2009/02/03-06 westernization of the east

the main impression that i have from the city is that two cultures clash - the old communist east and the new capitalist west. a big part of the city still consists of block buildings from the time of ceausescu..

..which makes a rather depressing impression to me.


but westernization is moving on..


..and when east and west merge, it looks like that:

nevertheless some parts are already highly modern,

..which in fact is not always appreciated by the inhabitants either.

i would have never thought that there's people who miss the times of the communist regime, as they cannot cope with the speed of life and the output orientation. it was also fascinating to learn that - what it felt like - a majority of the inhabitants does not really like the city too much. they try to escape as often as possible and see bucharest simply as the location of their employer. despite all of that this was exactly what fascinated me: the mixture in terms of both architecture and lifestyle.