Because I live in the city the alternatives for walking are not many. In the neighborhood where I live, around the house, in the nearest park, in my favorite park or in the city center, on my favorite streets... To avoid the boredom of seeing the same things, and doing the same things, I choose to alternate my walking places.
Now it's time again for a walk in Circus Park, a little park I love. Here I walk less often because it is far from my home but once a month I definitely get there.
We are now in mid-December, so we are into winter. I'm taking a winter walk in the park.
It's just that winter doesn't look like winter anymore. It's more like autumn. No snow, no ice, no cold... Only the trees that are leafless still remind me of winter.
It's like a stairway to heaven...
The leaves still have the memory of times gone by. They dry and fall over the still green grass. The grass is very happy with the way winter looks now.
Young mothers walk their children through the park, happy to give their little ones another sunbath. They push or carry prams instead of sleds.
This small park surrounded by blocks of flats or crowded streets has something unique in Bucharest, the city where I live. This park has a pond in the middle, the only place where lotuses live and bloom. They bloom in summer and look like this...
In winter I can't find any trace of these beautiful water flowers. Their roots are at the bottom of the pond waiting for spring to emerge. My walk takes me to the pond to see what it is like without lotuses.
As I said, lotuses are no more. Instead, I saw plenty of birds enjoying the unexpectedly warm weather. Birds that rejoice every time someone, a walker, stop to feed them!
The pigeons were in the foreground of this walk. They are the masters of the park now. From high up in the trees, they observe people walking around and the moment someone takes a package out of their pocket or a bag all the pigeons jump on them, waiting for food...
Entrance to the park. There is a bus stop here, and of course, there are pigeons watching every move. In Romania, there is a superstition... If you get dirty with bird droppings, then you are lucky! Do you realize that almost everyone waiting for the bus there is full of ... luck.
Now you don't have to think that people are upset that they get so much luck. No, even I can give this example. I befriended a pigeon and even offered it a meal.
As I said, this park is called Circus Park. Of course, this is not accidental, this is the neighborhood where the municipal circus building is located. The circus spirit is everywhere...
We took many, many walks through this park and showed just the beauty of nature, the lotus flowers in particular, and the multitude of birds. Now I think the time has come to show why this park is known as Circus Park.
One of the entrances to the park, which is much older than the circus building, is the entrance to this building. It was built in the last century, during the communist period of Romania. Even the communists understood what Nero, the emperor of ancient Rome, understood more than 2000 years ago, namely... "Bread and circuses" (Panem et circenses). In order to control and rule the people, then you have to give bread and circuses. That means food and fun! Of course, controlled by the state, and in the case of communism in Romania, they kind of forgot about bread... which caused the people to revolt and the end of that sinister order!
You may find it hard to believe but the statue in front of the circus in Bucharest is of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco!
Rainier III (Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand Grimaldi; 31 May 1923 – 6 April 2005) was Prince of Monaco from 1949 to his death in 2005. Rainier ruled the Principality of Monaco for almost 56 years, making him one of the longest-ruling monarchs in European history.
There is a connection though, Prince Rainier was a great admirer and supporter of the circus arts and is the creator of the Monte-Carlo International Circus Festival.
In 2017 Princess Stephanie of Monaco, Rainier's daughter, inaugurated here, in front of the Circus in Bucharest, a sculptural complex dedicated to the circus.
There are bronze statues of the main circus characters: clowns, acrobats, animal trainers...
The audience's favorite, children's favorite, and my favorite, of course, the clown. The sad clown!
This group of statues is particularly appreciated by children, circus lovers, and climbers.
In the past, I had a concept of rides with an expected end, i.e. that had a certain target and a certain reward. In my case, the reward was coffee. I have resumed this habit.
The Coffee Shop is my favorite place right now. There are more of these coffee shops in Bucharest and with this walk, I discovered this place much closer to my home. Located very close to Victory Square, a place dear to me, as this is where Victory Avenue, my favorite street in the city, starts.
Unfortunately, the cars parked in front of the café cover the view. However, the yellow car has a text printed on it that I found to be a great truth, largely ignored by us.
"Every man has his normality. The rest is madness"
Why do I love this cafe? Primarily because the coffee is the origin and the cappuccino is very tasty. Moreover, I like it because there are several sizes of coffee cups and I can order a larger quantity of cappuccino! It costs $3...
This crazy week has been killing my time, I couldn't bring anything to an end. I started this post on Wednesday, wanting to mark 
To reinforce the desire to fit the post into #MarketFriday, I end with a flower, #alwaysaflower, by the same
