I ran the Bucharest Marathon in October 2023.
Whilst I finished the race, one of rookie mistakes I made was walking up to 30,000 steps per day before and after the run for sightseeing and photography.
I absolutely love exploring abandoned buildings, factories, hotels, and all else - something I did a lot of in my teenage years.
I'd drop all else just to see them... hence why I told my feet that it was a risk that I was willing to take...
Ruins of buildings are like the corpse of a body without a soul, much like what Cicero said for books in a room.
These are some of the things I saw whilst I was there.
Bucharest is lined with apartment buildings that just stand like this.
Windows blocked out, graffitied, and decaying.
I was actually surprised at how many there were all over the city, at every corner.
This is a sad vision in the centre of the city.
Palatul Adevărul or the 'Palace of Truth' was originally built in 1898 as the headquarters of Romania's largest newspaper.
I would have liked to go inside it but it was boarded up and under some kind of demolishment.
It pains me to see historical buildings like this one being demolished instead of restored.
Such opulence, such beauty.
Who were the architects, I wonder?
I tried to find this information but it was near impossible.
Bucharest is home to many villas - a lot of which stand derelict, with nature taking over.
You sometimes need to find a crack in the wall, or a little hole, just to get a sight.
This may have been someone's house on the way from the train station on the first day.
I forgot where I took this photo.
Abandoned buildings line eastern Bucharest, around Iancului.
Next to the Gara du Nord train station, which in itself is an Art Deco vision, my heart skipped a beat.
Hotel Dunărea, the Danube Hotel, is a massive, harrowing structure that will completely capture your attention once you see it.
I was built somewhere between 1930s and 1940s.
I do not think I have seen such a big hotel, one located in such a prime location next to a train station, in such an awful state!
It makes me very sad to see this.
The before and after of this building makes you wonder.
Such pretty and sad sights in the city.
Even 3 years later, I still think about a lot of these buildings and their story.
