‘A bike, a bike it's both useful and smart’, It’s the opening line of an old, well-known and beloved song in Romanian pop culture. Pleasant and smart! No doubt about that. But, above all useful. It is a way to relax and keep fit, to cover longer distances quite quickly, a blissful recreational moment in the sedentary life so many of us lead. It’s like a breath of fresh air after staying in an enclosed and polluted place. Not that the air in Bucharest is clean, generally speaking, despite the many parks and gardens in the metropolis, which are a true haven for cyclists, especially now at the beginning of the warm season, throughout the whole summer and until late autumn. Read More >>
Plus ça change, plus ça reste la même chose. In one of these articles, perhaps 10 years ago, I wrote about the dangers of driving in Bucharest, especially about the workers who repair the trolley tracks late at night, in the dark, with no warning lights or even fluorescent vests. Well, the other night (March 2009), driving home late at night, I almost hit a small group of workers huddled around a welding gun, barely visible under a burnt our street light. Surely, with new trolley cars and modern buses, the RATB can afford a few flashing lights to protect their employees? Read More >>
