Ideas and Peregrinations

This chapter provides some historical maps of Bucharest. Click on each to enlarge. Unfortunately this blog does not allow full resolution (1939 map and cadastral maps) so in those cases a download site is provided. In chronological order: 1717 - Bucharest at beginning of 18th c, woodcut 6,5x12,5cm published at Leipzig in 1717 (full download here ) 1854 - Bucharest center bird's eye map . 1,276px × 931px. From a contemporary poster 100 x 70 cm 1871 Bucharest, by Army Major Dimitrie Papazoglu. 7,040 × 4,843 pixels 1897. Scale 1:40 000, 1610 x 1200 pixels 1911. A cadastral series of 4 sheets covering entire Bucharest. Each quadrant approx 5,000 x 4,250 pixels. At this site can also find an interactive version of this map. 1926. Spanish-language, 1800 x 1313 pixels 1927. Bucharest aerial photo: town center. 1,882 x 1,329 pixels 1939. Bucharest - very detailed map. 9,828 x 7,846 pixels. This full resolution can be downloaded ...

Between my birth and the day we left Romania in 1960, I lived on Calea Vacaresti near the corner of Bvd. Marasesti. In 1977, Bucharest suffered widespread damage from a major earthquake, but that was nothing compared to the systematic demolition orchestrated by Ceausescu 2 years later. According to historian Iosa , the bulldozed area, approximately five kilometres long by one kilometre wide, was one of the largest peacetime urban destructions at the hands of humans in recorded history . One can debate whether Baron Haussman's razing of old Paris in the 19th century was larger, but certainly the results in the 2 cases were not the same: Bucharest was disfigured. In 1978, I took a month-long trip to Romania as a single American young man. It was still a time with not very many tourists, and one evening I was sitting alone in a restaurant when two ladies sitting at a nearby table asked if I wanted to join them. It turned out that they were mother and daughter and lived in thi...

iTunes on your computer AND on your stereo system - no problem: all you have to do is add an Airport Express near your stereo, connect the 2 together with a phono cable, and stream music to your stereo. Airport Express in center (with green light) and phono cable (pardon my dust)  But what happens if you want to move your music around the house and garden? There are any number of wifi contraptions you can buy; but here's something elegant that sounds surprisingly good. The WIHIFI  The ingredients: Hatten table from IKEA. This translucent little table has a removable tray which exposes a small storage compartment. $20. August 2014 oops: IKEA US no longer carries this, still available elsewhere. JBL "Spot" speakers with a subwoofer and 2 side speakers. These small speakers, now discontinued, have a superb sound. I bought mine from eBay for $60. Airport Express from Apple (see 1st picture above). This device is a router or wireless brid...