Romania

We are now touring Transylania, where we plan to do some hiking and checking out castles and historic Saxon towns.  For the first time we are traveling by car.  The roads are good, but due to construction there are lots of traffic jams.

We spent a few days in Bucarest, the capital, which is a large, lively city with a vibrant art scene.  We caught a performance by a local jazz singer, accompanied by an excellent guitarist.

Here are a few photos, including the massive government building erected by Romania's former dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, fountains in one of Bucarest's main boulevards, and Peles Castle in Sinaia.

The Parliament building is one of the largest in the world, reportedly second only to the Pentagon in square footage.  And Ceausescu bulldozed an entire historic neighborhood to build it, displacing tens of thousands of people from their homes.  No wonder he was so despised by his people that he and his wife were executed immediately after the fall of Communism in Romania.