We meet P at the metro and walk to the natural history museum Grigore Antipa. There are many stuffed animals and many school classes. The number of stuffed animals and fossils is especially impressive, as is the building itself.
An elephant fossil is, sorry, the largest and most complete elephant fossil ever found of the species Deinotherium or Terrible Beast. According to Wikipedia, the species name Deinotherium gigantissimum is now invalid. Bummer.
Another fact about one of the greatest contributions to this museum’s collection:
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Mihalache Ghica’s collection was enriched in 1882 with the most valuable donation made by Hilarie Mitrea, a doctor from the village of Rasinari. That donation included over one thousand species of animals, from insects, fishes, amphibians, to birds and mammals, most of all collected from Indonesia during the time when Mitrea was a doctor in the Dutch colonial army.
We walk into St. Joseph’s Cathedral on our way to the National Gallery. Roman Catholic I only realize inside even though I could have deduced that from the name of the building.
The organ tuner is doing his work here, which is an interesting sound. I record it.
At the National Gallery, our admission tickets are stamped adrift.
Three huge floors of enormous work. There are many attendants, and at least one is in every room.
I know only a few of the artists. However, Brancusi is the most famous, and I hadn’t realized he was Romanian.
The famous photographer and curator Edward Steichen bought a work of art by Brancusi and had it shipped to the US. Upon arrival, customs misidentified it as an industrial object and a tax was levied on it. Steichen photographed the artifact, and it became a symbol of beauty and innovation that defies pettiness. Anyway, the Bird is not here, but the other well-known work, Sleep, is.
The European part is also substantial. Room for Dutch masters. A Rembrandt.
We wander the halls saturated.
On a street corner, we eat our late lunch at Dumicat. Review mode: excellent.
https://checkout.ialoc.ro/order/5d0100b0-7130-419e-9139-811009679805/menu
After lunch, we walk through town to the Armenian Church. An angry guard gestures while making a phone call that the church is closed. We buy souvenirs and have a drink at Frog. Review mode: nice place. Especially students (recommended by A).