It’s evening in Bucharest and pedestrian streets in the old town are filling up. Partying in Bucharest's old city centre means taking it easy, at least when you are moving along Gabroveni Street. The splinters are not exactly gilded. Rather, it is about staying up in order not to falling down when you pass along the narrow wooden pathway. The street has been excavated according to the night clubbers centuries ago. It might have to do with archaeological excavation, but no one seams to know. The smell is the one you could expect once you start getting down to sewage and murky water: it’s, somehow, universal. Still, people venture here, the clubs are everywhere and they are crowded. Sober when you come, a certain amount of balancing is needed when it’s time to crawl back home.

"This has been a problem for four years now, but nothing happens. You should ask that question to our mayor, by the way, he’s a doctor", says the bartender at the Elefant Club.

The city has a mad grandeur like few other places. Then distances are enormous, the buildings ugly, prices low and people friendly. Bucharest is like Hausmann goes Pyongyang (the city even got its own Triumphal Arch!). Ceausescu might be dead, but his deed remains for coming generations. The crown jewel, by far the most absurd architectural piece, is the Palatul Parlamentului (Palace of Parliament). With its more than 3000 rooms (!) it is the worlds second biggest administrative building, only beaten by Pentagon (and Romania only slightly smaller than the USA?)

Of course, at that time, it was not funny, especially not for all of those Romanians that had to wait in long lines for every item to buy.

Today, the megalomaniac building project houses (in one of its wings) one of Europe’s most interesting museum on contemporary art, currently showing Alexandru Poteca's brilliant installation "The Golden Flat": http://www.mnac.ro/events%20main.htm

Party or arty, Bucharest is definitely interesting. This could absolutely be a place to visit in 2011.