This is a pretty okay piece and it reflects the truth. But it's rather too focused on Ceausescu's regime and its brutalist architecture. I just want to point out that many buildings were destroyed in the '77 earthquake and prefab rectangular apartment buildings were built in their place according to the dictator's grand vision. Of course, in order to materialise this vision, he just had to demolish lots of other stuff. To reflect the past and present cozy relationship between the church and the state, a cathedral of the nation's deliverance is being built near the people's house.
Walking the World: Bucharest
51–54 of 54 posts
Re: Walking the World: Bucharest
#52I'm from Bucharest, and I've always felt like, if you ask Romanians whether they're happy to be Romanian, most will reply in the negative, and describe being born in Romania as a misfortune. There's a popular song from a while back that goes “we weren't born in the right place”. [0] The author describes the feeling of unity amidst unfortunate circumstances as bringing the Romanian people together and giving them “a s…
Agreed, it sounds like a romanticized version of what the author would like to be true. A bit like the 'noble savage' myth. Life in Romania can be pretty harsh. I lived for two years in Bucharest, have seen most of the larger cities and a good bit of the countryside as well. Romania has some incredible wealth, a very rich culture but also terrible poverty and with every change in government things seem to oscillate b…
Bulgaria is quite a nice country.
I love it, love the food, the sights. Lots of virgin nature as people left for work elsewhere.
Re: Walking the World: Bucharest
#53> That, not surprisingly, isn’t something the city wants to highlight. Lining the walls around Uranus, attempting to make it less dead, is a project called “1000 years of Romanian Culture and Civilization,” which is comprised of hundreds of historical panels, none mentioning Ceaușescu. It's even more stark inside the building. I remember doing a tour of it a few years back and the tour guide did his best to not menti…
There's a modern art museum inside the building. Possibly the only thing worth seeing.
Re: Walking the World: Bucharest
#54Nice article overall, but worth mentioning that the Romanian nationalism the author finds so endearing also has a dark side that is often directed against the Hungarian minority.
It's mirrored by Hungarian nationalism. The Hungarian minority has a party in the current government coalition. It's also not their first time in a coalition. There were tensions in the 90's but in general they're well represented and treated. They've got state education in their own language, schools, Hungarian departments in several universities. Also the Romanian far right was pretty much off the radar after admission to the EU and until last year. I believe it's actually Russia backed and has brought ultra nationalists and anti vaxxers together, pushing nationalist, conservative and eurosceptic rhetoric.