I often talk to Dragos about his website, Metropotam. And, of course, Dragos tells me every time: “You’re not in our target; you’re not an urban animal!” And every time I wonder: am I really not?
For two years I lived only at night, from club to club, or three nights in a row in the same disco. At night, all the cats are black and all your fantasies become reality if you wait long enough and if the others drink enough alcohol. Everyone turns into someone else and the dark hides us from the ones who judge us. We are what we want to be or what we are afraid to accept we are.
Go around Bucharest at 2-3 AM. Start from Iancului and go along Pache Protopopescu: you’ll see the “girls” waving at you from the corner of Matasari Street (if you’re a man, alone in the car). You can stop and talk to them, but I advise you not to linger… the legend says it’s not safe to get any closer.
Keep going until Rosetti. Stop at the shaorma shop on the corner and, while you’re eating, listen to the immortal stories of those who stop to order something. I’m sure you’ll hear all sorts of thing, from how hot the female population of the city is to the idiots at football teams Steaua/Dinamo/Rapid, depending on their preference.
The journey continues through the centre of the city: turn right at Universitate and go slow. On the right, in front of the Intercontinental hotel, you might see the Matasari girls who got to a higher stage of evolution. If they aren’t there, you might see a large group of men you’ll recognize from as distance as foreigners: they talk loudly, they gesticulate and laugh a lot (considering how little Romanians laugh, this is a clear sign that they aren’t from this country).
Go further and you get to Piata Romana. Pass by Everest, where… friends meet. The place is pretty crowded for this late hour, but usually you pass by quickly, make a left turn and go on Victoriei (I’m not very sure you’re allowed, but there aren’t any policemen anyway so, WTF, live on the edge :) )
Assuming you didn’t have the bad luck of being pulled over by the police, go further on Victoriei, past Green Hours and B1TV’s headquarters, past the Palace of the Phones and get to Cotton Club. You feel like it’s been there forever, but go on and turn right, towards Regie. It’s only 3 AM and the nightlife is still at its peak there. Make a few phone calls and set up a date for something sweet: a giant crepe, right after the U dorms?
After this, everyone writes their own story.
Ever since I set foot here for the first time, I fell in love with Bucharest. With the constant movement, with the new people you meet, with the liveliness (go to any other town at 3 AM and you’ll understand).
But I love Bucharest the most at night, driving or on foot. A walk like the one I just described made me come back to Bucharest three years ago, when I realized that I’d been missing it for two years.
Original post: here.
Bobby Voicu is 29 years old and works in the online industry. He loves to travel and is preparing for a trip around the world.