I was looking for Sunday to be different and special. This is a habit left over from when I used to go to work, a work that swallowed up the whole day and only left the end of the week to be a little different.
Now I'm retired and theoretically have all the time in the world to do what I want with it..., just theoretically! Basically, I miss my free time and this is a consequence of my inability to manage it properly.
The circle closes and I still get to the weekend and Sunday. I tried to do something special every Sunday until I got tired. That's why I'll share here what a regular Sunday is like, spent in the city where I live, Bucharest in Romania.
Romania is a relatively small country, but more than small, it is an insignificant country. I say relatively small because it is, however, the sixth-largest country in the European Union. I say insignificant, with all the pain I feel when I think about it because it is located at the eastern edge of the EU, unable to bridge the civilization gap that separates us from the center and west of Europe. This is due to many factors and especially due to a period of fierce communism that spanned half of the twentieth century.
Bucharest is a large city, with almost three million inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in this area, after Istanbul and Athens. It is a city that was built haphazardly (haphazardly, without a unified plan, in the Middle Ages), was modernized in the 19th and 20th centuries, modeled on Paris and had its heyday between the two world wars when it was called Little Paris. This was because of the quality of life and architecture, then it was mutilated after Romania came under Soviet influence and a communist regime that demolished much of the historic city to build buildings and neighborhoods copied after North Korea.
Just like people, cities can have a cruel fate.
Although there are many cities in Romania more beautiful than Bucharest, I love the city I live in and love to walk around the many places that have something special. These places are like islands. Because I love the sea, I like to compare the city to the sea and the places that are dear to me I say are "islands".
One such island is Victory Way, where I like to go almost every Sunday. I'm a traveler who doesn't travel far, maybe only two or three times a year. Otherwise, I am a traveler in the city where I live. That's how I feel every Sunday when I "travel" around and look for my "islands"!
This time, the journey starts from the middle of Victory Avenue, i.e. from Revolution Square, actually Palace Square, as it is still called by the inhabitants of the city. Because here is the royal palace, where all the kings of Romania lived (there were not many, only four, and all of them were German by origin).
Statue of King Carol I, the first king of Romania who started the modernization of the country in the second part of the 19th century.
I didn't choose this place of departure by chance. Here are also the most foreign tourists, which certifies that I am right that it is a place worth visiting.
If for a while we walked with a group of tourists, then we chose a side street leading to another famous boulevard of the city, namely Magheru Boulevard. Once the most attractive boulevard, now, due to lack of care and restoration, it has been removed from my favorite area.
Because I had a target on this day. An exhibition. An exhibition of artwork to be sold at auction. Before I get there, I want to show what a place that has been under repair for more than ten years looks like! A famous terrace of the city, whose building is being restored and structural and resistance repair works are being done. Dinner Terrace.
It looks like it will be years before the work is completed. Problems related to authorizations, and financing, but also to the seriousness of the contractors make such works take incredibly long and make me conclude that I will not see the day when they will be finished.
Fortunately, Artmark Auction House, the largest auction house in Romania, has been restored in good condition and has been working for many years in good conditions.
I have never participated in art auctions. I went into the exhibition wanting to learn and see what art was on offer and what the prices were.
I was first amazed by the diversity of items on sale. From paintings and sculptures...
...to old weapons and jewelry.
Graphics, folk costumes.
A pool table!
All sorts of small objects. Not too expensive, we found some, even belonging to famous artists, whose prices started from a few hundred euros!
The auctions are online, anyone can participate and I was almost tempted but I refrained because I risked spending the money I had saved for the hoped-for trip to Greece. Especially as I had no idea how high the prices could go after the auction.
I left the building but couldn't help but look through the gallery windows once again. Probably in the future, I'll be bidding too, for small amounts, who knows, maybe I'll get lucky.
Right across the street from the auction house is another special building. The former home of a classical Roman painter named Theodor Aman. A house that was built according to the painter's own plans. A house that now houses the Theodor Aman museum. Museum where you can see many of his paintings but also the furniture and the way this man lived, as well as we can see the lifestyle of the 19th-century Romanian elite.
We had no plans to visit this museum. We have seen it in the past several times. We went out on Magheru Boulevard, just to look at it, side to side.
It is an important avenue of the city, the main north-south axis. In my youth, it was my favorite place, but now my interest has moved to Victory Avenue.
So I'm heading back to Victory Avenue, for something I can't miss if I want to feel like a traveler. A traveler in the city where I live.
Thank goodness that some of Bucharest's emblematic buildings from the Belle Epoque, the city's heyday, remain here. Buildings like the CEC Palace and the Post Palace, today the National History Museum, were built at the end of the 19th century.
So, something I can't miss when I go out on a trip to town. Do you wonder what it is? A good coffee, of course. On the way to my favorite coffee shop, I see something else that takes me back in time. Something with four wheels.
The direction the car is facing leads directly to the cafe!
It's a very small cafe. It offers a generous and very tasty coffee but what I like most is that I made friends with the barista, who is always happy to make our Sunday coffee.
This reminds me of our travels, our vacations where we were always friends with the barista, no matter what language he spoke.
An ordinary Saturday in Bucharest. I used to look for Sunday to have something special until I realized that any day is special, beautiful, sublime... first of all, because it is. We have to enjoy, in the times we live in, every moment.
Live the moment, wherever you are, in the most beautiful place on earth or in the café in the big or small town, or in the village, or at home!
