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Dear Everyone, I'm not going to write much for this update so far as I'm very keen to get studying Virghil Ierunca (next post, even though someone said last night 'but why do you keep trying to find out about dead people - what about the living?' She was referring to my fascination with Bellu, the Bratianu family etc...reason a) the living aren't free when I am, b) we wouldn't be here without the dead and everything started with them, c) what's history, then?) so, bref, lunch yesterday with Carmen, my Duchess along with Rosie,... [Lire la suite]

Dear Everyone, I just lived a very strange experience showing what boredom can do to people. I was walking Rosie in the park opposite the treetop flat, when one of the old dears who lives in the next block called me over. She's always trying to engage me in conversation and ask probing questions. A lonely soul, I thought, although her daughter lives opposite me, newly married with a two month old baby. She's a very large lady (understatement) and has trouble climbing the stairs to visit her grandchild, so I've often stopped to chat... [Lire la suite]

Dear Everyone, Today, having spent a morning teaching and helping Tantza white-wash her little flat, I met Mihai at Pta Romana for a walk with Rosie. We began meandering our way down to str. Ion Campaneanu with the intention of visiting the roads adjacent to Cismigiu. There are some lovely houses there and it's an area I have neglected. We passed a shop full of t'shirts, mugs and shopping bags covered in witty phrases and sayings. I dawdled there a little, in front of the window, wondering if a good present for Lucia and George was... [Lire la suite]

Admit it, you're as bored as I am After 40 years and 1,500 concerts, Joe Queenan is finally ready to say the unsayable: new classical music is absolute torture - and its fans have no reason to be so smugJoe QueenanWednesday July 9, 2008GuardianDuring a radio interview between acts at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, a famous singer recently said she could not understand why audiences were so reluctant to listen to new music, given that they were more than ready to attend sporting events whose outcome was uncertain. It was a... [Lire la suite]

This Romanian family really is an incredible one. Every member is fascinating, their lives mostly sad, mostly terribly unjust. The Bratianu's (of which Ileana von Kripp's mother, Maria Emanuelle dit 'Manola' is a member, and thus Ileana herself, also - see last post) were related to the Stirbey's by marriage, and George was Manola's father, thus Ileana von Kripp's grandfather. George I. Bratianu was born in 1898 in Iasi, and died in Sighet Penitentiary on 27th April, 1953. He was a historian, politician, university professor, author... [Lire la suite]

Dear Everybody, The time has come to tell you a little about another colourful Roumanian personality, Prince Barbu Stirbey (1873-1946). Why? Well, frankly why not. And because he was quite a character. His mother was Maria Ghika-Comanesti (important to remember when I tell you about an admirable baroness later on), father Prince Alexandru Stirbey and he was grandson of another Barbu Stirbey (born Bibescu and adopted Stirbey), Prince of Wallachia and died in 1869. Quite well connected, wouldn't you say? He married Princess Nadèje... [Lire la suite]

Radioactive Grass New York Times Lehel Kovacs By DANIELLE TRUSSONI Published: June 29, 2008 In “History and Utopia,” the Romanian philosopher Emil Cioran speculated about whether it’s “easier to confect a utopia than an apocalypse.” Utopia and its discontents, so central to Eastern European writers, are central to Gyorgy Dragoman’s darkly beautiful novel. A scathing portrait of life in a totalitarian society, “The White King” is both brutal and disarmingly tender. Dragoman’s answer to... [Lire la suite]

Dear Everybody, Just when I think I should be getting to bed and that, really, I should turn off the computer, I remember I have more to tell you. I already said that I'd met Nicole's great and much loved friend, Nely, last Friday for tea in a café on Dorobanti. Let me introduce you to her. Here she is on the left. Thilled to see her again today, albeit ever so briefly. She will leave on holiday this Saturday and was in the area for chores pre-trip. How lovely to have her in front of me once more, looking most regal and... [Lire la suite]

The time has come to tell you about Corneliu M. Popescu. Born in 1958, Corneliu is the best translator of Eminescu who ever lived to date (sorry to all those who have tried!). When I first arrived in Bucharest all those years ago (the beard's getting long, now!), I decided that in order to understand the Romanian soul, I would have to study its literature. Huh! That's not easy when the translations on-line are, on the whole, dreadful, and so many writers aren't even translated. Then I found Corneliu M. Popescu. He was a genius. A... [Lire la suite]

Dear Everyone, We set off for Brasov on Friday evening by train, the rapide, which was indeed more rapid than the usual acelerat. Nothing very exciting to report on our journey into Transylvania except that Rosie growled persistently at a Roma man sitting next to me smelling of cabbage… We arrived at Lidia’s around 23h – no Ionut and Ioana, no Mara and Dan. Just us three and Rosie. Very nice, too, to have them to myself for a change! Saturday was a beautiful day. How wonderful to wake up in... [Lire la suite]