Bucharest august 17

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It strange to stay in a Libanese hotel in Bucharest. It is like an oasis in a stone dessert. I sit on the balcony of our hotelroom, while I am writing. Around me I see the concrete flats, grey and not well maintained, tv-shells, clothes on the balconies to dry and airco's protruding out of the concrete. There are trees, but even they are greyish. The good thing of communism was that everyone had an appartment, but the people had to take a grey environment. Bucharest is a mix max of beautiful Secession buildings, chroetsjov flats (which have the upperhand) and some ultra modern buildings. It is as no one cares about the architecture of the city. I must say the city is ugly. And this ugly city is crowned by the Casa Popurului, the house of former president Ceauscescu. It is the biggest building in the world but one: only the Pentagon is bigger. I don't know how the Pantagon lookes like, but I think The Casa of Ceausescu wins the prize of ugliest building in the world. It is as you are part of interactive computer game and you have to defeat the evil of evils somewhere in a big building. We asked the people what they thought about it. They like the building. They say.

The people are friendly and helpfull. They speak a language which sounds like Italian. Life must be hard. On the Piata Revolutei stands a monument to memorise the fight of the revoltionaries against the forces of Ceausescu on december 21 and 22 in 1989. In the neighbouring buildings you can still see the bullet holes. It is right in front of Athenee Palace, the most famous hotel of the city.

It is pity we did not see more of the country, specially the Danube Delta. We heard it is beautiful, but we have to go on. To Odessa!

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