The Sunday walk has become a habit and a consequence of the retreat. From my childhood, 55-60 years ago, I remember when going out on Sundays was mandatory. In a grey period of life, when the whole week was for work, I mean parents, Sunday was for relaxation and fun.
The cheapest fun was walking and, maybe, a beer and soda. Old times, hard times but now I realize how nice they were. Parents live and childhood remains the best part of life, but we know that in adulthood!
Now, when any day of the week can be Sunday, I like to walk (and do other things) downtown only on real Sunday. I live on the outskirts and there is a big difference between the outskirts and its center.
Usually, every Sunday has this schedule:
My wife does part of the trip and I am on the subway, then a walk down Victory Avenue, our favorite boulevard, to a small monastery, the 300-year-old Stavropoleos Monastery. Here follows a break of about an hour while the wife attends the service. A short walk follows which takes us to the café. We take another break for rest, relaxation, and an excellent cappuccino.
It takes us about an hour for our coffee break. Another walk follows as we pass through or near the University Square, and end up on the city's central boulevard, Boulevard Magheru. It used to be our favorite boulevard but the lack of care from the municipality has made it fall in our preferences. Anyway, we walk on this boulevard until the Roman Square. This is not a big square but a classic meeting place for us who live in Bucharest.
This route I have revealed here can be documented with many photos, which I will do next week. I will use this text and new photos to fill in the picture.
Today's black-and-white adventure is in Roman Square, Bucharest, Romania. I'm waiting for my wife who walked into a shop, just for a minute!
Well, I guess you know how long a minute a woman spends in a clothes shop is.
It takes as long as it took me to look at the window, the market, the people, and the birds. Long enough to try to understand something of their actions, then to try to capture in photographs what I saw.
About 15 minutes!
This photo was the first one I took. I love the photos of shop windows that mirror the image behind the photographer.
This photo includes a few elements that will appear in the photos that follow plus the reflected image of the photographer. I took a selfie of sorts, that selfie that was accessible even before smartphones came along.
What caught my eye while waiting outside the store?
The Square and the People.
The young man is in an unusual position, he probably doesn't like the benches. On the left, another young man seems to be trying to take a selfie without using his smartphone.
Two young men and a dog enter the frame. They look like friends and even more than that...
On the benches humans rest, look at their phones, and even read!
A lady reads and that seems unusual. I see fewer and fewer people reading books. I haven't seen myself reading books for a long time either...
Our phone... our master!
I don't think the young rocker sees where he is stepping and the balls of yarn seen all over the market are very dangerous. I've stumbled many times.
I've seen some unfortunate beings. This is where the pigeons gather to eat.
A law just one day old forbids feeding pigeons. They don't know this and wait in bewilderment as people don't throw food for them.
Later my wife showed up and we got off at the subway. In less than an hour, we'll be home.
Sunday's ride is over.
This is my entry for the #monomad challenge.
