Posts Tagged 'Bucharest'

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Shot by TotalAdventure’s Blaine Zuver and Martin Zuver.

 

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A an overnight first class sleeper train ride from Budapest had us arriving fresh and rested on the first morning of summer, June 21.

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The”Dacia” Boarding in Budapesti Keleti.

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Brasov – Romania’s Hollywood ? Brasov is the center of Transylvania.

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Dracula’s Castle, known as Castle Bran, is about 25 km from Brasov. Building began in the 1200s and was added on to over the centuries.

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A hidden stairway deep in the interior.

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The modern day ( 1883 ) Peles Castle, in Sinaia. was built by King Carol.  It was built with electricity,telephones,telegraph and other modern conveniences.

IMG_7456A comfortable drawing room in Peles.

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The Carpathian Mountains are quite undeveloped. There are a few small ski areas, with a long powdery season, rafting,climbing and seeing rare animals that are extinct in Western Europe. For many years only Dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu was allowed to hunt.

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While forcing his subjects to live in poverty and half-starvation,Ceaușescu lived in the grand style of a Communist Emperor .An entire section of Bucharest ( not just a neighborhood, but comparable to the Upper West Side of Manhattan or Soho in London  ) in order to build the People’s Palace – the world’s second largest building in terms of square footage , just after the Pentagon. It took 18 years to complete – from 1978 to 1996 – 7 years after the execution of he and his vile wife Elena.

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A chandelier weighing 5 Metric Tons  – one of over 100 in the building – constructed at a time the populace was relegated to one 40 watt lightbulb per apartment.

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The Dictator. – “Genius of The Carpathians” was one of his many self-bestowed titles.

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One of many grand staircases. Many had to be rebuilt several times in order to make him seem taller than his  short stature.

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The view from one of the balconies from which Ceaucescu would never make a speech.

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One in three adults were rumored to work for the Secret Police – the Securitate.

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In a nautical mode.

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In Nicolae and Elena’s villa – solid gold water faucets. Commoners were rationed to half an hour of hot water every other Sunday.

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Modern radio – circa 1988.

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