4th and 5th of July

I'm giving you and myself a bit of a blog break at least until tomorrow after the dreaded presentation is over.

Yesterday was pretty low key including a tour of the parliament building. I think the best way to describe that building is architectural gluttony. I'll just say that we only toured about 7% of the building and it took about an hour. They also take your passport upon entry so that was a bit unnerving. One other interesting fact though is that if you would like to rent a room for a special event it will cost about 2,000 euros. What a deal!

This balcony that I am standing on has an interesting story behind it. The dictator Mr. C intended to make a grand speech from where I stand upon completion of the parliament building. It is still only 90% completed, and he was executed before he had a chance to make the speech. Oddly enough, Michael Jackson was the first one to use the balcony for a public appearance. Unfortunately instead of addressing the people of Bucharest (where he was) he addressed the people of Budapest. This was a big problem because of the international relations between the two countries at the time. Yikes! There is a lesson to be learned here, always know where you are in place and time. ;)
The rest of the day breezed by, and mom and I had a late snack at the out of the way restaurant with the big courtyard that was the first inn in Bucharest along the trade route. It was closed for many years, but lucky for us it opened again just 2 weeks ago.

It’s the next morning and time to go on to the next destination, Sofia, Bulgaria. We had to get up bright and early to get to the airport to take Tarom Airlines and try to spend the last of my leu. We got to the airport in plenty of time by good old driver Tony, but unfortunately the airport would only accept euros so I have some leu that I’ll be taking home. I think I have finally finished my presentation which is a good thing because I am presenting first thing in the morning. Now I just have to go over it a few times and make sure it fits into my allotted time of 30 minutes. 


Wish me luck!