Our goals in Bucharest were: concerts of the Enescu Music Festival, fine dining, details of its emergence in 1989 from Communism, urban ambiance.
George Enescu (1881-1955) is Romania's musical icon. Bucharest hosts the biennial Enescu Music Festival. Major orchestras of Europe perform.
The Atheneum is one of the two major venues for the concerts. It was built to be a place of political oratory, not a music hall.
The other major venue is the Palace Hall, built for despot's exhortations with amplified speakers in the seat backs. Again, not for concerts.
The diversity of architecture in the city is immense, reflecting influence from Western Europe, the Ottoman Empire, and the many changes in foreign occupation.
Neglect and decay after the 1989 coup is evident. Squatters with a few modern gadgets occupy this downtown structure. ...
... Right next door are renovated buildings and hip amenities for tourists and the city's emerging middle class.
Many of the buildings off the main thoroughfares are crumbling from neglect.
Ruins may be found next to renovations.
Quiet parks are plentiful.
Thirty years after ousting the dictator and emerging from communism, Bucarest has some modern retail elements. Here, a book store.
Quaint aspects with modern amenities are also to be found, such as this tea shop.
Under communism very few residents could afford or have a car. There were no car parks/garages. Now, nearly all have cars. But still no car parks or garages.
Bucharest is rated in the top ten of world traffic jams, E- scooters rentable by smartphone is a popular way to get around.
With scant regulation or enforcement, Romania's internet has been cutting edge, competitive, cheap ... and messy.
More ad hoc infra- (supra- ?) structure.
