Palace of Parliament/"People's House" in Bucharest, Romania. (largest civilian adm. building in the world)
Living in Transylvania is an interesting experience. I get a double dose of culture because there is a large population of Hungarian speaking Romanians dispersed among Romanian speaking Romanians throughout the region. Ziua Unrii/Ziua Nationala is celebrated for two reasons here in Transylvania and throughout Romania...[don't worry I'm keeping it as simple as possible]
1.) On December 1, 1918, Transylvania was officially and permanently united with Romania after the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian empire in WWI; some alterations to the border regions did occur after WWII but that's complicated and I promised to keep it simple. The occupation of Transylvania by the A-H empire explains the large population of Hungarians and some Germans present in this region today. The large city near my town, Targu Mures, is a testament to this diversity.
*Although this is celebrated on December 1st, the subject of Transylvania's unification with Romania is sore subject between many Hungarians and Romanians.
2.) Ziua Unrii signifies the transition from a communistic regime into a democratic system after the Revolution in 1989. December 1st is a fairly recently celebrated holiday. Before the fall of communism in Romania the national day was celebrated on August 23rd to signify the overthrow of Ion Antonescu, Romania's fascist military leader during WWII. Long story short, this day celebrates the struggles and successes it took to establish the territorial borders of present day Romania.
I really liked seeing all the national pride with flags waving, music playing, and soldiers in uniform. I guess you can kind of compare it to the 4th of July back home. It was wonderful to share in a piece of Romania's National Day. My school even had a moment where they sang some patriotic songs including the anthem "Desteapta-te Romane," and also listened to the history of the unification of Transylvania and the end of communism in Romania. After all that had finished more music was played, and students and teachers danced together in the courtyard to celebrate their National Day! (Pictures below)
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