We got off the taxi in front of my friend´s place, a former communist social appartment building. In Bucharest, these are called “blocks“. Two stray dogs were guarding the entrance, dirty but chilled. The city is known for its many stray dogs which had to be abandonned when the communists started destroying thousands of houses to make space for their huge buildings and palaces. The entrance hall was dark and grey, the lift small and a bit claustrophobic.
The contrast was striking when I got into my friend´s reformed flat, full of light and with a view on Stirbei Voda boulevard. To the left more communist type blocks and the Piata Revolutionar, to the right a modern glass and aluminium building. People in Bucharest are getting used to these style differences as more and more Western companies are settling in the capital.
We had an easy Saturday night as the capital is empty these days, we did not find a single restaurant open. It is Orthodox Easter this WE and most people in the city have left for the coutryside. 90% of Romanians are Christian Orthodox. At midnight, we joined the few remaining people in the neighborhood outside the local church. A service was sung and everybody was carrying a candle.
Today we walked around the city and I saw some pretty amazing buildings, avenues, squares and parks, communist style. I asked my friend to explain why he decided, 5 years ago, to settle here as the city is not what you could call a beautiful city. He had loads of reasons (see next post).
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