Bucharest full of contrasts: A route to Obor Marketplace

You start quite comfortably, on a wide and crowded thoroughfare of Bucharest, where you can still see wonderful, eclectic buildings. Slowly, the landscape becomes somewhat less elegant as you enter the Armenian district. The streets dominated by houses and small blocks from the early 20th century, once so modern in their Moorish style, now seem quite dusty, yet still somewhat charming.

Do not hesitate to stop at the Th. Pallady Museum, to admire the 18th-century house in which it is located, the only civilian building that can be visited, despite its age. The renowned painter, a representative of the Romanian avant-garde, had no connection with this house. The museum actually holds a private collection of his paintings.

The route makes a few more turns through the district so that you can catch some more glimpses. The last notable building, before exiting to the boulevard again, is the Foișorul de Foc, firemen's tower, today a museum.

From the intimate narrow streets full of houses, you enter the big boulevard, with communist blocks, cut in straight, even, impersonal lines. Precisely for that reason, the route to Piata Obor may remain quite mundane.

And Obor, Bucharest's largest market, is a melting pot of people, commercial offers, and various details that stimulate all your senses. Here you can find everything, although the market is popular mostly for seasonal fruits and vegetables.