Europe 2019 - Day 40 (Part 4)

15 June 2019, Saturday

At Old Town, we went to St Anthony’s Square. Here we saw Manuc’s Inn, one of the few inns that were kept in Bucharest in its original form. The inn is named after a wealthy Armenian merchant. The inn initially consisted of 15 bolted cellars, 23 shops, 2 large parlours, 10 storage rooms, servant rooms, kitchens, and also the rooms which used to host about 500 people. The first floor had 107 rooms, mostly used for guests. The courtyard also hosted a cafe with a fountain. Today it’s been converted into a restaurant and I just managed a peek as there was a receptionist just at the entrance to the inn. Creeps. 

Then the Biserica Sfântul Anton or St Anton’s Church or the Annunciation Church or the Church of the Old Court (phew!), the oldest church preserved in Bucharest. There used to be an even older sanctuary here, the remains of which were discovered in St Anton Square and confirmed by a document dating from the late 15th century entitled “Life of Nicodemus” (founder of other monasteries called Tismana and Vodita). Between the 16th to 18th centuries, it served as the coronation place of the Romanian kings, who also attended the religious services here. In 1847 it was destroyed in a fire, but was renovated and took over the name of the neighbouring church dedicated to St Anton. Its original architecture was restored and rebuilt in 1928-1935. 

Next, to the Palace of Justice - built between 1890-1895 and located on the banks of the Dambovita River. I managed to see the sunset over the river as ducks swam by. Very beautiful but of course! The moment was ruined by the impatience of others. 

As it was already getting on 8 p.m., I decided to go back although there were still some other points of interest. My friend wanted to use a different way back to University Square, so I said I wanted to stop at the Russian Church as we only saw the back of it this morning. I used Google Maps at University Square and it brought me to the back of the church. I hate Google Maps. It is always bringing me to the back of buildings. My friend was getting impatient, and I was getting irritated, so I just turned around and headed back to the hostel in disgust.

We stopped at the nearby grocery store to buy stuff for tomorrow and then back to the hostel to dry our washed clothes, shower and sleep. For the first time since I arrived in Europe I had 7-Up instead of beer before going to bed. This hot summer weather is really making me thirsty. And darker than I already am.