Bucharest was a surprise. We had little idea what to expect. Some sort of developing country with a very rural existance I think. We were wrong. Completely wrong. Romania turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip. Not that we had such a wonderful time there but it was clear that this was one of the great cities and countries that we had been through. As a tourist there isn't really all that much to point your camera at. It isn't great because of the wonderful sights to see. Infact it's hard to really make a case for the place in a blog. I don't have any spectacular pictures to post or even great stories to tell but we loved the place.

Like most ex-communist places it bears the scars of it's recent history. Where it becomes spectacular is as you wander around and get a feel for the place and it's people. The city is clean and friendly and safe. The commies left excellent infrastructure as they have done in the other Eastern bloc counties we have visited and that makes getting around easy. The driving is civilised and polite. Night-life was excellent. Romania is definitely not on the tourist map and this makes it a hidden gem. It's also quite cheap which is always a bonus.

The Romanians are mostly Orthodox and there is a smattering of churches that survived the communist era. The rather haunting chap on the right is Vlad the Impaler. Made famous by Bram Stokers book he is in fact a true figure who impaled about twenty thousand people. Impaling involves placing a spear from the anus to the mouth without piercing any internal organs (how that's possible I am not sure) and then placing the spear into the ground. Apparently it can take days to die... What a nice fellow. His real name was Vlad Tepes and he only ruled these lands for about six years. In the book of course he becomes Dracula.

We stumbled upon a venue with this excellent front door. It isn't really to my taste and you can't help but feel that they are going to be playing plenty of Rammstein but the artistry was quite impressive for a temporary door made from fibreglass.

This is slightly geeky but I came across these unusual outside floor coverings. They are just raw wood cut into end effect and laid side by side. They are very pleasant to walk on with a soft, forgiving silent effect and look good, easy to lay and cheap! I liked them. Usual Alfa-esque service will resume in the next blog entry.

I wish I had the time and the pictures to do Bucharest justice. It really was one of the highlights of the trip even though we only had a few days there. We will definitely be coming back.