Far cheaper than Prague or Budapest, Bucharest offers much of the culture of the neighboring capitals without the crowds. A three-course dinner at one of the city's most revered restaurants costs less than the equivalent of $30, and the best seats at the opera are about $9.
Of course, there's more to hear than just fat ladies in Viking helmets. The music scene starts with the great 20th-century composer George Enescu, but it quickly branches out to house D.J.'s like Alien Pimp and rollicking Gypsy bands like Taraf de Haiduks.

The cityscape is equally vibrant, with Byzantine churches crumbling next to palatial Beaux-Arts town houses and minimalist International-style blocks. Though Bucharest, the capital of Romania, used to be called Micul Paris (Little Paris), the architecture is more varied than the City of Light's, and long boulevards like Victoriei and Dacia offer photo-worthy sights on every corner.

But the gritty tableaus are fading fast, as much of old Bucharest is getting cleaned up. In the 17 years since the fall of Communism, Romania has attracted scores of outside investors, and the money seems to be pouring in faster as the country approaches its scheduled entrance into the European Union in 2007. But for now, it remains a quirky little place, and you can still see the sights without souvenir shops and postcard vendors getting in the way.

Onde Ficar

Bucharest's hoteliers clearly have their eyes on business travelers, and many rates are listed in euros (and even dollars), instead of the local currency. The city's freshest beds are at the plush Novotel, a tower with 258 rooms that opened last month. The Ikea-esque modern décor is light and airy.

Nonetheless, the old Athénée Palace Hilton remains the queen of the scene. Built in 1914, the hotel was renovated 10 years ago, preserving many of the original elements, like the opulent ground-floor ballroom. And it's centrally located. Rates vary according to the season.

Pela cor local e preços ligeiramente mais baixos, o vizinho Hotel Capitol mantém a aura de um grande hotel de 1901, pelo menos no exterior.

Bem mais barato é o Hostel Miorita.

Onde comer

Uma chave para compreender a cultura romena contemporânea é a fit (FEET-sah), que se traduz aproximadamente como “exibindo-a”. O melhor lugar para fazer isso é Balthazar, um elegante restaurante de fusão onde a clientela e as garçonetes parecem ter acabado de voltar de Saint-Tropez. O chef é igualmente espalhafatoso, servindo pratos cosmopolitas como macios bolinhos taiwaneses (24 ron, ou US$ 8,80, a 2,85 ron por dólar), sopa vietnamita azeda e picante (16 ron) e uma costeleta de porco extremamente suculenta, incrustada de ervas (41 ron).

No less flashy is Casa di David Downtown. The décor suggests an A-list boutique hotel, with an international clientele and menu to match. Main courses include chicken breast with wasabi pepper sauce (29 ron), and Asian beef and arugula salad (27 ron).

Traditional fare also gets the high-gloss treatment at restaurants like Casa Doina. Housed in a stately 18th-century villa, the restaurant has a terrific wine list (the 2002 Florenta pinot noir is an amazing value at 36 ron), while memorable classics like spicy lamb "pastrama" (22 rons), possivelmente um ancestral do pastrami, são fortes argumentos para classificar a culinária romena entre as melhores da Europa Oriental.

O que fazer durante o dia

Bucareste é vibrante demais para ser chamada de cidade de museus, mas há muitas grandes coleções para preencher uma estadia. Diretamente em frente ao Rumanian Atheneum está o Museu Nacional de Arte da Romênia, que tem uma coleção permanente impressionante que inclui obras de El Greco, Rembrandt, Rubens e Sisley, entre outros, bem como heróis locais como Gheorghe Patrascu. Seu principal atrativo neste momento é a exposição fotográfica do maior escultor da Romênia, Constantin Brancusi, que dura até 15 de outubro.

For a glimpse of the country's rustic past, the open-air Village Museum has dozens of old houses, churches, barns, windmills and other buildings dating back to 1775, set in a park along the shore of Lake Herastrau on the city's north side.

With money flowing into Bucharest faster than the Dambovita River, the cityscape is shifting rapidly. Before it changes completely, check out old Bucharest along Lipscani Street, a garment district with more than six centuries of architecture. But hurry: shiny new cafes are starting to appear. A great guide to the sites is the Lipscani Panoramic Map, published by the Fundação Pró Patrimônio with support from the United States Embassy. Of course, it wouldn't be Romania without Dracula, and Lipscani is also home to the ruins of one of his castles: Curtea Veche, or Old Court, the ruins of a fortress built way back in 1459 by the man otherwise known as Vlad the Impaler.

O que fazer à noite

A música clássica reina suprema e o local principal ainda é o Ateneu Romeno, uma sala de concertos neoclássica construída em 1888 e sede da Filarmônica George Enescu.
A poucos quarteirões de distância, a Ópera Nacional de Bucareste tem a reputação de ter um elenco forte - não há prima donas aqui. A companhia de ópera estreia este mês "Manon Lescaut".

If you want cocktails with your performance, go to Deja-Vu, a bar that turns drinking into a kind of cabaret. Order their version of a B-52 (Kahlua, Bailey's and triple sec) and the bartender will place a Russian military helmet on your head and bang it with the cocktail shaker until you finish the shot.

Afterward, check out the ultra-sleek lounges where the city's elite come out to play: Bamboo and Embryo. For a less glamorous but equally hedonistic scene, slip into Club Maxx, a giant dance club near the University of Bucharest dorms that features high-energy house music and go-go dancers who soap themselves up in showers.

Onde comprar

O comunismo não era conhecido por nutrir a moda sofisticada, mas o Braiconf é uma rara exceção. Fundada como uma empresa estatal em 1950, a Braiconf hoje vende camisas bastante estilosas (119 ron) e calças no estilo Ben Sherman.

Outros estilos surpreendentemente atuais podem ser encontrados no Museu do Camponês Romeno, which has a gift shop filled with handicrafts. The embroidered cotton tunics for women (200 ron) could belong in a 2007 spring collection, and urban bachelors will dig the traditional wool-lined vests (680 ron). Other great souvenirs include intricate woven rugs and elaborately painted eggshells.

Bem mais refinada é a badalada boutique Roxana Butnaru, queridinha da edição romena da Cosmopolitan. A loja tão fofa atrás do Ateneu Romeno oferece vestidos rosa de bolinhas (300 ron) e outros designs retrô legais.

Como permanecer conectado

Wi-Fi is spreading throughout the city, but at a price. Many hotels charge 15 euros a day, while Vodafone has several hot spots around the city and charges $21 for two days of access. To stay under budget, your best bet is an Internet cafe like PC-Net, which charges 3 ron per hour and stays open 24/7.

YES, FREE It's not Warner Brothers, but MediaPro Pictures in the neighboring town of Buftea has played host to cinematic luminaries like Donald Sutherland and Costa-Gavras. Visitors can walk around a bluescreen stage, step into a medieval French village set and see the house where the director Franco Zeffirelli lived. Best of all, tours of the studios are free if arranged in advance.

Sua primeira vez ou sua 10ªº

É impossível exagerar a pomposidade do Palácio do Parlamento, que ainda carrega seu nome da era Ceauşescu, Casa Poporului (ou Casa do Povo). Guias afirmam que é o segundo maior edifício administrativo depois do Pentágono. É certamente um dos mais pesados do mundo, com 1 milhão de metros cúbicos de mármore, 900.000 metros cúbicos de madeira e um lustre de cristal que pesa cinco toneladas. Um tour (20 rons) é essencial, nem que seja para compreender a escala megalomaníaca do edifício: Ceausescu queria que um dos salões de recepção tivesse um telhado aberto para que os helicópteros pudessem pousar lá dentro.

Para mais informações sobre Bucareste, visite: RomêniaTourism.com

Mais Romênia histórias de viagens