December 2009

Nu Bloca Intersectia

by Craig Turp December 9, 2009 Bucharest

First off, we bet you never knew that the Bucharest police force had its own Facebook page? Well it does, and for what it’s worth, it’s here. Secondly, we bet you never knew that they had made a mildly amusing 30-second commercial to try and encourage the city’s drivers not to block junctions? Well, they [...]

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Romania’s Presidential Election: The Aftermath

by Craig Turp December 7, 2009 Romania

UPDATE: The PSD have indeed claimed fraud. Firstly, in classic Blackadder style, while we do not like to blow our own trumpet, we do like to let people know we have a trumpet. So, just to remind you all, on Friday, we wrote the following: Turnout over 53 per cent: Basescu squeaks it. Anything less, [...]

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Romania’s Presidential Election 2009 (Round 2)

by Craig Turp December 4, 2009 Bucharest

We try and keep well away from politics here at Bucharest Life. (That’s a lie! – Ed) Well, almost. But given the fact that we live in Bucharest, capital of Romania, and that come Sunday Romanians will be voting in the second and (probably) final round of the country’s presidential election, we could not help [...]

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Where all is rationed, but praise for the leader…

by Craig Turp December 3, 2009 Bucharest

Raided the New York Times (NYT) archive again this morning. Found this, a very good despatch from the NYT’s man in Bucharest, Alan Riding, filed 20 years ago to the day: With foreign delegates and journalists in town for this month’s Rumanian Communist Party congress, it was standard practice for the Government to supply Bucharest’s [...]

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Tear down that wall!

by Craig Turp December 2, 2009 Bucharest

Excellent post today from The Zvoner (Adrian Mihaltianu) about the ugly wall that surrounds the grounds of Casa Poporului. Basically, for the benefit of those who do not speak Romanian, he’s saying that the wall should come down, and the vast acres of land which are now desolate and shabby be put to good use. [...]