I love the streets signs at this intersection near the front of the "People's Palace". The intersection of Liberty Boulevard & United Nations Boulevard. Striking! In front of the massive building constructed as monument to a megalomaniac, Nicolae Ceasescu, now stands the boulevard dedicated to Liberty - the one thing that couldn't be found in Romania under his regime.
Honestly, I don't have big expectations of EU membership or expect major changes to happen quickly...but Bucharest did seem like a different city today! Because of all the big parties last night, I assume many people slept the day away. Thus, the roads were clear and chaos did NOT reign, for once. We planned to visit the Parliamentary Palace today (like good tourists!) and were surprised to see how many others had the same plan. Then a reporter coming through the crowd asked if we were there because entrance was free - no, but a nice surprise! The building was opened to the public this week, and we even got to take pictures for free (normally, you pay an extra fee for a "permit" to take pictures).
This line is amazing...not that there are so many people, but that they actually stood in line. People don't really stand in line here; they are much more likely to mob an entrance and push their way to the front. And yet, today, people stood in line. Thus the observation by someone in our group that, when the president of the European Commission came to Bucharest last night, he must have sprinkled the city with magic EU fairy dust, instantly turning the city into a genteel, civilized city with polite and orderly people. Ummm...maybe not, but at least they stood in line today (and security guards actually confronted "cutters" and sent them to the back of the line!).
Ceasescu named this monstrosity Casa Poporului, "the House of the People" - a monument for the world to see the success of the social people's republic. Ironically, the people have few positive feelings about this huge building, surpassed in size only by the Pentagon. The people look at this extravagance of this building - 1000s of chandeliers, marble everywhere, ballrooms that stand empty, etc. - and see the unfinished pit that consumed millions of dollars while the people starved. Today, the building is finally being repurposed and put to use as the Parliamentary Palace, the meeting place for Romania's 2-house Parliament.
Another irony, as Ceasescu clearly never pictured Romania's flag here in the entry way - without the communist crest in the middle - and flanked by the flags of NATO and the EU.
"Palace" is definitely a more accurate descriptor than "House". The opulence is overwhelming, awe-inspiring, and sobering all at the same time.
The girls were inspired by the big empty ballroom and had to try out the dance floor!
Since we visited on a non-working day, we were able to go into the room where the Senate will meet. We entered through the doors in the front, those used by the president of the Senate and stood on the platform in the front where he is typically seated. I was again struck by how the "ugliness" of this building's past is being "redeemed" today...the men and women democratically elected to lead this country are now doing so from the very building Ceasescu intended as the seat of power for his dictatorship!
We were able to step out onto the balcony at the front of the Palace, looking down Bulevardul Unirii - the Boulevard of Unity. Sadly, all of the buildings that you see here were built in the '80s as Ceasescu had much of "old Bucharest" raized so that he could build an "efficient, modern" city and keep his subordinates close to him. The boulevard itself was designed to be just a little bit longer than the Champs Elysees in Paris, another attempt by Ceasescu to make a statement about the superiority of the communist, socialist state. This picture was taken from a balcony on the second floor of the building...I wonder what the view would look like from the roof of the building? I think I counted at least 8 stories from the outside (we only saw the bottom two).
I've seen the outside of the Parliamentary Palace many times & taken lots of pictures, but this was my first chance to see the inside. There was so much to see that I'm sure I only scratched the surface. They say that the "Open Parliament" week went over so well that they are going to open it 1 day a month from now on...I'll have to go back again!
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