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This post is my entry for the CONTEST: My 2018: A tour around my town - 100 SBD in Prizes organized by 
Today I am gonna present you some landmarks of my city, Bucharest, the capital of Romania, an undervalued city in my opinion. In the near future, I will have more posts about my hometown because I am sure you are going to like/love it once you know more.
We are going to start our tour from The House Radio. This is an unfinished building near the Dâmboviţa River. The construction began in 1986 in the Communist regime. It was inaugurated in 1989 by Nicolae Ceaușescu, even if the building was unfinished.29 years later, in 2018 the building is still unfinished, moreover in 2008 a part of this building was demolished, after the revolution, it was supposed to become a hotel, a mall and a business centre, but nothing happened. I remember I was fascinated by this building when I was little, it is such a shame that this place is still a ruin.
I walked along the Dâmboviţa River, until I got to Izvor Park, from where you can see the Palace of the Parliament. It is the most expensive administrative building in the world. There you can visit three museums: the National Museum of Contemporary Art, the Museum of Communist Totalitarianism (established in 2015)[3] and the Museum of the Palace. I am thinking of visiting each of them and eventually making a post about it.
From there I headed to one of the most beautiful parks in the city, Cișmigiu Gardens. I prefer this park because it is much closer than others to my place and you can do various activities like playing chess, rent a boat, drink a coffee near the lake, work out and of course, it has also several playgrounds. In summer you can see different species of birds like swans, ducks, peacocks and on winter there is an ice ring!
This is Kretzulescu Palace, built in early 1900. When my mom was little this place was her kindergarten, now is the headquarters of UNESCO - Centre Européen pour l'enseignement supérieur. Unfortunately the interior can not be visited, but maybe one day this will change!
Really close to Cismigiu Garden is Luigi Cazzavillan Park, one of the smallest park I ever saw. The fountain was built in 1905. I love it, it's kind of unknown in Bucharest and it's not that crowded.
On the other way to the park, you can see a beautiful ruin, called the Palace of Luigi Cazzzavilan, it is said that this was the house of Luigi Cazzzavilan, a Romanian journalist. It was built more than 100 years ago, in 1901, but now it is in an awful shape, it may collapse in any moment... the big earthquake from 1977 really affected this building.
I hope it will be renovated in time, before it colapse, it would be such a beautiful one, it has a lot of potential, it looks like some the buildings I saw in Venice.
I continue my walk and I present you the St Joseph Cathedral, a Catholic cathedral. This historic cathedral was built during 1875-1883 and you should totally visit it. In 1999, Pope John Paul II came in Romania and concelebrated. I was only seven years old back then and I remember it was really crowded.
Near this wonderful cathedral, you can see this skyscraper, which was a subject of scandal in our city. It seems it was built illegal, and now when it is finally finished, it is expected to be demolished because it doesn’t have any authorization. The structure of the the cathedral suffered a lot during the WWI and WWII, earthquakes (1944 and 1977) and the construction of this skyscraper called Cathedral plaza was a bad thing for the the foundation and structure of the Catholic Cathedral.
This is the Lutheran Church.
Every year in this building national and international artist are performing here like Lara Fabiani, Goran Bregovic and more.
Palace Hall was built in two years, it's also built during the communism. Is hosting a concert hall with a capacity of approximately 4000 persons. Annually in September takes place George Enescu Festival, I attended it two times already, so if you are in Bucharest in September you shoul not miss it.
Athenaeum was inaugurated in 1888 when Romania was a monarchy. This concert hall is one of the main attractions of the city. When you are in Bucharest you must attend a show there. It is an amazing building, it’s one of my favourites and the acoustic is great! The ticket is not expensive at all, costs aroun 15 $.
This was the Royal palace but now is the National Museum of Romanian Art. It is located a hundred meters away of Athenaeum. Here you can see paintings of Poussin, Ingres, David, Delacroix, Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso and much more and of course romanian painters. This was the official house for the Royal Family of Romania, until 1947 when King Michael I was forced to abdicate. I visited it several year ago so I must visit as soon as possible and make an entire post about it.
The Central University Library of Bucharest was inaugurated in 1895 by the King Carol I. In 1989 when was the revolution against the communism, this library suffered a lot, but fortunately, it was rebuilt with the help of UNESCO. Until 1948, in the same place was an equestrian statue of King Carol I, but when the communism came they destroyed it. In 2005 that statue was recreated after the initial one.
Revolution Square is an important square in the city center , here the people gathered and succeeded to defeat the communism.
This is the Memorial of Rebirth, located in the Revolution square. The person who designed it is Alexandru Ghilduș and it costs several milions $.
I am sure you didn't know what's with the picture below so I am gonna tell you: In the Revolution Square, at the balcony in the back, Nicolae Ceașescu held his final speech on 21.12.1989. Now this building is the Ministry of Internal Affairs, unfortunately it can’t be visited.
*Kretzulescu Church is an old one built in the 18th century, it is located on Calea Victoriei.It's one of the most important church in the city because of it's unique style, Brâncovenesc style. It was consolidated after 1989.
This is Calea Victoriei, one of the main avenue in the city. Along this avenue you can see a lot of attractions, especially the ones presented above.
I really love this building because it’s a mix between the old and new, here is the headquarters of Architects Union In Bucharest.
This is the tallest hotel in the city, called InterContinental Bucharest, also a trademark of Bucharest. You can relax on their wellness club. On 22nd floor you can exercise in their swim pool, you can swim with a view. 1 day access costs 100 RON (25 $).
The „I.L. Caragiale” National Theater of Bucharest is one of the most important cultural institution of Romania. It was renovated between 2011-2015 and now it looks better. I saw at least half of the representations, I love going to theater more than watching movies/tv series.
In the University Square, several weeks ago a massive protest was organized against our government regarding the laws of justice, at least 40 000 people participated. It was my first participation in a massive protest, the people were peaceful and all went smooth.
This is the former Capitol Summer Theater, l am fascinated with the old Bucharest, sometimes I wish I could go back at the early 1900. There is a project and their main goal is to renovate this theater among others, fingers crossed, it would be so awesome.
This hotel, Grand Hotel Du Boulevard was inaugurated in 1871, but renovated in the last years and it is beautiful and polished, sadly it's not working currently because the owner has some problems with the law, but it's hosting from time to time some fairs and I read in the newspapers that in short time it may accommodate tourists. I hope more old building will be renovated, I really like the interbellic architecture.
This is the Savings Bank Palace it was built between 1896-1900 by the architect Paul Gottereau. Unfortunatelly, from what I know it can't be visited but I would love to see the interior, I am fascinated by its glass and metal cupola.
This is the National Museum of Romanian History, it was my favorite museum when I was little, even now I love to visit the Romanian Treasury, last time I went there was in 2015, so I think I know what I am going to do these days. Unfortunately the rest of the museum is under renovation since 2003 or something. :(
Our last stope is at Macca Villacrosse Passage, a stunning place in the old city when you can enjoy your drink and your hookah. It was one of my favorite place when I was in High School, how I miss those times.
This was a brief tour and post about my beloved Bucharest, but there are a lot to see so I think we are gonna discover it together. Don't worry I am gonna use a better camera and light, most of the pictures were made before the sunset with my Iphone. I am thinking every weekend when I am in the city to visit one attraction and make a post about it, maybe some of you will come and visit. Bucharest has some hidden treasure, waiting to be uncovered.
There is no such place as Budapest. Perhaps you are thinking of Bucharest, and there is no such place as Bucharest, either.
―Robert Benchley
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