North Korea and Ion Iliescu.

This unique excerpt from Rupert Wolfe Murray's new book, Romania: Rude & Vile, which is a compilation of tales about travel,

politics, history, revolution, architecture, books, and people, describes a telling encounter with Ion Iliescu, the former leader of Romania.

The biggest tourist draw in Bucharest is a structure that was influenced by the communist ruler of Romania at the time,

Nicolae Ceauşescu, visiting North Korea in 1971.

Today, Parliament Palace is the name used officially. Prior to 1989, it was known as the House of the People; today,

foreign visitors refer to it as Ceauşescu's Palace. If the hype is to be believed, it can be seen from the moon,

is larger than Cheops' Pyramid, and required more than a million cubic meters of marble to build.

It's difficult to obtain accurate information on how much it costs to operate, but I estimated that it costs twenty million euros year; another source claims that the construction of it cost roughly three billion euros.

PANNER PIZZA RECIPE

Cheese and spice lovers will appreciate this vegetarian pizza.