Bucharest, Part 5: Final Day-- The Village (outdoor) Museum And Nicolae Ceausescu's Mansion

Part One: As stated, this was a visit to an outdoor museum--how cool is that?!?!-- and an opportunity to see a whole variety of homes constructed throughout Romania, dating back as far as the 1500's and as recently as the 1900's. They were charming, to be sure.. albeit, rather dark inside... and very basic/rustic. Still, I could have l happily lived in quite a number of them! The museum extended over a couple of square kilometers, so it was quite a large area to cover. The photos here are of a few of my favorites, outside and inside. It appears that the predominant occupations were farming for the men and weaving for the women.

I wondered if this was a crude church of some sort? I don't recall the description now...or perhaps just a crazy style back then, a couple hundred years ago?!

No longer functioning, of course... but it WAS a real well at one time, and the standard way that peasant of old obtained their water. Charming!

Rustic but also charming! Virtually everything contructed from wood... but there were also beautifully woven tapestries on the walls, along with homemade ceramics that were lovely.

I have always had a fondness for thatched roofs... but I have heard (from Mexicans in Mexico) that they are extremely hard to maintain; require fairly frequent replacement; and are a home to all kinds of critters!

This lovely young woman was selling traditional Romanian garb...she tried her hardest to sell me something! I think not...but I did at least manage to talk her into letting me take a photo of her!

Part Two: The Nicolae and Elena Ceasescu's Mansion. From talking to different English-speaking Romanians, I have discerned that these two leaders of the communist party in Romania (beginning in the 40's, after they overthrew the Royals, as they call them...until THEY were overthrown--and executed--in 1989) are largely hated by the Romanians. Apparently, the communist regime was quite cruel-- imprisoning and/or killing dissenters willy nilly--and most people during those times were poor, hungry and struggling, while the communist party feasted and lived lavishly. Viva la revolution, that's what I say!!!

However, while in power, the communist couple DID manage to create a magnificent mansion for themselves in the 60's. I enjoyed the visit here thoroughly, especially the fact that our robotic Romanian tour guide was clearly a communist (as he perpetually glorified these two dictatorial leaders)! I had great fun challenging him about various facts I heard on the Parliment Palace tour: namely, how the building of the Palace destroyed so many beautiful structures (including 38 churches and synagogues) and displaced 40,000 people...his response was that they only destroyed a "slum" to build the magnificent palace! According to this guy, the communist leaders Nicolae and Elena were treated--and viewed-- most unjustly. He had all sorts of justifications for their "bad" behaviors... I cannot recall what they were now... he also claimed that the government built and owned the mansion--that it was not the personal property of Nicolae and Elena at all. (Even IF the case, they clearly didn't have a shabby life living there!!!) In fact, according to our communist guide, their salaries were quite humble!! (Yeah, right...!) It is truly amazing what you can believe when you are blinded by fanatical devotion!

All that aside, the mansion WAS beautiful, containing many different and eclectic styles, exquisite mosaic tiling, and, best of all, a GORGEOUS indoor swimming pool! Yep, I could have lived there... just a "tad" preferable to how the more humble people lived (in the village houses, as previously shown!) Or, even more importantly, seriously preferable to the drab, hideous, nondescript concrete complexes built in the communist era for the "common" people to live in....

Here you go:

The front of the house... not much to look at...the real interest is inside.

A lot of wood and marble (including some rare varieties) were used for the interior.. here, a plush carpet covers marble stairs, and the paneled walls are oak, I believe.

Various family photos... Nicolae and Elena were very fond of these!

A "casual" study/family room... I drooled over the gorgous furniture! However, our guide told us that Elena insisted on much of it being covered in plastic much of the time to protect it... how unpleasant!!

Hard to see in the photo, but this was a very elaborate chess board...apparently, both husband and wife enjoyed the game.

I took this photo at a strange angle so you could see more of the lovely furniture.

The very lovely bedroom... unfortunately, I didn't have great lighting in there, so hard to see the details.

Dining hall... apparently, the Ceausescus did a LOT of entertaining in their home... according to my guide, they were perpetually visited by dignitaries from around the world, and had received about 13,000 gifts from such people over the course of their reign in Romania. Seems a bit improbable, no? But who knows... I guess communist dictators have to be buttered up...!

No story about this piece, I just liked it....the mansion was filled with many antiques, but there were some beautiful pieces that did not look So old and were possibly just designed to LOOK old...

I believe this was Elena's private bedroom...she and her husband didn't always sleep together.

I am a great fan of beautiful mosaics, and this house was full of them!

A very ornate fireplace and mantlepiece!

The "golden" bathroom... my God! SO palatial! (Of course, the communist guide claimed NONE of the "gold" was real.... yeah, right!!!)

Elena's walk-in closet... certainly large enough to live in!!!

Descending another stairway, where you can the lovely tiled walls on either side.

A different kind of wall tile! Not my fave...but thought it interesting!

Exquisite tea set... one of the many lavisth gifts received by Nicolae and Elena...

THIS was my favorite room, by far!!! The mosaics on the walls were spectacular!! (If there had been water in that pool, I would have jumped right in!!!)

Quite large for an indoor pool... I believe it was 25 yards (though it was discussed in meters, of course...)

They loved peacocks...there were a couple wandering around in the garden that I saw...

Even the underside of this staircase was tiled! Amazing...

Main reception room

The backside of the mansion was by far more beautiful and lush than the front...

The hallway we exited through at the end of the tour...

Also in the hallway: photos of Nicolae with various visiting dignitaries... I was only interested in which Americans he "hobnobbed" with, of course!!!

OMG, "tricky Dick"!! Doesn't THAT ever bring back memories?!?! (NOT the good kind!! Although Trump certainly looks Nixon--and Watergate crimes-- look pretty tame by comparison!!!)