Stuck in Traffic? Spare a Thought for Europe’s Capital of Chaos

One of the many unfortunate legacies of the communist dictatorship in Bucharest is congestion unlike anywhere else.

Traffic clogs up in central Bucharest, on Feb. 13.Photographer: Ioana Epure/Bloomberg
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It was 8:30 a.m. and Valentin Mihai showed a brave face as he inched his Volkswagen Golf past former Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu’s sprawling palace, the largest building on the planet after the Pentagon.

Bucharest was blanketed in a surprise inch or two of snow, but that didn’t make any difference. “At this hour, with or without the snow, it’s just slow,” said Mihai, an Uber driver. “I don’t have the words to describe it.”