In 2011 I undertook a rail holiday taking in Hungary, Romania, Moldova & Ukraine, so I will focus on our departure point into Moldova from Bucharest, and our entry point into Ukraine, Odesa.

Romania

Growing up, Romania was synonymous with Communism and the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu. The fall of the Iron Curtain predicated on the Solidarity Union uprising in Poland, also saw the downfall of the Ceausescu’s and their execution live on national television.

Nowadays Ceausescu is notorious for overseeing the building of his momentous palace, the Palace of the Parliament, the world’s second biggest administrative building after the Pentagon.

Several villages, churches, farmsteads and other infrastructure were cleared to make way for this huge vanity project which remains unfinished to this day.

Built from 1984 – 1997 it is the seat of the Parliament of Romania and has a height of 84 m, an area of 365,000 m2 and a volume of 2,550,000 m3. A colossal parliament building known for its ornate interior composed of 23 sections, it houses the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, three museums and an international conference center.

Ukraine

Odesa was our entry point into Ukraine and onto Crimea.

The Potemkin Steps are Odessa’s most famous landmark. Not quite the Eiffel Tower or Statue of Liberty, but impressive all the same.

When viewed from below, the steps appear to be a continual cascade (in actual fact flights of steps are separated by large flat areas of concrete) and when viewed from the top, the steps appear to be the same width all the way down, whereas the bottom step is almost twice as wide as the top one.

They are said to be the inspiration behind Chicago Central Station steps, made famous in the gangster film The Untouchables. I imagined a runaway pram flying down the steps as we walked down them. Look out below! Obligatory photo call accomplished, we descended the famous stairway.

Match Prediction – Romania 1 Ukraine 1