One day in Bucharest. What to do?

You only have one free day in the Romanian Capital and you have no idea what to do with it.

Well, in the first place, it depends on the day, and then it depends on the weather. There aren't many things more horrible than a rainy Monday, but since it may happen, I suggest we also cover this possibility.

Rainy weekdays can be cured in Bucharest with one crucial condition: don't drive. Don't call a taxi - during the rush hours 8-8 a.m. 17.30-19 p.m. You will get stuck in traffic and that is how half of your day will be spent. Just use the subway (or trams) as much as you can, this will give a very accurate taste of Bucharest pedestrian daily life.

And it is best if you are not alone or if there is someone Romanian guiding you. However you don't have to bother, most of the Romanian young people speak English (sometimes even French, Spanish or Italian) well enough as to give you clear direction in case you can't cope with the map. :)

There are a few nice coffee-shops in town where you can spend some quality time and enjoy magical flavors:

- La Cafenescu, near the students' campus in Grozavesti;
- Rendez-Vous, in the center of the town near the University;
- Picasso, on Calea Victoriei near the National History Museum;
- King's Valley in Villacrosse Passage, in the same area with Picasso.

Unfortunately Monday and Tuesday are cursed days for Museums… they are always closed. So if you had in mind a cultural interaction with Romanian art (and not only) we suggest immediate reconsideration. :) You'd better go shopping in a commercial mall, for instance. It is wise to go there on Mondays because they are not so crowded. You can eat there and also go to a movie.

Should you not be hindered by any sort of natural phenomena, then there is no excuse in missing some of our wonderful parks. Cismigiu, which lies in the center of the town, is a great choice. You can walk around the alleys for a couple of hours and then you might want to visit the historical center of the town.

It is close to the park and you will have a surprising experience. Do not be disappointed by its old-fashioned, dirty, crowded look bordering on unredeemable destruction in some places… It is all part of a peculiar, distinct, personal Romanian style made up of contrasting mind-boggling images that one can never by any means forget.

Contrast is the most representative for Bucharest, so don't even try to find coherence, sense or logic whatsoever, because the beauty of this town lies only in discrepancy, contrast and visual paradoxes. Once you understand this, you will come to love what you will see.
Walk along Calea Victoriei. It is Bucharest's most famous street and you will encounter wonderful buildings, nice shops and restaurants. Bucharest could be a wonderful subject for photography amateurs and professionals also.

Take a bus and take the tour of the town on that route. Don't expect a touristic kind of journey because you won't get one. It's just a real life experience. You may like it or hate it but it gets you closer to part of Bucharest's way of life.

One single day in any capital of the world is nonetheless far from enough in order to get the sense of what's going on. Still, if you have some more time, have a snack and a beer in Festival 39, a nice pub in the center of the town where you will have a glimpse at how inter-war Bucharest pubs looked like. :)