We completed our cruise on the AmaWaterways ship and traveled to Bucharest by bus, where we toured the Village Museum and the Romanian National Museum of History.
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the southeast, Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, and Moldova to the east. It has a predominantly temperate continental climate. Romania is the 12th largest country and also the 7th most populous member state of the European Union, having almost 20 million inhabitants. Its capital and largest city is Bucharest.
Romania - From Giurgiu to Bucharest
Trucks and Windmills
Tombstones and Church
Trucks
Window Air Conditioners
Reminded us of Soviet-era apartment buildings in Moscow.
Past and Present
* * * * * * * * * * * *
National Village Museum of Romania
in the capital city of Bucharest
in the capital city of Bucharest
One of the oldest and largest outdoor museums in Europe.
The outdoor museum opened May 19, 1936,
and depicts the peasant life.
(Sam)
Buildings have been dismantled
from their original setting (the rural part of Romania)
and brought to Bucharest by train, carriage, or car.
The museum is divided into several areas,
depending on the origins of the buildings.
Showing the construction using wooden pegs.
There are 36 total exhibits.
(Narene)
Wooden church from Maramures,
one of the most important pieces of the museum.
(Narene and Sam)
The next three photos are different views of this church.
This cottage is another important part of the museum.
The construction shows one of the oldest dwelling forms.
"This type of dwelling has been kept in Lesser Wallachia
until the middle of the 20th century due to economic,
historical, and weather conditions."
(Sam)
Although they look like mud piles covered with plants from the outside,
on the inside they are well arranged dwellings.
The dwellings are built like this due to the weather
of strong winds in the Romanian Plain and huge temperature differences.
The cottages are cool in the summertime and warm in the winter.
The cottage in the photo above is from Lesser Wallachia,
while the house in the photo below is from Greater Wallachia area.
The cottage in the photo above is from Lesser Wallachia,
while the house in the photo below is from Greater Wallachia area.
This house was brought from the Greater Wallachia (Muntenia) folk area.
Most of these houses from this area have a front porch.
I am deciding which Romanian Easter egg to buy.
Sometimes the hollowed-out eggs are dyed
using the wax-resist and dye-bath method;
other times, they are decorated with hundreds of tiny beads
that form traditional patterns.
I had already purchased one of the latter hollowed-out eggs
decorated with tiny beads,
so here I picked out one of the decorated wooden eggs.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Romanian National History Museum
Housed in the former Postal Services Palace,
the museum displays historical artifacts from Romania
from prehistoric times up to modern times.
The National History Museum in Bucharest
consists of around 60 exhibition rooms,
but most are closed to the public.
The museum was founded in 1970
and had a challenging period during the earthquake in 1977
and again during the 1989 revolution.
Trajan's Column
A permanent exhibit.
The following exhibits were part of the national treasure,
which is where we spent most of our time in the museum.
Side view of an ancient crown.
Golden Dacian Bracelets
Dated to the 1st century BC or 1st century AD.
Associated with the ancient people known as the Dacians.
These bracelets were used as ornaments, currency, high rank insignia,
and votive offerings (objects displayed or deposited in a sacred place for religious purposes, without the intention of recovery or use).
Bracelets of various types were worn by Dacians,
but the most characteristic piece of their jewelry was the
large multi-spiral bracelets; engraved with palmettes towards the ends
and terminating in the shape of an animal head, usually that of a snake.
These bracelets had been stolen and sold abroad;
but they were found and brought back by secret service from
Romania, Germany, and other European countries.
Four Gospels of the Monastery of Horezu
A 1709 copy of this book in a gold cover.
As we were leaving the museum,
consists of around 60 exhibition rooms,
but most are closed to the public.
The museum was founded in 1970
and had a challenging period during the earthquake in 1977
and again during the 1989 revolution.
A permanent exhibit.
The following exhibits were part of the national treasure,
which is where we spent most of our time in the museum.
Dated to the 1st century BC or 1st century AD.
Associated with the ancient people known as the Dacians.
These bracelets were used as ornaments, currency, high rank insignia,
and votive offerings (objects displayed or deposited in a sacred place for religious purposes, without the intention of recovery or use).
Bracelets of various types were worn by Dacians,
but the most characteristic piece of their jewelry was the
large multi-spiral bracelets; engraved with palmettes towards the ends
and terminating in the shape of an animal head, usually that of a snake.
These bracelets had been stolen and sold abroad;
but they were found and brought back by secret service from
Romania, Germany, and other European countries.
A 1709 copy of this book in a gold cover.
this bride and groom were getting their picture taken with family
and were nice enough to pose for our camera.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Sharing a few other photos taken in Bucharest.
Palace of the Parliament
houses Romania's government.
It is the heaviest building in the world,
the largest building in Europe
(nearly four million square feet and one thousand rooms),
and the world's second-largest administrative building (after the Pentagon).
The National Museum of Contemporary Art
is located in a new glass wing of the Palace of the Parliament;
but for our group this was only a photo stop,
but pretty impressive due to the size of the parliament building.
will be continuing with our group as we leave
Romania and fly to Rome, Italy.
At the end of this day, we stayed overnight at the JW Marriott Bucharest.
The next morning, we went by bus to the airport for our flight to Rome.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The next blog entry will find us in Rome, Italy,
where we concluded our trip after touring there.
