Shopping

Click to see larger pictures Souvenirs and traditional Romanian artifacts If you want to buy handicrafts made in Romania look for the "Artizanat" stores which can be found throughout the city. There are quite a few of them in downtown Bucharest. These stores sell local artifacts like embroidered clothing and decorations, hand painted Easter eggs, pottery, carpets, carvings, dolls, masks, and other items. Other popular places to buy Romanian goods are the shops located in the Peasant Museum and the Village Museum. Many of the artifacts are top quality and inexpensive.

Click to see larger pictures Bucharest Mall Bucharest Mall is a modern shopping mall that opened in 1999. The building in which it is located has a bit of history. It is part of a series built all around the city at Ceausescu order. They were intended to be used as produce markets but I believe only one or two opened before December 1989 which was the end of Ceausescu's era. The rest have been left incomplete and abandoned for a long time. Their official name was "Complex agro-alimentar" but they were known to everyone as "hunger circuses" (the reason being that their dome-shaped design looked a lot like Bucharest's circus building; and hunger because people didn't really expect to find any food there despite the official word). Anyway, the past is in the past :-) the building got a good facial and today it looks a lot like a US mall. It has over 70 (expensive) stores spread over 4 levels, a large supermarket, a food court with over 20 restaurants, a multiplex cinema, a video games arcade and ... I can't think of something else to enumerate but it has almost everything one needs. It even has a big parking lot, a true rarity in Bucharest. Address: Calea Vitan 55-59

Click to see larger pictures Everything you want under one roof Unirea Shopping Center is a former communist department store which was transformed into the largest shopping area in Bucharest. Today it has over 200 shops and boutiques in which you can buy pretty much everything you can think off (clothes, shoes, food, souvenirs, home stuff etc.). You can also find places to eat inside the shopping center. It doesn't look very appealing from outside (I've read somewhere that they're planning on a new facade) but it's a good place to go shopping. Address: Piata Unirii

Click to see larger pictures Antiques and art galleries A lot of antiques stores seem to have flourished in the historic quarter in particular on Lipscani and Covaci Streets (or maybe they were there for a long time but we didn't notice them). Since we're not into buying antiques we can't say if the prices are high or not, you'll have to judge for yourself. From what we saw you can find almost any type of artwork like paintings, sculptures, icons, etching, engraving, jewelry, tapestries, carpets etc. A nice place to visit, even if you don't plan on buying something is Hanul cu Tei Complex, a former caravanserai built in 1833. Nowadays a rectangular courtyard lined with antiques shops the place retains some of the 19C atmosphere. The courtyard links the Lipscani and Blanari Streets. They also hold auctions there. Even if you walk away with nothing, this is still an interesting experience. Address: Hanul cu Tei Complex is located at Str. Lipscani 63-65

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