Bucharest 1 month in

Shisha Alley

Firstly, the reason for my absence from the blogersphere recently is due in part to the fact that nothing of much significance has really happened. One month in to life in Bucharest and we've found ourselves counting down the days until we leave for the green pastures of Breb,Transylvania. 

We had a short snowy trip in the 1st week where the kids learnt how to snowboard and I had an incident with a bottle of Romanian moonshine and a snowy piste. Let's just say, I genuinely thought I had broken my neck. For a week afterwards I couldn't lift my head off the pillow. Instead I had to roll onto my face and slide my whole body off the bed feet first, scooping my head up in my hands. 

Bucharest is an interesting city. It's not hard to imagine it was only a mere 20 odd years ago that Romania was still under communist rule.  In 1989 Ceausescu and his wife were both executed in public which put a prompt end to that.
The city is gradually changing, a cultural scene is emerging and people are starting to learn how to live. However, you can't help but get the distinct feeling that the 2 million population are still somewhat scared to breath. The whole country is rife with corruption and stray dogs. If you happen to read anything articles on Bucharest, they rarely mention anything else. It's common to wander the streets and spot shady mafia folk everywhere you go. You see Bentleys parked along side rusty 80s Ladas and crusty tramps kipping in the doorway of Armani.

The architecture is a funny mix of neoclassical and art nouveau as well as neo-romanian. There is little medieval architecture left as it was destroyed by communist systemization. The whole historic center was demolished to make way for high rises and apartment blocks. The small pieces that were spared are impressive. I was walking past a building site the other day and happened to have a nose through a gap in the mesh fencing. There were more than 10 which I could see, intacted human skeletons sticking out of the ground in various places. In some areas, men were just hacking the bones out and dumping them into rubbish bags. Slightly odd but never mind.

I have been living with the kids and their Dad in an apartment near the centre. We have school as usual and then I do my website doodling. During the week when I finish I walk to Carrefour with Claudia. Not that I like shopping, but it's the only time I get to leave the apartment. Most days I have to still steer Claudia away from the stray dogs which she can't help but try and make friends with. She did make a friend in art class; but she obviously wasn't hairy or smelly enough. 

If it wasn't for the abundance of Vin Rosu and its tasty cheap availability, I would have certainly gone nuts in less than a week. I've recently found a rather disgusting bottle for the equivalent of a mere £1.10! It tastes like sweet gypsy piss, but beggars can't be choosers now can they.

My next blog is much more exciting, James came over and got groped by a prozzey....but that's another story.

Pe curand prietenii mea!