Ciao-Sescu

Our next country on the way home is Romania. A country with a rather questionable reputation. I’m curious to see what’s changed since my last visit.

Palace of Parliament

One item on my “visit once in a lifetime” list is the Palace of Parliament in Bucharest. It’s the heaviest building in the world and the second largest government building, only the Pentagon is bigger. And it’s truly impressive. In the 20th century, palaces weren’t built for gods or kings anymore, but for bureaucrats.

You have to wonder why a country like Romania needs a building like this. Of course, it doesn’t. But Romania was a socialist republic, led by dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena. Ceaușescu was a hardcore Stalinist and clearly had an ego problem. He wanted to build a seat of government that matched his self-image and the power of the Romanian people. To do that, he flattened an entire district with 50,000 residents.

One thing you have to give Ceaușescu: he had taste. Parts of the building’s interior are absolutely breathtaking. Sure, it’s pompous, but never tacky. The Art Deco concert hall is one of the best I’ve ever seen. It’s a beautiful piece of work. You can’t help but admire the local craftsmanship.

The construction of the building must have eaten up a huge chunk of the state budget. And as you might guess, it didn’t end well for the Ceaușescus. They were sentenced to death in a show trial and more or less shot live on TV, before the building was even finished. That was in 1989, I was 10 at the time and I still remember it. At school we made jokes about “Ciao-Sescu” and my parents were pretty shaken. Not because they had any sympathy for Ceaușescu or doubted that he got what he deserved, but it was a crazy time with the total collapse of the Warsaw Pact and public executions. Communism completely destroyed these countries, politically, economically, and morally. Millions lost their lives. Even 35 years later, the wounds are still very visible and deeply felt.

Politics

There’s a lot of political turmoil in Romania, and you don’t just read about it in the papers, you feel it in the people. In Bucharest, we meet Bogdan, who lives here and whom Alex met during her cat training in Athens. Bogdan is a real grump, and even though he seems to be doing well, you can sense the frustration. Everyone’s corrupt and lazy, and with a bit of luck, his grandchildren might live to see the highway finished, because the money just disappears somewhere. Bogdan also explains what’s up with the completely dilapidated buildings in prime locations: the communists expropriated everyone, and today it’s often unclear who owns what and who’s responsible. On top of that, the houses are occupied by gypsies (his word), and they’re protected by the state; the owners are left out in the cold. With a bit of luck, the houses will collapse in the next earthquake and then they can finally rebuild. The fact that many gypsies would die in the process doesn’t seem to be much of a concern.

The political situation is a complete mess. The state can’t collect taxes. Inflation is over 5% and the budget deficit is the highest in the EU. Let me try to sum up what I’ve understood.

After a far-right Kremlin troll won the first round of elections, the established parties pulled together and formed a grand coalition. But they all hate each other with a passion. Every tiny attempt at reform dies in parliament. The coalition government doesn’t work at all. Everyone shamelessly looks after their own interests. And so, inevitably, the left teams up with the far right despite promising not to, and brings down the government. The president loses his temper and unilaterally appoints a new prime minister, risking a split in the left.

Pretty much business as usual in a democracy. But there’s plenty of outside interference too, in the form of social media campaigns and conspiracy theories. Interference from Russia, but also from MAGA nutjobs like Stephen Bannon, and of course the EU has an opinion as well. Then Russian and Ukrainian drones hit the NATO country, spreading fear and panic. People are getting worn down. My tour guide on the walking tour in Bucharest seriously believes there will be a civil war soon and says she’s ready to die on the front lines. She also says she’s in therapy, so maybe she’s not entirely representative.

Transfăgărășan

Another item on my bucket list is the Transfăgărășan. The road runs right through the Carpathians and was declared the most beautiful road in the world by none other than Jeremy Clarkson. Well, when it comes to mountain passes, we Swiss are not that easy to impress. But the 150 kilometer stretch is pretty spectacular, and there’s one thing we definitely don’t have in Switzerland: brown bears lounging by the roadside, people-watching tourists as if it’s the most normal thing in the world. We spend the night on the pass, celebrate Charly’s fifth birthday, and eat surprisingly well.

Dracula

The next day we drive down the Transfăgărășan into the capital of Transylvania, Sibiu, where we stay for two nights. Here, the political squabbles of Bucharest seem far away. The city is spruced up and beautifully restored, you hardly see a single run-down house, and the locals seem completely absorbed by the annual theater festival, one of the biggest in the world. For 20 years, the old town has been trying to get UNESCO World Heritage status, no idea what the holdup is. I’ve definitely seen worse places with the title.

We continue on to Timișoara, where we spend one last night in Romania before heading to Budapest, where the heatwave we’ve managed to avoid so far will finally catch up with us.

Romania Recap

We really enjoyed Romania and found it super interesting. The people are upbeat and curious. Based on my last visit 20 years ago, I expected Romania to be poorer than it actually is. These days, Romania is just a normal European country, with Lamborghinis and hipster cafés.

*This blog post has been automatically translated by a Large Language Model.