Bucharest - the other Romania (Stop 10)

After just one day in Braşov, we continue our journey to Bucharest in the evening. The distance from the train station to the hostel is quite far, so we immediately notice in the evening how the city differs from the other cities we have seen. Despite the late hour, the air is still very heated, and there is noticeably more trash on the streets and sidewalks. The hostel itself is also much dirtier and more chaotic than we were used to. Despite having a reservation, we still have to find and make our beds. Feeling a bit exhausted, we watch some football and then go to bed.
The next day, we hope to join a free walking tour and make our way towards the city center. However, we don't really notice that we are in the old town, as there are large streets everywhere and no pedestrian zones. We also have no luck finding a bakery for breakfast. So instead, we get Romanian pretzels from the supermarket and hope that the tour can give us a better understanding of the city.
Fortunately, the tour is still taking place because two people from Hamburg have signed up. So, there are only five of us in total. The tour starts at the Palace of the Parliament, an extravagant and very expensive parliament building (the second largest after the Pentagon). It was one of the projects of the communist dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu. For this, an entire neighborhood had to be forcibly relocated (around 40,000 apartments), and 12 churches and 3 synagogues were demolished. Since 1997, it has been the seat of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies. The next stop is a small Orthodox monastery with a beautiful courtyard. The construction of the monastery was funded by an inn next door. When entering the monastery, we feel a sense of relaxation as it is the first calm and nice place in this big city. We continue walking and pass by impressive bank buildings. Our tour guide tells us that although Romania has been in the EU since 2007, it cannot join the Schengen Agreement and does not yet use the Euro due to corruption. Next, we enter a very beautiful courtyard where there is now a restaurant. The surrounding building has always been used as an inn. Our tour guide draws our attention to the wooden floor, which used to be laid as pavement throughout the city. However, during a major city fire, it was discovered that it was not practical as it spread fire quickly. Our next stop is the new St. George's Church. Before entering, the tour guide tells us some eerie martyr stories, which are also depicted on the wall. The interior looks very beautiful and impressive, as the paintings on the walls shine brightly. On our way to University Square, we pass by the oldest hospital in Bucharest. In the end, she summarizes some facts about communism. However, we are somewhat disappointed because the transition to the present is not clearly evident.
After the end of the tour, we join the two Hamburgers and head to a restaurant with its own brewery recommended by the tour. When we are seated, we notice that some of the staff are even wearing traditional costumes. We have a snack and try the homemade beer. However, we are a bit annoyed because there is no happy hour as promised. In general, we are served very unfriendly, and we feel like we are in a tourist processing restaurant. Since we have already seen everything important, we say goodbye to the other two and head to the oldest park in the city. There is a lake in the middle, and we feel a bit like we are in the English Garden (just much smaller ;)). Because we really want to try traditional pastry (Covrig), we roam the city center in search of a café, but it is unsuccessful. In the end, we end up at Starbucks. While enjoying a delicious ice-cold Chai Latte, we write our blog entry about nature and the Carpathian Mountains in Transylvania. Lukas sits next to us the whole time and is already talking about dinner, which confuses us a bit. Additionally, groups of football fans for the evening game (France-Switzerland) pass by, with one group even being escorted by the police.
After Lukas' convincing argumentation, we decide to have dinner at LevelUp. It is a rather small vegan bistro run by a very friendly older lady. We have cevapi, pizza, and burgers for the main course, and we are already totally impressed. However, it is exceeded by the dessert: Papanaşi (a Romanian deep-fried dessert). Babsi even gets to watch the preparation of our dessert. The evening reconciles us with the rather disappointing stay in Bucharest.
Back at the hostel, we watch the exciting football game until the end and are already looking forward to the next day's journey to Varna.