We arrived at the Bucharest airport at 15 minutes after midnight. It was a pretty big plan though, so their were a significant number of us jostling toward the cab rank. My crew - now expanded to four of us - jammed into a cab with three across the back seat. This would not have been a problem except because it was so late, there was very little traffic and our driver took off at a very high speed. Unusually, I was not in the middle seat; I say unusually because in most crowds I am the shortest one and the one therefor who gets the "hump." However, my gallant fellow travellers gave me the seat behind the driver, this I was pleasantly unaware of our careening across multiple lanes until "hump" passenger, Andrew, started looking ahead in a very scared way and gripping the seatbacks of the two seats in front of him.
In the front seat along side the driver is Chris who is showing us all three cities. He tells the driver to slow down and the driver does but only for a while, I start paying attention peering around the seat back and noticing that not only is he driving fast but he is also no where near driving in a lane. It was almost like he was a cab driver in Shanghai - in my experience the worst, scariest cab drivers in the world. To distract us from impending death, Chris started pointing out the sights.
Mind you some were REALLY hard to miss. First thing we all noticed was the extraordinary number of car dealerships right outside the airport, very interesting to have Ferraris next to Skoda but all there lined up in a row. The road was huge and wide just like were you would find the car dealerships in suburban Atlanta. Then boom next was a giant collection of stores dominated by Carrefor (which is a French WalMart). Finally we start coming to teh more urban area. signalled by the Arc de Triumf, I swear it was actual size sitting right there in the middle of the roundabout. Turns out it was built in 1922 to memorialise the war dead.
Next up was Ceauşescu Palace. Remember, its probably now about 1:00 or so in the morning, we have been on the go since 8am and traveled here from Prague. This thing looms up to the left as we tear into the city driven by a mad driver. One of us had read a guidebook and piped up with, "Did you know that the Palace is mistakenly called a palace its really supposed to be a government building and is generally considered to be the second largest building in the world after the Pentagon." Looking it up after the trip I discover that factoid is one that everyone quotes, but there are some who say that its actually the third largest behind the Pentagon and the a Pyramid in Egypt. Nice view from the balcony though.
Finally after drag racing around the palace we arrive at our Marriott home. Third night; third Marriott - although this one used to be a guest house for the palace next door. Marriott took it over in 2001. Finally got to bed at 1:30 and guess what the room looked exactly like th eone in Prague and Warsaw - same toiletries, same sheets, same tv. When I woke up I really didn't know where I was until I looked out the window and saw the palace.
If you go to Bucharest - this guide isn't bad.
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