The English Passage in the centre of Bucharest looked very run down the 1980s too, but the artisans who used to have offices here a year ago (a hat repairer, a shoe repairer, a watch repairer) have gone, which makes me think it may be about to be refurbished. There used to be people living here with washing hanging out to dry but I am not sure they are still there.
I told a Romanian woman fifteen years ago, in the days when the old town of Bucharest where I live was a slum, that what Bucharest needed were pigs fattening on balconies. I was minded to start a foundation to provide pigs for balconies, I said. She did not think this was a good idea.
I had in mind the funniest short story I ever read, by Graham Greene, which I enjoyed translating into Romanian for my Romanian teacher. Do read it. It only takes about six minutes.
Bucharest used to be like this all over the town 20 years ago but now isn't.
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