555 Years of Bucharest.... and Why I Think My City Has a Complex Identity

 

   A celebration lasting all year culminated last week-end. On the 20th of September, Bucharest, the capital city of Romania, as well as my hometown, celebrated 555 years since it was first attested in an official document. This year was full of cultural events of all types in our city, all matching, from one point of view or another, with the cultural identity of Bucharest and its inhabitants throughout the years.
  

  Apart from becoming overly sentimental, like many of my fellow citizens of Bucharest, I started to think about what makes my city special. And there are so many contrasting features! Being multi-faceted is surely a characteristic of all capital cities, but the features in themselves, and the combination of them, are unique for each city.

    

    When visiting Bucharest, most foreigners tell me that it is full of contrasts, and some of them rather painful. Our population typologies range from the hot-shot rich guy with a BMW and a luxury villa in one of the selected neighbourhoods, to the homeless beggar. Unfortunately, social equality is a distant dream for us. Our architectural landscape varies from the elegance of the interbellic era, which earned Bucharest the name of Little Paris, and whose atmosphere we always like to re-create and re-experience, to the massive and somewhat imposing reminiscence of communism, from the big appartment blocks to the worldwide famous Palace of Parliament. Parks, flowers and lakes meet circluated roads and glass office buildings. And last but not least, the cultural side of Bucharest is flourishing every year: music, theatre, exhibitions, festivals of all sorts are happening throughout the year, at prices that are accessible to most people. Bucharest is not just about an unique image.In theory, everyone could fit in and everyone can find something to suit them. 
   

   What do I wish for my city and for its people? More friendliness, more civilization and more respect towards the other, both between ourselves or towards visitiors from outside. More care towards the needy. Less negligence towards our city, and more willingness to keep it clean and to restructure places that need it. Less chaos in traffic, and a better infrastructure. And of course, to flourish every day with joy of life, even in spite of the nerve-consuming political life. 
    Happy birthday, my beautiful city! 
     

The Romanian Traveller: Brasov - at a Crossroads between Cultures

  This special post is dedicated to those of you who are fascinated by Transylvania, or, better said, the myths behind it. Many people are stuck with the legend of Count Dracula, so much that they imagine a gloomy, vampire-esque atmosphere to characterize the central Romanian region. 
   

  As a matter of fact, our first Transylvanian stop will be Brasov, placed at the heart of the country, and one of the most important cities in Romania. What makes it special is that it mixes three cultures present on the Romanian territory. In fact, like many other cities in Transylvania, Brasov has a totally different outlook from Bucharest, or the general picture of Romanian cities. Brasov is a crossroads between Romanian, German and Hungarian architecture and atmosphere, as it was also part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As a matter of fact, Brasov is also known by the names of Kronstadt (German, meaning "Crown City"), and Brasso (Hungarian). Not to mention the fact that during the dark communist days of Stalin, its official name was Stalin City. 

   Apart from all this, Brasov is full of history, legends, and fairy-tale places, each of them present wherever you will go.

    And what can you visit?
     

   - The Black Church, a Gothic Cathedral, built at the end of the 14th century. Its dark colour was caused by the fire it went through during the Great Turkish War, in 1689. The Chruch is also the only Christian church hosting a collection of anatolian carpets. Talk about inter-religious tollerance! And also look for the son of Quasimodo on the roof of the church. Will not tell you more. You need a keen eye for detail, but you will see him. ;)
           

   - Strada Sforii (the Rope Street), which is the narrowest street in Eastern Europe. Once you're on it, you have no other choice but to keep walking. Nothing to stop for, nothing to see. But it is a funny feeling!
        

    - The Museum of History, located in the very center of the city, in the old Town Hall (Piata Sfatului). The building itself is fascinating, the entrance is very cheap, and you can find all sorts of testimonials of old Brasov life: artefacts, costumes, means of transport, documents and diplomas or guns. But what fascinated me the most was the reconstitution of a last century pharmacy and a newspaper publisher house. 
       

   - The Brasov Fortress (Cetate). There is a little bit of uphill walking involved, but it is well worth it. You will pass through a really elegant neighbourhood of the city, and, once arrived at the top, the medieval fortess looks simply like a different world. 
              

    - Mountain Tampa, a part of Postavarul Massif, in the Carpathian Mountains. Do not worry if you are not keen of trekking. There is always the option to climb and return by funicular cabin. But once you get on top, where the letters "BRASOV" are written in Hollywood-style, the view is simply breathtaking.

   As for practical information, I will tell you that Brasov is quite convenient, and there are lots of coffee-shops, restaurants, and an active night-life, with bars and clubs situated close to each other, so you won't have to travel too far. 

   That was another tea-spoon of culture and travel from Romania. And what I told you is just the beginning. There is so much more waiting to be discovered...

  

  

The Constructive Facebook Challenge: a Quick Injection of Culture

     

   

  Many "serious" people would say that Facebook is a waste of time. Well, probably not in its entirety, but it certainly takes away a fair portion of the time we should be spending working, studying, cleaning the house, or whatever other chores. 

  However, in the recent days and months I have seen a new, constructive use of Facebook. Most of us have been involved in chain challenges, when a friend of ours publishes something, then nominates us to do the same. Yet, the most culturally-challenging one are those dedicated to paintings and those dedicated to books. If I publish a painting, and you click "like" on it, I would assign you a painter, and you would have to publish one of his works. Or, if somebody nominates me to publish a list of 10 of my favourite books, I will also have to think of at least 3 friends who should do the same. Therefore, when this happens, we see at least a few friends of ours publishing lists of books and famous paintings each day. It is like they recommend us what to read, or which artist we should look up. And this can do us nothing but good. In a glance, we find out something we may not have seen or read before. I have been involved in both of these challenges, and, apart from sharing my own taste in art and literature, my curiosity and desire for knowledge were highly stimulated. So much, that I decided to dedicate more time to reading, which, with today's hectic lifestyle, has been quite difficult. Not bad, is it?

   And I wonder what the next type of challenge will be. Theatre plays? Movies? Music? Touristic destination? Tradition from our own countries? That's for us to choose. But we definitely LIKE it!