Crossing Romania. Part II

August 30 ... September 2, 2015

A common sight in Romanian villages — firewood offloaded right onto the road. Special delivery for you!

Horezu

One of Romania’s beautiful monasteries is located here.

They’ve got manicured lawns here.

Bliss.

Quiet.

Complex crosses (almost like the ones in Ethiopia).

And very vivid sinners in hell. There are detailed explanations about who will be tormented, how, and as punishment for what sins.

Cluj-Napoca

Turns out that in Romanian towns they’re not particularly fussed about lighting up the streets at nighttime. There might be a shop window emitting light, or traffic lights, but the main source of nighttime illumination is cars.

Cluj-Napoca — a town of moderate beauty and moderate merits.

Initially you might think that the doors here are hideous and made of aluminum.

But if you look closer you’ll also find wonderfully elegant metal portals.

The first thing that catches the eye is the scruffy plastic rubbish bins attached to posts.

Then your eyes adjust and you begin noticing cheery details — for instance, this fantastic cast iron bollard beside the pedestrian crossing.

At first you can’t see anything because of the unbelievable multitude of cables (shout-out to  Thailand!).

But then a trolleybus sails out from their midst — and a sense of harmony is achieved.

At first blush it might seem like order, cycle paths and bicycle parking racks rule this town.

Then you stumble across the market, held right there, in the street, and you understand that urbanism won’t prevail here for a long time yet, thank god.

Bacău

Locomotive.

Very well preserved old signs. The wheels of the passenger car and the truck get top marks!

By the way, throughout the country there are airplanes in the middle of roundabouts.

Peasants walk past the fighter jets, their style of dress unchanged for hundreds of years, just like their main occupation.

At night you might get the impression that there’s something of interest to see here. Since there’s no lighting, your mind imbues the silhouettes with meaning.

However, in the daytime it becomes clear that the town is made up of just one central square, which doesn’t have anything remarkable in it. There’s a monument to some guy on horseback, a temple, a parking lot and a taxi stand. And a few tower blocks, from atop which you can see just how quickly the town is turning into a village and dissolving into the fields.

Brăila

Over-the-street advertising banners, kind of like the ones in Moscow in the 90s.

The town is rather small, sleepy, but cosy and pleasant.

It’s got compact paved roads.

And it’s overgrown.

People did their best to beautify it when they had the money.

And also when money was in short supply.

By the way, firewood’s here. Special delivery for you!