Lipscani in the daylight

The nice part of being a tourist is that it's easy to take photographs of things 'normal' people wouldn't bother to. Here's one such photograph, of Bucharest's newest mall: if this isn't an example of 'modern' Romania then I don't know what is.

If you're a tourist in Romania with no clue about such things, it turns out that the Panorama Mall (above) is ridiculously easy to find ... you just take the Metro to Aurel Vlaicu station, walk outside and to the right of the station, and you're there. It's definitely worth the trip if you're feeling homesick for malls (a *very* rare phenomenon in Romania still).

Recently on this blog I shared photographs I took of Bucharest's famous Lipscani district at night, and today I had an opportunity to head back to Lipscani in the daylight (ok ok, overcast winter fogginess). That's where I happened to spot this little unassuming signboard tucked away on a wall, and it all clicked into place (in Romanian streets are 'Strada').

I've already remarked here how poorly signposted (when I say poorly I mean 'not at all') this area is  for what's actually a well-documented tourist hotspot. Another top tourist tip is walk out of the Metro station at Piata Unirii, look for the McDonalds (hello Old Faithful), and head diagonally to the right from its door to a plain walkway heading between the buildings off the main Piata (you guessed it - 'Plaza' in Romanian).

Here you will see many wonderful things, including this ...

... and this ...

... and this ...

... which is worth looking closer at ...

... and this ...

... and this ...

... and this ...

... and this ...

... and of course a very early bust of Vlad Tepes, aka Vlad The Impaler, aka Dracula, before he was touristy, in front of what is known as Curtea Veche (old Princely Court) - currently undergoing heavy restoration.

And now you know ...