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excerpt Baneasa used to be the favourite meeting place for those living in Bucharest. It was there that they came to listen to the cuckoo singing for the first time, pretending that in this monotonous song they discovered the secrets of their lives. Back then Bucharest

Barbu Lautaru rustled up his physical and artistic resources, desirous to make an impression on Franz Liszt whom he met during the great Hungarian virtuoso's visit to Moldavia. Their encounter became famous thanks to an article carried by the French weekly La Vie Parisienne,

excerpts Chapter XV. Scenes of Social Life The beautiful autumn days of the year 1817 had already flitted along with the joys they bring to pass for the inhabitants of Romania. Winter had made quite an early appearance and the western wind had by now started to blow in

In Bucharest there are two types of public bathhouses: Turkish and Wallachian. I was to understand the fame of the latter, as that was exactly the place we were accompanied to. This bathhouse is situated in Lipscani St. , one of the ugliest parts of the town. The building

excerpt Romanians love entertainment but they equally like to laze around. When they don't have a rest, they spend their time having walks, going to the theatre, parties, visiting acquaintances and playing cards. French, German and Romanian performances lure people

excerpt Nothing, says Mr. N. , in an witty critique of Iaşi society, nothing is more boring than Iaşi for a foreign traveler whose name does not include the rewarding of particle, and whose only concern is to do business and not entertain the little civilized inhabitants

VIII. On the customs of the court And on the days when there are no banquets, the table for the Prince's lunch is more often than not laid in the small hall, but often enough also in the big hall or in the women's quarters (gynaeceo). Two of the high rank boyars

One might think that all men desire pleasure because they all aim at life (…). Pleasure completes (…) life, which they desire (…). But whether we choose life for the sake of pleasure or pleasure for the sake of life is a question we may dismiss for the present. For

In several villages of Walachia, and especially in those of Gorj and Olt counties, the First and Second Finding of the Head of St. John the Forerunner, which always falls on 24th February, is called Dragobete. In these regions, Dragobete is a beautiful celebration day for

For well over one year, since I and the retiring actor Stelian Nistor marketed our tee-vees to see the magazine Everybody's Cuisine through the press, our peers, notably those at The Catzavencu Academy, never fail to cheek me: You meatball-journalist, recipe commentator,

excerpt It happened, not too often, but especially after a theater evening followed by dull group discussions at a terrace forgotten open. Camil, the second day after the torture, ran wild. He met Sandu, the sports teacher, the scare of the second division at rugby, the

In White Moor by Ion Creangă, the Rabelais-tinged philosophy of Gaster (the Belly), (Mikhail Bakhtin) represents one of the tests the main character has to pass in order to marry the daughter of the Red Emperor. As in any fairy-tale, be it in its cultivated variant, nothing