in the areas I’d run before – the university grounds (nice soft dirt trails) and Monsanto Park (huge hills and some trails, interesting prison at the top). Each day I took the three metro trains to and from the office. It’s kind of fun to get around this way.
I was finally able to get away from work for a couple hours on Friday afternoon. I took the metro to the city center and walked up, up, up to the Castle of St. Jorge. It’s a huge edifice at the top of the hill overlooking all of Lisbon. The views of Lisbon and environs – all 360 degrees of them – are great up there. The castle itself, built in the 12th century, is mostly in ruins. But even so, the sheer size and complexity of it are something to behold. I should have checked this out the other times I’d been here.
Prague
I stopped here on the way from Lisbon to Bucharest in order to run the Prague International Marathon (PIM). The travel arrangements were highly complex, but everything worked out. At the expo, I met up with Mike George, his mother-in-law, Dolly, wife Judy, and daughter Angie. We had a nice dinner together; they would be cheering me on.
I made it through the marathon. It wasn’t my fastest, but at least I ran a steady pace. Afterwards, as usual, I had to catch a plane, this time on to Bucharest.
Bucharest
It’s been said that Bucharest is the Paris of Eastern Europe. But what has not been said is that Paris is the Bucharest of Western Europe.
As with Lisbon, in Bucharest the hotel and the office are in opposite corners of the city. I was tired of being ripped off by taxi drivers, including the huge rip off I received coming from the airport. And traffic is always very bad. So I figured out to use the metro here as well. I would only need to take one line, but it’s a long walk between the hotel and the station (about a mile and a half) and then I also have to take a bus between the Pipera station and the office. Even with all this hassle, it’s still better than the taxi.
Bucharest has an architecture style all to its own. I think the experts call it neo-classical or something like that. Most buildings are whitish, and sort of grand-looking. They’re usually symmetrical when you look at them in relation with those adjacent or across the street. The boulevards are wide and tree-lined. And then there’s the Palatul Parlamentului, the second largest, after the Pentagon, building in the world. As with my last trip here, my hotel room overlooks the monstrosity.
Everywhere I go in Bucharest I see loose dogs. Not good if you’re a runner. They’re everywhere. The Marriott has its own little pack hanging around, as do the office buildings where I’ve been working. I often see them lying right on the sidewalk leading up to the building; people have to walk around them. And speaking of the office in the Pipera area, what a mess that is. Everything is new: the office buildings, the big homes, the metro station (I think). Too bad there are almost no roads or, for the new homes, no water or sewerage. It’s called infrastructure, and Piper ain’t got it.
I know that there’s much more to Romania than just Bucharest, and I was determined to see some of it. There’s the small matter of Transylvania, which has mountains and castles, one of which belonged to Vlad the Impaler, aka Dracula. It really isn’t all that far from flat Bucharest – maybe 90 miles or so. After a bunch of planning and research, I took the metro to the main train station and then got on a train to Sinaia, a mountain village in Transylvania. I wouldn’t be able to visit Castle Bran of Vlad the Impaler fame, because it is perhaps 15 miles from Sinaia by road. But Sinaia has its own castle and plenty more.
My first thought when I got off the train is that Sinaia looked like it belonged in Appalachia. Some of the mountains here are even higher than those of Appalachia though. I walked up to the Monastery and checked it out. Then I walked up to Peles Castle. It’s in a very picturesque setting on the side of the mountain range. I took the English tour and was impressed with the wood floors, walls and ceilings. 90% of the castle was wood of different trees and shades. Dark, but very nice.
There is another smaller castle called Pelisor further up from Peles. I walked around it, but didn’t go in. Then my real walk began. I walked up the road until the town ended, and kept going. There were occasional houses, and occasional glimpses of the great mountain scenery. The road I was walking on was dirty and dusty and full of ruts; they were working on it. I thought I might be near the top, because I heard the gondola announcements. It wasn’t till later that I figured that I was nowhere near the top of the 2,500 meter mountain peak. Oh well; I had to turn back sometime. Back in town I walked around a small village green type park and explored the village some more before getting on the train back to Bucharest.
I had only seen a few parts of Bucharest, but not really very much as a tourist. So I set out one warm Sunday morning to see the essential Bucharest.
I decided to skip a tour of the Big Palace, at least for now; I wanted to see other stuff. I’d been to the central historical area, also known as the Lipscani area, one other time, and it was not impressive. I went there again thinking that it might’ve changed for the better. It didn’t. Yes, it’s old, but I thought there was almost nothing worth seeing, and evidently everyone else thinks so too; there are very few people around. There had been a lot of construction and excavation of historical artifacts last time, and it appears that this has even increased.
Walking on, still looking for something to see, I stumbled onto and into Gradina Cismigio, a botanical garden and park. I wasn’t expecting much, but what a wonderful place it turned out to be! There are beautiful flowers and gardens, sculptured lakes, a large playground and a gazebo/bandstand. I saw families with kids of all shapes and sizes heading to and from the playground. Older folks sitting on park benches. And a polka band. The music had some folks dancing and everyone else tapping their feet. It was getting hot out, but the shade in the park felt just fine. I could’ve stayed all day.
But I thought I really ought to see more, so onward I walked. I saw more wide boulevards and huge squares, including Piata Victoriei. And then I stumbled into another park: Parcul Kiselef. I was going to just walk along side it to get to another square, but something drew me in: gypsy music. It turned out to be another wonderful park. There weren’t so many gardens, but the people were here once again: families with little ones, older folks, etc. This gazebo had a “traditional” band. It sounded like gypsy music at first with a woman singing along with a band, but then they played traditional Romanian music. It still sounded gypsy-ish, with several violin/fiddles, but I know it was Romanian because I recognized a much extended version of George Enescu’s Romanian Rhapsody. No one was dancing, but as with the polka band, everyone was tapping their feet.
But I thought I should see more stuff, so once again, onward I walked. I saw more wide boulevards and huge squares, including Piata Charles de Gaulle and Piata Arcul de Triumf. Their triumphal arch (covered with scaffolding) is almost as big as Paris’, but I’m trying to find a European city that doesn’t have one. Now it was getting extremely hot – near 90 – and I decided to return via the metro. On my way to the station, I stumbled through, guess what? Another park: Parcul Hebestrau. And this park was every bit as wonderful as the other two. Cool shade, playgrounds, gardens, gobs of people strolling. I could’ve stayed all day.
So that’s the essential Bucharest. Yes, there is interesting architecture, the wide boulevards and the great squares. But those wonderful parks were not at all what I expected. They, in and of themselves, make this place a great city.
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