Otopeni Airport

This post is on Otopeni Airport, the main airport in Bucharest. I didn’t take pictures of the airport because the border guards would have been unhappy. Just seeing us walking slowly in the train station and taking pictures of it was enough to put us in the “random ID checks” situation. While others might be displeased, personally I prefer this approach. So, this is about the airport with no pictures of the airport, but with the description of 4 landmarks.

This is the train station, looks a bit “airporty”, so I decided to start with this. There are 20-ish minutes train rides from Otopeni to Bucharest, every 40 minutes or so. We took the taxi when we arrived as it was very late, but I would take the train otherwise because it looks nice.
There are bus services too, about 40-50 minutes to get to the city centre from the airport.

Just besides the train station is this memorial, the Gendarme Heroes Monument, dedicated to the Martyr Heroes of the Romanian Revolution of December 1989. There are 52 heroes remembered there. Over 1000 people were killed during the Revolution of December 1989.

The candle-place has written on it “Honour and Respect”. This is a mix of religious symbol – a place for candles similar to those in Orthodox churches and monasteries, and the secular writing.

Eternal glory to the heroes!

After seeing the station and the monument we headed to the airport. From there I share pictures of 2 very interesting places. First is a music room to listen to choir music, Madrigal assemble. It is free to visit it.

We passed by it, stopped, and went in. I had no idea there is something like this, so a very interesting surprise.

The choir was founded in 1963 and it is the best known one in Romania. They sing an array of songs, including medieval, which explains the outfit. It was a very lovely surprise.

Lastly, the chapel, another thing I didn’t know about. It was built and consecrated in 2003, the Capela Sfântul Prooroc Ilie [Saint Ilie Chapel].
It has a byzantine architecture with Orthodox murals. It is open 24/7. But, because it is consecrated, people can get married or be baptised there. It has its own priest. I shared a few pictures with it because it is so unusual.

This is the space for candles. In Orthodox tradition, there are 2 spaces for candles, separate. One is for living people and the other one is for people who died. The one pictured above is for “vii” meaning living people.
The tradition dictates that the candle(s) for the living are left first, with a short prayer for the health and wellbeing. After that a candle(s) is left for the people who died, with a short prayer for them. If a living person needs “extra prayers”, is sick or has a challenge of sorts, a dedicated candle is left for them. So, one can light 2-3 candles, some individual and a last one for a group of people. The same with the candles for the dead, if someone had died recently, it has their own individual candle, followed by a communal candle. I am describing these traditions because I imagine not everyone is familiar with these.