This year I got to celebrate Easter twice: once in March — the Catholic celebration in the Netherlands, and once in May — the Orthodox celebration, for which I went back to Romania, to spend it with my family.

I arrived in Bucharest on a sunny afternoon. Going from 5 degrees Celsius in the Netherlands to 20 degrees in Romania was quite a treat! It felt like traveling to the future, jumping from winter to summer. I found Bucharest unexpectedly green. I loved strolling the streets and admiring the city’s strange beauty, created by the mixture of old and new, poor and rich, ugly and beautiful. I watched people passing by, insatiably, as if trying to make up for all the time I was away, to assimilate all their beauty, to hear or imagine all their stories. I visited Herăstrău Park, the Village Museum and I met a few friends, all this in a hurry, as always. There’s never enough time to do all the things I want to do when I go, or meet all the people I missed.

After that, I headed to the countryside to enjoy the fresh air and the fragrant smell of acacia trees, to colour eggs and eat cozonac. About that, in another post. For now, let me take you for a short walk through Bucharest:

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