I found out about the first #Worldmappin contest and I consider it an obligation to participate, especially since it's about the winter that is about to start in our country. Although it was specified that "no matter if it is the snowy, foggy, rainy, or sunny season where you are".
It matters to me because I can't imagine a winter without snow, even if the climate where I live is in clear change. Or for this very reason, to remain a proof of the "snows of yesteryear"!
First of all, I started by checking the photo archive, which is like a kind of calendar for me and a great help for my increasingly poor memory.
I found that the last real snow was in Bucharest, the capital of Romania, where I live, in 2019!
Thank you #WinterChallenge for giving me this opportunity, which I never thought of before, to illustrate the last snow in Bucharest.
Winter always reminds me of childhood. Children love winter the most, it reminds me of my childhood when I used to look forward to snow everywhere.
I don't know if it's true but this is my opinion, fueled by memories, that the first snow always came at night. I remember clearly that since the middle of October, every morning when I woke up I would run to look out the window...
In 2019, in the middle of December, I had not been a child for long, but I can say that I felt a shiver and a great thrill when I saw a generous amount of snow outside my window in my little backyard.
Almost everything has turned black and white, the only color left is the berries of a decorative shrub, a favorite winter food for blackbirds.
The small yard is too small to show the extent and beauty of the recently fallen snow. The next move was always to go outside, to feel winter up close and without the protection of the house.
Winter in the city is far from the beauty of this season in the country, where I grew up. Because of too many cars, the snow gets dirty quickly and becomes sad. However, if you start early in the morning, you are likely to see a pristine landscape in the city.
You can already see the tracks of the cars and soon the plows will come to clear the snow and the black and gray will dominate the landscape, but luckily, it's only a few steps to the park, the next mandatory stop to see what real winter looks like.
This is Bazilescu Park, in the Bucurestii Noi (New Bucharest) neighborhood, in Bucharest, where, by chance and luckily I live.
The history of this park and of the neighborhood goes back to Nicolae Bazilescu, a wealthy magistrate who bought a country estate at the beginning of the 20th century, which he divided into 300 square meter lots and sold for the construction of houses. Thus the place was populated, it became a suburb of Bucharest. In the middle of this neighborhood, a 133 ha park was built in place of a forest. The trees in the park are from that forest and are over a hundred years old.
This place is a real blessing for the residents of the neighborhood. In order to get to the bus or subway we have to cross the park and thus we get our daily portion of beauty, nature, and cleanness.
Besides that, it is the most sought-after place for children and dogs, a place to play and walk.
I like black and white photography and in winter there are not many colors in this park, the photos, even if they are in color, have the appearance of black and white!
The bright colors are of the Romanian flags and remind us that we are in our own country and not at the North Pole.
That is no longer true now when we think we are closer to the Mediterranean!
This is the problem now. The global climate change that we are all experiencing, even if some don't believe it. I can testify, I'm 70 years old and I remember "winters of yesteryear". 50 years ago winters in Romania were hard and long. Snow came in November and disappeared in March. Winter actually lasted over four months and we often experienced temperatures of -20 and even -25 degrees Celsius.
Now the snowy winter starts in February and ends at the beginning of March, so no more than a month. Temperatures are around 0 degrees Celsius and rarely drop to -10, - 15 degrees Celsius. Of course, I don't mean winter in the mountains and some depressions, where it is very cold.
So I can say that I have experienced climate change firsthand, in 50 years, which is a fraction of a second of Earth's time!
Everything I've shown so far has little to do with traveling. I wrote this thinking that maybe there are people like me who are looking, when traveling, to see places and how people live outside the well-known and touristy areas.
To still be able to put the story in the framework of traveling, as I like to call exploring my city, big enough that I haven't seen it all and am aware that I won't discover it all before I die, I will continue my snow search in the central area as well.
Bucharest under the pressure, sometimes unseen, of the former People's House, now the Parliament Palace.
After the explosion of snow in my neighborhood, I went to see how the snow was in the center. I arrived in Piata Unirii, by metro. I was disappointed by the snow there...
I was amazed at how little snow was left on the streets. In the center, the temperature is a few degrees cooler than in the suburbs, but mostly people and cars made the snow disappear so quickly.
In the distance, you can see a large building. This is the Palace of Parliament, the largest building in Romania and beyond.
It is an important tourist attraction, many tourists come especially to Bucharest to visit it.
The Palace of Parliament in Bucharest, Romania (known before the 1989 revolution as the House of the Republic or People's House), measures 270 m by 240 m, 84 m high, and 92 m underground, built in the spirit of socialist realist architecture. It has 9 levels above ground and 9 underground. According to the World Records Academy, the Parliament Palace is the third largest administrative building for civilian use by area in the world, the most expensive administrative building in the world, and the heaviest building in the world.
Source
In the same area is another interesting new building, the Central Library.
The city is crossed by the Dambovita River. In the past, its banks have been concreted and it looks like a canal. I don't like that at all. There is a project for its improvement and beautification, which started from this place.
Terraces and cafes have been placed along the alley that borders the river, which is wider here because they plan to create a boating area.
What interests me more, being a lover of the sea is the presence of seagulls here. It's strange the presence of these seabirds here, in the center of a city 200 km from the sea!
Returning to the imposing mammoth building, the Parliament Palace, I remembered a famous saying: "Why does a donkey need a diamond hat?"
To translate... Why does a small, poor country need such a big, expensive, hard-to-maintain building? Really, why?
Plus nearby, 20 years ago, construction began on a cathedral that has ambitions to be, if not bigger, at least taller than the Parliament. Poor vanity!
I prefer the beauty of the city's old buildings, built between the two world wars and even before. There are many such buildings in Bucharest and it is a pleasure to discover and admire them.
Back home
I've figured out what winter looks like in the city. I realized that if I want to see another winter like in the past I have to go back to the suburb where I live.
Bazilescu Park looks like a snow-covered forest, in the most real winter possible.
The presence of children quickly changes this perception.
Wild animals remain "dangerous" until temperatures rise slightly.
I know well that no one traveling in Bucharest will be looking to see a park on the outskirts of the city, in a neighborhood that looks more like a rural area.
However, there are some remarkable parks and open-air museums in this city that can be attractive, plus plenty of other attractions to fulfill everyone's desires. What we no longer have is the snowy winter, but 100 km away are the Carpathian Mountains, where anyone will find as much snow as they want.
I love traveling as much as a dog who lives in an apartment loves to see his owner put his hand on the leash. Like that universal dog, I suffer the same way—that is to say, I regret that the owner puts his hand on the leash too seldom!
I like to tell about my travels and share them with anyone who can and wants to read. I like that when I write, I remember. When I see the photos, I teleport with my mind and relive the beautiful moments once again.
I write mostly about the sea and the big city where I live, which often gives me the impression that I am traveling through it, and about other cities in my country, Romania.
