On Friday, I went out again in the evening, down Calea Victoriei to see the tourist side of Bucharest (which is much better than the Gara de Nord area). I came across a little church stuck between the modern concrete stuff with some great frescoes in the porch and then I went down to the big park in front of the Palace of Parliament before walking back through the gardens where there was a folklore festival going on, and also old men with pipes playing chess whic...

I got to the station and mostly by sign language, managed to get a ticket back from Brasov to Bucharest, which was good because I meant I wouldn't end up stranded in Transylvania. Then I had nearly an hour to kill before my train. I sat in the little park opposite the station, wandered around the station and finally got on the train. I found a compartment of my own and was joined by some Americans or Canadians. They were glad I didn't mind English-speakers becau...

This is my second full day in Bucharest and it's really really hot. I didn't particularly like Bucharest when I first arrived and I still don't like it now very much. It's too hot, it's absolute chaos and getting out of the city is almost impossible. I've spent two mornings wandering around. I've been to the Piata Romana and seen the wolf statue, I've wandered endless streets and squares (and squares here are like massive roundabouts only they have nothing in t...