Second class

 Two holidays in row with just a friday needed to get a full weekend? I'm off! I am having a loooog weekend in Romaina. My 68th country. 

The trip down here went smoothly. Save for the usual late flight to Frankfurt. But this time, I didn't get upgraded. So I had to be content with zoo class. I would be arriving late, so I was dreading trying to figure out stuff when my brain is trying to convince me to sleep. But I needn't worry. 

First, there was the passport control. As per usual, I picked the slowest line. But finally it was my turn. I gave him my passport. He looked at my obviously tired face. For a looong time. Then hammered on his computer. Looked at the picture in my passport. At me. Then back and forth a few times. 

Him : "Where you arrive from?"

Me: "Hm?"

Him : "Where.you.arrive.from.two-day?"

Me: "Frankfurt".

He looked me up and down, and finally gave me my passport back. I was finally allowed to enter his country.

Next: Taxi. They had some machines where you could choose your company. Touch the display, and a ticket would come out. Assigning you to a taxi and giving you approximate time. Not bad!

I think the driver have a past career as a getaway driver. He certainly drove like he had just robbed the bank. And he also reminded me that seatbelts weren't necessary in the back seat. I put them on anyways...

15 minutes later, we had arrived. After some initial confusion and fiddling, I managed to get into the apartment block. My apartment was on the 5th floor. And the elevator didn't work. As far as I could tell. 

 

After dropping off all my gear I went down to the 24/7 supermarket I saw on the way. It was only a short walk. I bought some food and water. At the register, a young girl was standing with face down in her phone. She finished typing before beeping my stuff. Whenever her phone updated, she stopped to read. And then continued. When she was finished, she picked up her phone again. I bleeped my card and she sat down. Without looking. I went back to my room. Had some drink of water and dropped in the bed and fell asleep.

On tyranny 

One of the places I wanted to go here in Romania, was to Tirgoviste. A small town norht-west of Bucharest. Unless you are familiar with Romainan history, the name might not mean anything to you. But it was where Romanias former dictator Ceaușescu and his wife were executed. The building they were imprisoned, "sentenced" and executed, is now a museum. Located right across from the train station.

I walked the few km to the train station in Bucharest.

 

I again found the slowest line and queued to get a train ticket. It was finally my turn.

Me : "Tirgoviste!"

The lady behind the counter looked at me as if I had just tried to explain quantum mechanics to her. After a long wait, she finally spoke.

Her : "Teh-GAW-wished?"

Me: "Mmmm...Yes?" (hoping it wasn't some obscure town where they had a statue of Lenin or something)

Her : "Two-more?"

Me : "No, today"

Her : "To clock?"

Me : "No, eleven!"

Her : "Aaa...change train!"

After some hammering of keyboard, editing some codes and clicking the mouse on something that looked like Windows 95 software, my tickets spat out of her machine. 18 Lei (about 5 Euro). Second class. My ticket said I needed to change trains in Titu. I was loving it already.

 

I got my seat, and we were off. Through countryside, small villages and their small train stations. All sporting their own station manager who stood at attention as our train passed. At Titu I swapped to a small local train to take me (us) the final distance to Tirgoviste.

Why is the station master standing in a cage?

 

As I walked out of the train station, the museum was at the other side of the street, as I had anticipated. 

 

I walked in the front door, and a small bell rang. A door opened, and a middle-aged lady came out. "Ticket?" I asked. She nodded. "Ok. 10 Lei". She looked almost embarrassed when she said it. I don't think this place is much visited. Especially not from tourists.

I paid her and she gave me a ticket. Then she switched on the lights in the room. "Here, the commandant was. Here, the court. And the execution place is down this hall, then out the door, then left and such and so on". She went back to her office. I walked into the "courtroom". It stood like it was on that christmas day in 1989. The chairs, the tables. Nothing had been changed or removed. There was the small table and the two chairs they had sat. It felt weird. I remember the images on TV. The couple sitting there. Ceaușescu proclaiming "I do not recognize this court!". And this is where I had to agree with him. Even back then. 

 

I remember I read a quote (unable to find the source), back in my teens. 

"He who wishes to dethrone a tyrant, must see to it that he in the process doesn't become one!"

The trial was a tv-show. Nothing else. The verdict was already set. The "trial" was a scripted thing staged to justify what came. The couple knew the end when thay sat in the "courtroom". They knew they would be executed. 

After the "trial" they were led through the corridor, out to the yard and put up against the wall. And unceremoniously machinegunned down. No head shot, no neck shot, no firing squad aiming for the heart. Just a hail of bullets. They collapsed on the ground and died.

Don't get me wrong, I am glad romanians ousted their dictator(s). Their crimes may have been many (I haven't checked), but the "trial" with the subsequent execution had all to do with revenge and blood-thirst and little to do with justice.

I walked through the rooms. I saw the tv-images flashing by in my mind. I walked down the corridor. Out to the yard. To the wall were they were executed. Bullet holes still in the wall. A painted outline of their bodies where they had collapsed on the ground. It just felt...wrong.

 

After some sobering thinking, I left and took the train back to Bucharest for some nicer things to end my day.

 

The skies and beyond

I knew there was an observatory in Bucharest (like in many cities around Europe). But it was only on my way back to Bucharest I realized I had passed it on my way to the train station. It would be open until 9PM, so I had plenty of time. I came to the site, and it was jam packed with schoolchildren. I thought this might be the usual thing, but then realized that Jupiter would be occulted by the Moon today. And the programme listed on the wall confirmed this. So I decided to come back later. The skies were clouded, so nobody would be able to see anything anyways. 

So while waiting for the crowd to clear, I walked down to one of the wonderful buildings in Bucharest. The Atenul Romain. A concert hall. It was truly beautiful. Both outside and particularly on the inside. With stunning staircases and ceilings. I have left some images here for your enjoyment.

 

Then I walked back to the observatory. The crowd was gone. I could see a beautiful refractor through the windows. Unfortunately, I was unable to reach that room today. The observatory had a couple of beautiful old refractors on display, and a small exhibition. Long, winding stairs led up to the dome at the top of the building. Here, they had placed a large modern Schmidth Cassegrain telescope complete with computer control. 

 

It was now late in the evening. I had had a full day, and was ready to go back and hit the bed.

Tomorrow is another day.

Ragnar