This grand city is not a slut / douchebag. Bucharest does not make intimacy easy nor are her many charms obvious. Yes, in a breathtaking gentrification effort, they did commoditize the venerable Old Town beyond the point of commercialism where it now has been Happyhourized into oblivion. This is a common tactic of the forces of Good: sacrifice a section to preserve the rest. Yet, even in this devastation it is possible to apply filters in order to gain access to something more soulful: stroll the quarter at dawn and look only at the 1er Etaj and above.
The second standard tourism program component is the day-drive tour of all the major spread out sites. If done slowly (frequent stops and walks) with a driver / guide constantly spewing stories and facts, this is a great way to get a feel if not your bearings of this vast place. Orientation and some understanding of the local complex cosmology begin to seep in. Knowledge manifests itself if you have read the local History (several times).
So Old Town and Overview are what most will experience using Bucharest as the stepping stone to the rest of Romania. Just enough to trigger the urge to return and spend more time on the way out. Five days more maybe? Apply for an internship position and stay weeks on end in order to better explore?
Each day can have a thread and will well reward your explorations for it: use parks, statues, religions, tea rooms, museums, odd shopping goals (OSG), food markets, the Dâmbovița and its bridges, pastry shops, vintage yet refurbished hotel lobbies, art galleries... tucked away restaurants…! - I can guarantee twists and turns of wondrous proportions before the day is done.
Example: OSG - replacing my shattered watch crystal [evaluation from obsolescence-based economy country of origin: ‘nothing we can do, send it back to Singapore / Hong Kong / outer space...’]. In Bucharest, sourcing the right Artisan involved sharing mititei with friends, the jotting of directions on țuică splashed napkins, enlisting other local to get to the Master, declarative driving maneuvers including two sidewalk engulfing u-turns , finding the hole in the wall shop I could have walked to, determining store opening hours and consultancy schedule (not conflicting but not identical either), sampling of covrigi at 4 nearby bakeries while waiting, audience with Master in an Aladdin’s cave of disemboweled timepieces, 24 hour service promise, next day pick up compromised by cashier not being present (Master does not handle cash), and finally, total success with a new watchband thrown in – Miraculous 36 hours of intense cultural discovery courtesy of a city which values value.
As a friend just said: “I was expecting depressing architecture, somber facades and a forgettable stay – Not at All! This is the next IT place and look out when they get the buildings / houses with good bones restored”. In a mirror like way, Bucharest and its intricacies throw your inadequacies back at you. So come prepared, bone up on Latin if not Romanian, absorb some history and be ready to smile and grin at the clins d’oeil on offer throughout this rambunctious, beautifully alive city.
Dominic Giossan
Bespoke Trip Researcher
Butterfield&Robinson
Note: there is no typo in the title, which is the author’s licentia poetica.