100 Grit?

In a moment of idleness today (in case anyone from CNE is reading this, it was probably in my lunchtime) I noticed that the toilet paper in the plant's 'conveniences' had a different texture on either side.  Initially, I put this down to piss-poor manufacturing quality but then realised that it is probably intentional and actually a jolly good idea.  What can be better than a good 100 grit abrasion followed by, say, 400 grit to polish?  Maybe it goes further, perhaps some places use wet and dry?

All in all, a fine idea, one that Romania can be proud of - it's right up there with their brilliant plastic bank notes!

The People's Palace

Last Saturday, I went to Bucharest specifically to visit the People's Palace (as it seems to be commonly known as).  I parked in a shopping centre by the ring road and took the metro.  On arriving, there were a lot of people milling around.  However, all was not that bad, they headed off for their allotted tours and things got quieter.  It seemed there was a 2 hour tour in English starting at 1045h so I went for it. 45 Lei for a ticket, 30 Lei for a camera permit.

Rules were quite strict - no deviation from the group, no joining other groups, no wandering off - some code was quoted which would probably result in an unpleasant weekend in a Romanian jail if applied!  The ubiquitous metal detector was also there complete with several stern-looking security types.

Anyway, off we went. About 30 of us.

I'm not sure how to describe the interior - it was just vast, huge, monstrous - even grotesque.  White marble on every surface.  Long galleries (for what?), very large rooms with very high ceilings...a theatre (with a stage too small to be of any practical use) etc.  It was clearly built to top anything similar in Europe in it's day.  A peak into the local history reveals that Ceausescu wanted to outshine everyone else in its grandeur.  This extended to the wholescale clearance of large tracts of land in the centre of the city and the construction of a 4 km boulevard which was bigger (purposefully) that the Champs Elysee in Paris.  By the way, this clearance involved the demolition of thousands of houses and relocation to blocks of their inhabitants.
This all looks fine today as the view shows from the palace...but at a price.

There were a number of governmental chambers in use which weren't on the tour so it is being used for its original purpose.  I'm unclear whether Ceausescu ever planned to actually live there but its purpose was clearly wider than that.  I gather that many, many rooms are abandoned/unused - our tour was carefully planned to show the glossy bits. 

A visit to the roof was included - lots of opportunities to take in the impressive views.  A closer look at the outside of the building shows that a lot of the marble is looking shaky in places.

We also had a short visit to (a very small part of) the basement.  Our guide said that she hadn't been briefed on any information on the extent of the below ground levels however the original (Ceausescu) plan was for 12 floors up, and 12 down.  That never materialised but there are several layers and extensive tunnels and, as every palace should have, a nuclear-proof bunker.  Locals who have been there on private trips confirm these floors but it's strange why they are not openly acknowledged.  The guide did tell us to watch Top Gear, series 14, episode 1 where they drove in the tunnels...so I did.


Construction started in 1984, and took 10 years to complete.  Sadly (?),
Ceausescu never saw it completed (it was at 70% complete when he ended up against the wall).  He did show a lot of interest in its construction, naturally...  The twin staircases in the entrance hall were rebuilt seven times before they met his high quality standards!

It's impressive.  Apparently, it has the 2nd largest building footprint in the world (2nd to the Pentagon).  It would be good to see it more openly on use.  It wasn't stated how much it cost, but judging by the vast numbers visiting, and the cost they charge, they're probably well on the way to recouping some of the cost!

2 h for the tour seemed a long time at the start but it passed quickly.  A recommended visit while in Bucharest.

And, by the way, they're building a cathedral in the back yard...

Queuing in Romania

They don't.