Operatic opulence

Going to the Opera invariably takes me back to when I was a little (-er) girl, transfixed by the grace of the ballerinas that I then copied for days on end. My parents took me every winter and even if I technically don't live at home anymore I thought it wasn't reason enough to give up our tradition.

Little green dress

A solution to #bucharesttouristproblems

Being a tourist in Bucharest isn't an easy task. Not that being a local is much easier either but you tend to keep your head down and walk the same streets and stick to the beaten path rather than scour around for snippets of history cemented in buildings' walls.

As always, I'm orbiting the 'twilight zone' of the two categories. Not a tourist but not a daily commuter either, for the past years I have been endlessly searching for lesser known but probably more authentic monuments in the form of churches, houses, streets and galleries. And when you do find the occasional hidden gem, a light pounding of your heart takes over - not only do you feel like a veritable explorer deserving of a National Geographic spread, there's a sweet but odd sensation of a sacred place where only a few deserve to see.

Maybe I'm just making up stories but there's no denying the revelation that A.R.C.E.N's 'Cu bastonul prin Bucuresti' (i.e 'Bucharest by cane') tour has been.

Free spirited

I'm currently in Croatia so I've saved a few posts for when I'm away. Remember my guide to Bucharest? Well then you'll know of Herastrau Park, where we stopped to take a few outfit photos. In front of diplomatic embassies. Security guards were looking. Not the best spot but I was not going to compromise my location for them.

Excuse the wild hair, I had just washed my hair and straightening tongs are not very appealing in 30 degree weather.

Top from Promod in France, Distressed Shorts by Holding Horses in Anthropologie, TKMaxx red bag, Seiko Watch, Aldo espadrilles.

My personal guide to Bucharest: Introduction

Or also known as tips for tourists in Bucharest, or Bucharest: tried and tested.

Before I get on with my recommendations on visiting Bucharest, I thought I might write a short foreword as to what tourists should expect because I feel like just posting directions and pretty photos wouldn't give you an accurate overview.

Getting your point across:

First thing you should know is that you should be well equipped for language barriers. Most people know English but on a day to day basis, you won't get very far. So either have a google translate on hand or maybe learn a few basic phrases. Don't go thinking you'll be completely alien, there will always be people on hand to help and as I said most people know English but just to be on the safe side.

The price of happiness:

Bucharest can be either very very cheap or very expensive. As an ex-communist country, we work in extremes. Lunch can cost you as little as £2 but you can also find hotel rooms at the same prices as in Central London - why? I don't know. In short, there's something for everyone so you just have to look for it. That being said, it's easier if you have cash on you rather than card.

Green light doesn't mean you shouldn't look before you cross, it happens:

When transportation is taken into account, you have multiple choices: taxis are everywhere and very cheap but if you prefer public transportation you can pick from tramways, buses and subway. The buses are horrible in summertime because they're full to the brim with sweaty old people whereas the subway is just perfect: quick, spacious and new! Depending on your stay, I recommend you get a RATB card which acts like an electronic wallet and you validate it each time you go on one of the aforementioned transportation. If you're only here for a short weekend, I'd say have a look at the sightseeing buses that now operate in the more toursit-y part of Bucharest. There are no maps in buss-stops so I highly recommend you download the RATB app that helps you create routes on the go. I've been living there for most of my life and I still get lost on buses so it was the season's massive revelation.

Smile and wave, boys:

People are generally very friendly, especially if you're a foreigner so you'll get a good treatment!

Last piece of advice: come with an open mind. It's not the most modern or westernised of cities but if you look past the imperfections you can end up with some real gems. The contrast between the architecture that won Bucharest the nickname 'Little Paris' and the harsh communist buildings is the same to the one you'll find between the new bars' fancy decor and the homeless family sleeping at the opposite corner. It's a confusing mix of bohemian perfume of past centuries and the smell coming from the neighbouring construction site but at least your senses are alive and working! If you come bearing some sort of European grudge than you might as well stay at home because you won't be appreciating the things Bucharest has to offer.

Bucharest exhibition: The untold story of the romanian blouse

Where: at the Galateca exhibition space, on the side of the University Library in Revolution square
check their website for more details here - http://galateca.ro/en/expozitie-curenta.html

When: until the 25th of August 2013

How much: it's free!

You might be familiar with my previous article about the history of the Romanian blouse -here- and so you'll know some things about this important part of my heritage.
Well, the lovely and proactive people from La Blouse Roumaine have teamed up with the Horniman Museum in London, the Romanian Village Museum in Bucharest and the Mircea Dinescu Cultural Foundation to create this temporary exhibition, meant to raise awareness and educate on one simple matter : the Romanian blouse.
Actually, it's more than that. Through the showing of traditional patterns, century old photographs and exquisite old blouses, it makes you understand not only its origins but also how it influenced our society and came to play such a significant role in my nation's history.

I'm literally going to quote some of the information on display because it's so clearly explained I need not do anything to it.
'On the Night of the Fairies (traditional celebration where the Romanian blouse played a vital part), single girls dressed in their blouses, reiterating an ancient cult as part of a ritual, commence the Dragaicei dance. This dance which was considered magic dictates order in a world dominated by chaos. The entering of this circle means an imminent initiation.
In Romania as in many other etno-cultural places, the 'hora' (round dance) has been performed for at least 5000 years as was testified by the discovery of such a ritual in the Cucuteni culture. The six women dancing are meant to represent the link between the cult of the mother goddess and the cult of the sun. This is where the Night of the Fairies originated from as the single celebration to bring tribute to both the Sun and the Moon.'

'The Romanian blouse isn't a mere item of clothing, but a way of living. It's geometric embellishments tell of the making of the world.'

'The Romanian blouse is all the more important for the elderly, who carefully prepare the one they will be buried in, saying that only by wearing their blouse they'll be recognised by their family and accepted into the afterlife.'

'The tribal motifs painted on vases, tattooed on the neolithic woman's body or inscribed on cult statuettes have found their way into the weaving of the Romanian blouse where they have resided for eternity.'

'Protection from evil, magic, communication. Nothing is without meaning and nothing is purely decorative. The movement from the metaphysical plane to the aesthetic one is based on coding. The geometric compositions therefore represent a language of their own, awaiting for their message to be unchained: ram horns stand for protection of the household, rosettes for the sun, wolf fangs for the sheltering of life, the diamond for unity in the family and the list goes on.'

I'm not sure if this exhibition is meant to have the same effect on everyone but the soft traditional music playing in the background and the blouses entwined as if they were doing the dance itself gave me chills. I'd want to say I'd love to be able to wear so much poetry everyday but it's also a lot of hard work. A Romanian blouse is for life and it records, much as our passports do nowadays, all the important information about us : societal status, relationship status, age, area or provenance and gender. Quite honestly, exhibitions like these make you more aware of your heritage and I really think Romanians in general should reconnect with the customs that made us who we are today.

P.S : the rest of the exhibition space is arranged as a store where you can find cool items made by Romanian designers and contributors, from art to hang on your walls to mugs, books and t-shirts.

Bucharest Botanical Garden

A trip down memory lane in my hometown took me to the Botanical Garden in Bucharest. It used to be such a nice park, with lovely flower arrangements and a greenhouse that probably planted my love for orchids but I left on quite a low note.
There's clearly a lack of funds to maintain the garden with tickets priced at only 2,5 lei for students and 5 lei for adults (that's about 50p and £1), combined with a lack of skilled botanists that actually have a passion for their profession and with the neglect public places such as this face in Romania. When the sun shines all day, why would you willingly go into the same shopping mall, exposed to the neon lighting and stale air?
Whilst I clearly miss my hometown, there are so many aspects of the daily life that are so wrong but I'll be diving into those issues another time, I need some hindsight in order to pronounce myself on the subject.
I'll leave you with some photos of the garden, of which I only chose the best, and of my outfit that day, made out of a Zara pink top, TK Maxx sunglasses, Pilgrim's necklace, Wearhouse capri trousers (which I lovee) and my favorite sandals from Hobb's which are on sale, yey for that!

Pool party outfit (inspired title here)

Bucharest time is synonymous to party time!
For this particular one, I had a lot of debating to do with myself on the topic of swimwear: do I wear one or not? I went for not because it would have been uncomfortable and quite frankly pointless as I wasn't very keen on getting wet...hair and all, you know?
I wore a ZARA dress (which is now on sale damnit) - similar here - with a pastel flower necklace from Pilgrim of Denmark and HOBB's sandals.

Bucharest ShortsUp : Movies and a picnic in the Botanical Gardens

On Saturday, three of us brought a blanket and ourselves down to the Botanical Gardens in Bucharest for a really cool project: an outdoors picnic with a few shorts showing. It was such good fun and it had a lovely community feel as we all knew we had some common interest by being there.
Word of warning, don't be like my friend and take the writing on the back of your tickets literally, you ARE allowed to bring in food! We had to make do with a bag of chocolate cereals that I (rebelliously) hid in my bag, thinking we'll be checked and the precious food taken away from me...but no!

We got there (aka the entrance through Portocalelor road) and then found a little plot of grass to call ours and proceeded to chat and gossip for about an hour when the shorts started at about 9.30 pm. There were fun little 'game stations' and we tried the giant soap balloon making one...needless to say I will not be going down that particular professional road.

The movies we were shown were from Germany, Holland, France, England and the US and were surprisingly good! I don't have a massive experience with shorts but for some reason find them either very amateur-ish or a bit depressing, but these were in none of the categories mentioned above.
Of the list:

• The Business trip (French, by Sean Ellis - effective fun)
• A curious conjunction of coincidences (Dutch, by Joost Reijmers - super funny)
• Love at first sight (British, by Michael Davies - clever and made us all go 'awww' at the end)
• Watching (British, by Max Meyers - slightly less obvious, but super clever)
• Fear of flying (Irish, by Conor Finnegan - animation)
• Arret demande (French, by Thomas Perrier - every man's worst dream)
• and a few others like 'Paul Ronding is...Paul Rondin' and 'On the edge of destiny'

I especially liked 'A curious conjunction of coincidences' on the clever linking of events and making you realize that no matter the apparent insignificance of an action, the consequences are interlinked with others'. 'A business trip' also stood out because of the simplicity of the plot and the entirely unexpected ending, laughed out loud. 

They have a sequence of showings and I think this might be a yearly thing - it's definitely something I'd recommend and would go to again. The tickets are 20 lei (around £4) if you buy them beforehand - check the website for vending points- and 25 lei (£5) if you buy them at the door. 

Bring friends, a blanket and food for a good time!

WEBSITE HERE - http://shortsup.ro/evenimente/