The 'Hood

We live in Bucharest, near Piata Victoriei, in a little one-bedroom apartment on the ninth floor of this classic 1970's Eastern Bloc structure (far left in photo). When Amynescu was looking for housing, many people mentioned to her that this apartment building was built by its architect inhabitants to withstand earthquakes. She hopes that the building's integrity will not be tested during her stay in it. The interior of the apartment is decorated with lots of nice paintings by the owner's family members, as well as a full Romanian library.


Our most modern amenities are a high-bandwidth internet connection and cable TV, which help offset the challenges posed by some less recently updated features (see our posting "Albalux.")

Rumor has it that the heat (or "caldura") will be turned on today or tomorrow. One of the vestiges of communist-era central planning is the central heat system, in which entire neighborhoods share heat generators that are turned on when someone decides it's finally cold enough. We were urged, via a posted sign on the entrance to the building, to be at home at 5PM today to make sure our radiators weren't leaking. We dutifully complied, but . . .nothing. Fortunately we have lots of good blankets.