Thursday 23 January 2014

București. January, Friday 17th

Stavropoleos monastery | mănăstirea Stavropoleos
Bucharest could be a beautiful city. my friend Anna {the pen behind green holiday italy} warned up with these words, when M. and i arrived in the capital of Romania {flew there with Wizz Air, about 2 hours from Treviso}, where she and her mate hosted us for a lovely weekend. it could be indeed. such a culture's crossroad, with one foot in europe and the other still in the former soviet union, with a latin language, russian words, balkan food and middle eastern influences. but not yet.

there are charming corners, as the Stavropoleos monastery. all that remains from it is a little church, which looks lovely from the outside {first picture} but is way better inside: velvety atmosphere, hand paintings lit by candles, dark and gold. it was the first thing we stopped to see while sightseeing in the historic centre.

Lipscani district
Lipscani is the heart of the city centre. it used to be the most important commercial area of the city. many streets still bear the name of their trade, as can be seen in many european cities. looking at the old buildings {a nice mix of art nouveau, neoclassical, near to medieval memories}, it seems clear why, in the interwar europe, Bucharest was nicknamed little Paris. nowadays Lipscani is recovering from a long period of degradation and neglect. most of these buildings need to be restored, but the whole recovery of the district seems to be going towards the creation of a modern noisy area of bars, strip clubs and cheap shops, without any vibes, any traditions. i think it deserves better.

neoclassical building detail

women near Biserica Curtea Veche
the best moment of our day in Bucharest was a visit to the old princely court church {Biserica Curtea Veche}, the oldest of the city. it started like a normal visit of a tourist site, but we soon realized that there were a few tourists, and most of the people was in the queque, waiting for praying in front of holy icons. with fervor and emotion, they lit up dozens of votive candles, kissed the icons, then went away, in silence. the most authentic moment of the day. 



we had just one day to visit Bucharest, and i'm sorry we didn't have the time to see two museums which seem quite interesting: the museum of the romanian peasant {muzeul tăranului român} and the national village museum {muzeul naţional al satului}, but our weekend continued with a roadtrip to Transilvania, which i can't wait to share with you!





p.s. good news! i diari della lambretta has been shortlisted for the Italy Magazine blogger awards, category best travel  so, if you like it here, that's the link to vote!


16 comments:

  1. Lovely, lovely images. It seems you quickly got at the true soul of the city!
    And congrats on the nomination... ho votato!

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    Replies
    1. thanks for your support antonella ♥
      i don't know if i got it.. i shared just what i liked, omitting the rest :)

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  2. Oh wow! Votato!
    *Bucarest è magica!

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    1. grazie mille michi!
      bucarest mi sa che rende meglio in foto che dal vivo ;) ma è stato bello visitarla, hanno un mix incredibile di storie da raccontare.

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  3. Just voted for you, silvia, you're definitely one of my favorite travel blogs ever, and on the coolest form of transport, too. :)

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    1. i'm more thrilled by the support of you all, than for the shortlisting itself! :D
      thank you thank you dear katie ♥

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  4. votato!
    Bucharest sembra tanto bellina ^^
    Aspetto con ansia anche le foto della Transilvania ora!

    Alessia

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    1. grazie mille alessia! forse sembra più carina perchè ho tralasciato alcune cose che la caratterizzano parecchio: i mega condomini stile soviet e il mastodontico palazzo del parlamento.. uno dei simboli della città, di un grottesco assurdo. forse avrei dovuto immortalarlo, per dover di cronaca, ma in realtà nel 50 mm della mia piccola nikon non ci stava eheh ;)

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  5. Stavropoleos monastery seems to be very intense. the arquitecture of the building reminds me to something like that. we can't see it from inside, but outside is beautiful for me.
    unfortunately, I think that people just care about the stuff that doesn't matter. and I'm saying this because in Portugal things are very much the same. the old buildings, the soul of the city, are dying... the new artists or street artists are our renovation.
    well, I already voted Silvia! wish you luck.
    beautiful shots! seems to me that was another great adventure!

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    1. thank your for you support, dear!
      from what i saw (briefly) in lisboa, you're on a different page than bucharest's. even if you're neglectig some of your treasures (we're doing the same in italy, shame on us), you can still admire and breath the long tradition, the city's soul. maybe, as you are saying, that's dying... but there's still hope! i'm not sure about bucharest.

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  6. Here i go voting for you :)
    I had this idea over Bucharest even never being there...It is true that it reminds me some parts of Porto but i think my city is wayyyyyyyyy beautiful ;)
    Beautiful mini guide!

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    1. grazie sara ♥
      i'm sure porto is way better. even if i saw it just on pictures :)

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  7. What an incredibly fascinating place!
    And, of course I voted for you! Congratulations on being shortlisted for such a wonderful award! I really hope you'll win - you'd truly deserve it!

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    1. grazie di cuore polly ♥
      i'm thrilled fo the shortlisting, but more for all this affection.
      glad you like the Bucharest shots. it's an hard city to portray. little softness, so many edges.

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