Sunday is a different day, even now when it doesn't matter to me what the days of the week are called. It should be the same for my wife, but it isn't. For her every Sunday is special and it manifests itself by visiting a small old monastery right in the middle of Bucharest, Romania. Where we live.
I almost always accompany her and this turns into a journey, even if it is in the city where we have lived for over sixty years. Always, every week, this little trip brings something new, something special that makes it unique and that awakens the desire to repeat it again and again and again...
The notion of downtown makes sense to me, living on the edge of town. It's also an expression used so if someone asks me where I'm going, I won't say exactly where I'm going, I say I'm going downtown. Because downtown is all the places I need to go. The center is an island in the city, usually in the middle of it, but this is not necessarily the case, but that's what I used to think until I saw a sign right where I thought the center was, in the Revolution Square.
The center is everywhere!... The center is everywhere?
I never thought of that, but it might be true. The center is where our interest is, where something happens at some point, I'm thinking now. I like that and I'll try to think that way. I will try to find, from now on, the centers of my city!
The first "center" is right where my wife goes every Sunday, and I am a companion or follower, or rather a witness collecting images with my camera.
Stavropoleos Monastery is a small monastery where there are six nuns and a priest. A historical monument, over three hundred years old.
Here is definitely another center of the city, a historical center first of all, in the so-called Old Centre, a large pedestrian area where most of the old buildings of the city are located.
This is not only a historical center, but it is also a fun and relaxation center, a place sought after by tourists visiting the city.
It is also a center for drinkers and eaters. All the streets of the Old Town are lined with tables and chairs, terraces, and restaurants.
Unfortunately, autumn has taken hold of the city and the number of tourists has decreased. But in the evening and at night, these deserted places are full, especially of young people.
There is a religious center... but this is not here.
However, there are plenty of signs that the Romans are religious, Orthodox Christians. There are many churches all over the city, these are the main really old buildings that have stood the test of time. This is a church about a hundred meters from the Stavropoleus Monastery, which I told you about earlier.
Not far from the Old Town there is another important city center. I think it's the most appropriate center to bear this name because it's a geographical center, I could say, it's a kilometer zero of the city, the University Square.
The University Square from above...
... and the University Square from the underground, subway station.
Before entering the underground passage, I was surprised to discover an exhibition dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the strategic Romanian-American partnership.
A partnership that brings peace to our country which has the longest border with Ukraine. This partnership and our membership in NATO are our shields against Russian expansion! Although there are contrary opinions, which I don't understand (or maybe I do but I don't want to comment on them here and now), I am grateful that this partnership exists and works.
Just out of the underpass, I encounter a music center.
A small music center, a small square. Music Square!
This is a newer square, a square where on summer evenings musicians come and play for passers-by and strollers. Classical music! The huge copper cello leaves no doubt about the music played here.
It is also a meeting place for groups of tourists who receive directions and information from their guides.
This Sunday we discovered another center nearby. A food center. A fish food center.
A fish food festival is held in the courtyard of the Ministry of Agriculture. Romania is crossed by the Danube River, which flows into the Black Sea through a large, wild, and beautiful delta. This delta used to be a miraculous place for fish, but now it's not so, overfishing and poaching have diminished the amount of fish. In the delta, the main food is fish, which is traditionally prepared according to recipes dating back hundreds of years.
The rather small place and the crowds prevented me from getting good pictures but I couldn't miss an aquarium with fish from the delta, probably brought to see what they can suffer if they are not obedient!
This fish festival was the surprise part of the day, something unexpected and rare. I didn't get to taste any of the goodies myself, as I was in a hurry, but I'll go the next day when it definitely won't be so crowded.
While telling about the places where we traveled around the city I was forgetting something essential that made this day a special day, a sublime day.
This wonderful autumn! Impressionistic autumn, I would say, sharing colors and beauty. The birch trees in my yard can prove it!
