Romania: Bucharest, a wedding, Dracula's castle and more!

Before I can move on to my daily posting, I figure I need to finish updating the blog with our latest travels. BK and I had the pleasure of setting off to Romania a couple of weeks ago. This trip came after BK had been back in the US for a couple of weeks, so I was really excited to get to meet him in Bucharest. We were also really excited to be there for our friends' L&V's wedding.

What first stuck me about Romania is that it seems like a country that's struggling to let go of its past, but so badly wants to hang onto its culture and heritage; is trying hard to move forward and be a modern Western nation, but faces many internal challenges that limit how far they've come. We were in Bucharest for the beginning of our trip, which is the capital city, and where L&V's wedding was held. 

Romanian Athenaeum

This was our first trip to a post-communist country, which was quite intriguing for me, especially considering that Romania is a relatively young democracy (1989). I also found it very interesting that L's parents were part of the Romanian Revolution that led to them now being a democracy. The city is full of great historical architecture, that surprisingly was not destroyed by the communist regime.  On the flip side of that, there are also many buildings that have become run down, with owners who essentially have decided to let them fall down (literally) so they can then sell or rent the valuable land, while incurring no renovation costs themselves. It's really a shame, but is also a prime example of not changing old rules that would benefit the revitalization of the city.

We arrived on Friday and had that evening and pretty much all day Saturday and Sunday to wander around and explore. Keep in mind we also had to rest up for/recover from the wedding. The Old Town part of the city center is very charming and has many outdoor restaurants and terraces to enjoy. Of course, like anywhere else BK and I go, it rained, but only part of the time. Friday night we had traditional Romanian cuisine at Caru cu bere, which was a great way to really get into our experience. L&V also arranged a great hotel for us, the Grand Continental Hotel. Another note about Romania in general...it's super cheap.  They use the Romanian Leu, and are part of the EU.

Here are some of the sights from around the city:

Bucharest boasts the largest administrative building in the world- this picture doesn't do it justice

Sculpture built after the fall of communism

Romanian king (from hundreds of years ago)

The big event we were there for though, was L&V's wedding. It was a great time, and the longest party we've ever attended. We were there for about 12 hours- from around 5pm for the church service (Romanian Orthodox) until 5am when we left the reception. We didn't make it as long as the Romanians- they stayed until 6:30am! The church service was very interesting for us, and quite traditional for Romanian weddings. There are no seats in the Basilica, so no falling asleep for church-goers here.

From the church service we headed to the reception hall. It is the job of the wedding party to check off guests as they arrive and show them to their assigned tables. While they are doing this, L&V were off taking pictures after the ceremony. It's quite the party, but not incredibly different from US weddings. There was both a band and DJ, with dancing starting with L&V's first dance- a waltz. Then the dancing starts for everyone...and there is a lot of dancing. BK and I did dance, but not nearly as much as some of the other guests. We were pulled into one Romanian dance, the Hora, but I think he and I were pretty much just running around in a circle, as opposed to trying to complete any steps.

Traditional Romanian dance

So what did we do until 5am you ask? Danced, of course, but also ate lots of tasty food. I think there were about five courses before the wedding cake was served at 3am. Essentially the first one starts around 9pm, then every hour-and-a-half or so another one comes out. Another tradition that L&V did was the "stealing of the bride." L's friends take her somewhere away from the wedding, then call V to tell him what he has to do to get her back. This is usually very embarrassing for the groom. V didn't have it too bad- he just had to get the whole reception to do Gangnam Style and the Harlem Shuffle. 

The beginning of sunrise- to prove we were still awake

The success of the wedding is judged on how late your party goes. Based on theirs, I'd say it turned out pretty well! More about Dracula and our trip to Transylvania tomorrow...