It was brought to my attention that even though I posted numerous photos from Cişmigiu Park here on the blog, I’ve never shown you the nicest attraction in the park, more exactly the artificial lake. During the winter the lake is without water and part of it turns into an ice skating rink but from spring to autumn the lake is filled with water and one can hire boats to row on the lake.

The exotic birds are back in Cişmigiu Park, including this beautiful white peacock which seemed to be the center of attention when I passed by.

Madonna’s concert from last August and a beer festival that followed left Izvor Park without any grass and some of the trees withered. A few environmental organizations decried the destruction and soon after these protests the park was renovated and grass replanted. These days Izvor Park looks quite nice, although a few more trees would help.

Today is Theme Day at the City Daily Photo community, a monthly event that happens the first day of every month, when all participating blogs will post a picture that relates to the theme day’s description. Today’s theme is: Red. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

I’ve spotted this red truck a few days ago while strolling through Cişmigiu Park on a sunny day. I’m guessing it’s being used for the park’s spring cleaning.

Here’s a few examples of what one can buy at the Easter fair. Of course I couldn’t help myself and bought some small cups that I have no need of.

The gazebo in Cişmigiu park has been decorated with the occasion of a spring fair titled “Traditions and flowers with the ocassion of (Easter) celebrations” (which in Romanian is shorter and it rhymes). Below you can see the fair’s banner hanging at the main entrance to the park.

I’ve talked before about Cişmigiu Park, one of my favorite places in Bucharest. It’s a lovely park where I always find something to photograph. In my previous posts about Cişmigiu – which can be found under the namesake tag – I’ve showed you some of its landmarks. Today I’m adding two more photos to this collection, both of the same statue, called The Black Woman ( “Negresa” in Romanian, bearing no offensive connotation). I’m guessing it is called like that because of its color, because the subject doesn’t really have the features of a black woman. In one of my books on Bucharest I’ve seen it called “The Nymph of the Lake” but I didn’t hear anyone using this name.

Here’s hoping that these will be the last snow photos for this year I took them in Carol Park with the occasion of one of this year’s snows. I lost count of how many times it snowed but this one was a very white winter

In spite of its medieval look, the castle in today’s photograph is actually not that old. The famous Vlad the Impaler (Vlad Ţepeş in Romanian) didn’t live in it or for that matter live to see it. But if he did live to see it, maybe it would have been a familiar sight, because the castle is supposed to be inspired by one of Vlad’s main fortresses, the Poenari Castle. This similarity is the reason the tower in the photo is called Ţepeş Castle. It was in fact built in 1906 with the occasion of the “General Exhibition of Romania” (also named “Jubilee National Exhibition”), an event modelled after the World Fair organized in Paris in 1900. The event took place in Carol I Park and was intended to show the progresses made by Romania under the leadership of King Carol I. The castle is in fact a water tower, 23 meters tall, 9 meters in diameter. Near the top it has a platform from where one can admire the panorama. It was build after the plans of architect Scarlat Petculescu. After WWI the castle served as a military garrison for the soldier’s guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which is located nearby. Since 2004 it serves as the headquarters of the National Office for the Memory of the Heroes. At the present moment the tower is undergoing renovation.

Yes, I know my title sounds silly but I intended it sarcastically The phrase doesn’t belong to me, it is in fact a quote. When our president, Traian Basescu, was the minister of Transportation he was asked by reporters about the measures he took to clean the roads that were blocked by heavy snow. In an attempt to find an excuse and make the reporters back off he replied “winter’s not like summer”. This phrase gained a “life of its own”, being repeated over and over and finding its place in the popular culture. A search for the phrase “iarna nu-i ca vara” on google comes up with 1.880.000 results. I don’t think that anyone needs convincing that “winter is not like summer”, but I thought I’ll illustrate this through today’s photographs which shows one of the two statues located in Carol Park and titled “The Giants”. This one was sculpted by Frederick Storck. I just happen to photograph it both in winter and summer and as you can clearly see from the two photographs “winter’s not like summer”