December 2009

New Year’s Eve in Bucharest/Bucharest Life Goes On Holiday

by Craig Turp December 23, 2009 Bucharest

 We are off now on our Christmas holidays, shooting tigers in the Himalayas. We will be back on January 4th, 2010. If you are staying in Bucharest for New Year’s Eve, here are our suggestions for things to do… First off, a warning: do not think that you will be able to simply turn up [...]

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Reenact the Romanian Revolution!

by Craig Turp December 21, 2009 Bucharest

 Reenact the Romanian Revolution! (Well, kind of). Tonight at 21:00, in front of the Inter Continental hotel, a large crowd is expected to gather to remember the Romanian Revolution of December 1989. A big screen placed in front of the National Theatre will show film of what took place here 20 years ago, while there [...]

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Photo Opportunity

by Craig Turp December 17, 2009 Romanian Politics

 Dear Bucharest Life It looks as though Elena Udrea is about to be given her old job back as Minister of Tourism in the new government of Little Emil Boc (indeed, she may also get the Regional Development Ministry and billions in EU funds – kerching – thrown in, too). I was therefore wondering if [...]

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Bucharest’s Ateneu Roman: Nice place, shame about the communist-era cloakroom

by Craig Turp December 17, 2009 Bucharest

 Ask somebody from Bucharest what their favourite building in the city is, and the chances are they will reply ‘Ateneul‘. The Ateneu in question is the Ateneu Roman (Romanian Atheneum), the city’s main concert hall and home to Romania’s best orchestra, the George Enescu Philharmonic. It’s easy to see why: the exterior is a gorgeous [...]

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Romania’s Berlusconi

by Craig Turp December 16, 2009 Romanian Politics

 It was impossible to watch Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi being hit in the face by a model of Milan Cathedral at the weekend without thinking that it is surely only a matter of time before somebody throws something similarly sharp at Romania’s newly re-elected president, Traian Basescu. For the two men are remarkably similar. [...]

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Polish up your cliches, it’s snowing in Romania

by Craig Turp December 15, 2009 Bucharest

 Bucharest is a city of extremes (we’ve used that line elsewhere…). It is usually far too hot during the summer, and more often than not far too cold during the winter. During December, January and February there is a high possibility of serious snowfall. There will often be snow on the ground during March and [...]

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Romtelecom & Posta Romana: Romania Past & Present

by Craig Turp December 11, 2009 Bucharest

 In the part of Bucharest in which we live there is a building that is modern Romania in microcosm. Known as Posta Vitan (Vitan Post Office) the building was one of many like it built in the 1960s by the then Ministry of Communications to house post offices, sorting offices and telephone exchanges. In those [...]

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