Monday, Sep 18th, Bucharest, Romania



Greetings!

As Pat said just before returning to our room after lunch, "What did we do today?"  "Oh yea, we walked the streets, listened to a revolutionary, toured the City,  had lunch, and walked back to the hotel".   In doing so, the first impression we had of Budapest (big communist-style buildings built after most of the past were bombed in WWII) changed.  Most of this morning was shown or explained to us through the eyes of someone who lives here.  


Egmont Puscasu was 15, and ready for the revolution.  His family had experienced more than their share of oppression by President Ceausescu, and he didn't hesitate when it found him.  Leading a rally in what is now called Revolution Square on December 21, 1989, and seeing a friend killed next to him (and taking a bullet himself), he began a life fighting for his country's freedom.  This morning he delivered a riveting description of the life before, during, and after the 1989 revolution.

Our driver, Marios, got a chance to show us his City as he drove us to the spots he wanted us to see.  Tree-lined boulevards, well-kept parks, upscale neighborhoods, small museums not often visited, the Dambovita River, and the old Communist Party Headquarters (now housing the nation's newspaper companies).  We said goodbye to him (and his daughter) shortly before lunch, as our movement between now and our flights on Wednesday is limited.

Our lunch restaurant began long ago as a brewery.  The decor and interior design is way over the top in wood, brass, stained-glass, and elegance.  Violins and accordians play while aa wide variety of eastern and western fare are on the menu.  One of the last meals that those of us who signed up for the base tour will have together, we relaxed and admitted we'd miss the good times we had experienced.

To see all of the photos taken today, click on Monday, Sep 18th, Bucharest, Romania.


 

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