1186 days ago
Trying to tell somebody today where I'm coming from:
"Bucharest is a city of substance, a very dusty city I would say, former garden city, many houses with yards. There was no serious urban plan and the city developed pretty much at random, a mixture of everything. Some beautiful areas and many dull ones. Old buildings falling apart, gypsies squat in some, city of confusion where stories and histories get confused and confusing.
Romania is a mixture of cultures, Transylvania under Austro-Hungarians, strong German (Saxon) influence too, northern Moldova influenced by Polish and Russians, South and East by Greeks and Turks - crossroads. So our cultural identity is hard to define. It became more European after 1800. Up to then our aristocracy was still dressing in long robes and big hats, according to the Oriental fashion. And we started having great writers and painters, keeping the pace with the West.
And after 150 years communism came. And we're trying again to catch up. Or run away, like me and try to define yourself according to some Romanian and some inner values, acquired through books, when a teen, travels later on."
The rest is silence, or a sum of question marks, every new answer brings up other questions. And so goes life.
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