Another big, dirty, smelly city

I've arrived safe and sound in Romania. The hostel has switched hands/is being renovated. Consequently I have a dorm to myself. It's almost too quiet. The other hostel inhabitants are watching a French game show on the tele. After it finished, they filled me in on their romanian trip. After much deliberation, food, and sleep, I decided that there was just too much to see. I'd love to incorporate what they'd seen, but I'd have to stick to the original plan.

I left Bucharest after spending less than 24 hours in the capital. Ugh! What a place. The only thing that comes to mind that is as big and has as little charm is Milan. So it's not as clean, less charming, and there aren't nearly asmany beautiful woman running around. The thing to see, and the reason I stayed, is the Parliamentary Palace. Ceausescu used 80% of Romania's GDP to erect this glorious edifice. It is stunning, and huge. The tour takes you through hall after hall of "conference rooms". One of the cool things is that everything that went into the construction came from Romania. Nothing from China, yet!