The weekend is ending, though we would be happy to prolong it. The hotel checkout time is twelve, but we`re kindly told that we can keep the room until our pick up at two, actually typical of the flexible yet very efficient style of the place. We`ve discovered a little belatedly that the very attractive Cercul Militar is not a palace as it might appear but actually the National Military Club, built in 1912, mostly from contributions by military officers. Furthermore, its restaurant is open to the public and reviews suggest that it`s not only formally impressive but not expensive. But we`ve had a large breakfast and simply can`t manage a lunch before our two o`clock departure We do go back to it for a photograph, though, and the staff kindly let J take a picture of the chandeliered dining room though it`s not yet open.
Our last Romanian visit is to the English Bar at the Athenee Palace Hotel (now part of the Hilton chain. The hotel, just above Revolution Square, has been extensively rebuilt, but the English Bar is original - though obviously redecorated. The hotel has a wonderful 100 year history as a centre for intrigue and espionage. As Romania entered both wars late (and eventually switched sides in WWII once the handwriting was on the wall) it was for quite a long time a neutral, if shady, meeting place. The hotel itself played host to Kaiser Wilhelm and Czar Alexander II in its earlier days. By the Communist era all the employees were reporting to the Securitate, all the hotel rooms hadmicrophones, the guests`documents were routinely photocopied and public pay phones within half a mile were bugged. Not only were the prostitutes (predictably) in the pay of the secret service but the wits hanging out in the lobby and some of the guests were plants. All that has gone, but the bar remains, so J and I go for a pint of draft and an appointment with history. Quiet well upholstered seats in the corner and plenty of imagining the past.
We`re collected at two. The flight back very nearly as full as the one coming. Timing works well, though, and we manage to catch the return bus (door to door) with nearly ten minutes to spare.
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