Transylvania dispels the myth of the Victorian Gothic pot boiler . Large stretches have been stripped of any charm by the post revolutionary zeal. Romania has had its fair share of pogrom both under the Nazis and then the Russians, (in Transylvania 8000 villages were completely destroyed by the Ceaucescu regime), they are considered by the outside world and themselves to be the ‘poor man of Europe.’ It is hard to reconstruct a national identity when it seems no-one cares who you are or what you think. Around the motorway ‘non stops’ there is uneducated superstition. I refused a gypsy begging by the roadside; a curse feels palpable and personal here just 3 hours away from the secular security of London. They mumble something Hungarian under their breath at you whilst maintaining eye contact and smiling. When I returned to London a large black fly flew out of my ear.
Transylvania dispels the myth of the Victorian Gothic pot boiler . Large stretches have been stripped of any charm by the post revolutionary zeal.
Romania has had its fair share of pogrom both under the Nazis and then the Russians, (in Transylvania 8000 villages were completely destroyed by the Ceaucescu regime), they are considered by the outside world and themselves to be the ‘poor man of Europe.’ It is hard to reconstruct a national identity when it seems no-one cares who you are or what you think.
Around the motorway ‘non stops’ there is uneducated superstition. I refused a gypsy begging by the roadside; a curse feels palpable and personal here just 3 hours away from the secular security of London. They mumble something Hungarian under their breath at you whilst maintaining eye contact and smiling.
When I returned to London a large black fly flew out of my ear.