A style figure, a metaphor. I wanted to say that after two months of staying at home or just going out in the neighborhood, I finally started to be free in the city. Some of the prohibitions imposed for protection from coronavirus were removed.
When I said chain, I did not want to suggest that I considered the measures taken by the authorities to be abusive. In Romania there are two different opinions about these measures imposed by the government and the crisis committee.
There are many who consider that the measures were far too authoritarian and an attempt to impose a dictatorial regime. I guess you know that the former communist countries in Eastern Europe are very sensitive to dictatorship because of their recent history. Especially young people are against these measures.
I, perhaps because I am older, do not agree with this opinion. There is also a lot of manipulation and fake news that confuses people. Many politicians, especially those in the opposition, try to take advantage of this situation to win votes without caring about the harm they can do.
Certainly many mistakes were made, certainly material and political interests that the rulers took into account. I consider that they still acted in accordance with the gravity of the situation and similarly with the other states of the world. After all, this was the first world crisis of this kind and from this I think they all learned, I think that procedures were invented and verified that will be useful in similar cases which, unfortunately, will be.
The broken chain means that after two months I crossed the imaginary border inside the city where I live, Bucharest. Bucharest from Romania.
As everywhere in this world, cities have two distinct parts. The old city and the new city. The old town consists of portions, areas or even neighborhoods that have lasted hundreds of years without being transformed, which provides an image of the city from the past. Of course, the new city is, in my opinion, made up of constructions made in the last decades.
In Romania there are very old cities, with neighborhoods and buildings that have lasted for many hundreds of years. These are especially found in Transylvania where Western influence was stronger. Cities like Cluj, Timisoara, Oradea, Sibiu, to name just a few, are well known from this point of view. In the eastern and southern part of the country there are fewer cities that preserve much of the past, with a few exceptions, such as Bucharest and Iasi which kept many of the buildings and neighborhoods even built before 1800.
When I said I broke the chain, I meant that I felt the lack of walks through those old areas of the city.
The joy of seeing the place of countless walks makes me want to share with you some images from the old and new Bucharest.
One of my favorite buildings is the CEC Palace, built in 1900 (actually then the construction was completed). It was and is the headquarters of the bank. It is located on Calea Victoriei (Victory Road), one of the oldest and most beautiful boulevards.
French-inspired architecture. Many buildings in Bucharest built in the early twentieth century are French-inspired. For this reason Bucharest was called "Little Paris".
A modern building was built near the CEC Palace in the 2000s, the headquarters of another bank. I really like the juxtaposition and contrast between old and modern buildings. I think they help each other for a more beautiful view.
The new building has a tall glass tower. Which can be seen from a distance. This time I took him as a landmark for my short walk through the center. It appears behind other buildings from the same era, of course with the same French influence.
In this small market there are constructions from three distinct periods. In the foreground is a Holocaust museum, the first building on the right was built in the 1960s and the two at the back are contemporary with the CEC Palace, so built around 1900.
Then narrow streets and on the slope I go to the CEC Palace, as I said, the building I like the most.
Glass towers have a very pleasant feature. They reflect the surrounding buildings. In this case, the CEC Palace on the other side of the street.
In this way I was guided by the high tower and I reached the end of the journey, the CEC Palace.
I have passed Calea Victoriei and the CEC Palace thousands of times so far. It has become something common and a routine and I would never have imagined that I would be so happy to walk there again.
