Brasov to Bucharest

Up early - grey day but not raining, yet!

Walked not far from our hotel to locate a few sights.

Most of the streets are cobble-stoned as this is a 13th century town and this can be seen also in the facades of the buildings, particularly around the arc-shaped “square” Piata Sfatului opposite to where we are staying. Not all are medieval!😃


Behind the city’s old wall fortifications, we found the walkway that leads up to the White Tower (built in 1494) and the Black Tower (which is not black but called that after a bolt of lightning struck it). This is a lovely walk UP through forest to great views over the town.

Back down again, there is a path along the creek and a large archway, the Graft Bastion, which was the link between the White Tower and the inner fortifications, providing a defence along the entire length of the wall.


Back for breakfast and then quick walk to where I had seen the bus station earlier and bus was an easy option to the station. Irony of ironies, I have booked us on the #Ister service which is the train we arrived on from Budapest a few days ago, although this time we are not in a sleeper! They announced it was running late (no surprises there!) but it arrived on time - go figure!

MF does some train-spotting!

The train becomes very packed as we go along; I am certainly glad of our booked seats!!! And so into Bucharest we arrive: capital of Romania (pop. 1.8 million).

A potted history: from the 18th century, Ottoman rulers appointed Greek administrators to run the city of Bucureşti, leading to a revolt in 1821 which ended the rule of the Constantinople-Greeks. Then, in 1862, after Wallachia and Moldavia were united to form the Principality of Romania, Bucharest became the new nation's capital city.

In the second half of the 19th century, gas lighting, horse-drawn trams and limited electrification was introduced. This is the period in which the book I read (Life Begins on Friday) was set.

During WW2, Bucharest suffered heavy damage from both Allied and Axis powers.

During Nicolae Ceaușescu's leadership (1965–1989), much of the historic part of the city was demolished and replaced by "Socialist Realism" style development. It suffered further damage from a devastating earthquake in 1977.

The Romanian Revolution of 1989 began with massive anti-Ceaușescu protests and brought both him and the Communist regime to an end.