rupert's travel blog

Author: Rupert Wolfe Murray

  • If I was the mayor

    If I had stood for the local elections I would have come with an ecological strategy that would have provided everything required for a campaigning politician; connection to a hot global issue, a ready made framework that would create jobs, cut pollution, solve transport problems, attract tourists and bring discipline to construction. And I would have a framework to slam other candidates for using eco labels in their campaigns but failing to address the threats of global warming and the upcoming energy crisis (this is known as “greenwash” in the UK). (more…)

  • EU funds could re-forest Romania

    Interview

    Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (DAZ):You are demanding the plantation of new trees in Romania. What benefits for the environment are you expecting with this measure?

    Rupert Wolfe Murray (RWM): Due to global warming and successive heat-waves, much of Romania’s farmland is being abandoned or is becoming impossible to farm. Other areas cannot retain the water in the land – and the inability to retain water is the definition of a desert. (more…)

  • Bureaucrats ban ancient rural practises

    The proposed ban against transhumance is symptomatic of the Romanian government’s attitude towards the peasantry, but it goes against the values of the EU.

    It would be really tragic if Romania banned transhumance (the ancient practise of taking huge flocks of sheep to mountain pastures for the summer) . Although the practise may contravene some of the EU’s public health rules, there is a strong tendency within the EU to suport traditional cultural practises within EU member states, to encourage diversity as well as environmentally friendly activities.

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  • In reply to our critics

    Feedback to the intelligent and critical comments on our site.

    We have been getting some high quality feedback on our blog recently and I feel inspired to write about some of these comments. Considering the garbage that gets posted under most online articles or videos (have you seen the trash written under youtube clips?) I think we’re lucky to get such intelligent and coherent feedback. We must have a superior quality of web visitor and I would be interested to know how they come across us. (more…)

  • Foreign impressions of Bucharest

    A foreign visitor in Bucharest would be forgiven for assuming he had landed in the Middle East rather than a capital city of the European Union. Bucharest has more in common with Cairo than it does with Brussels, Rome or London.

    The first thing the visitor will notice is the traffic jam from the airport, as well as the overwhelming outdoor advertising banners in Otopeni – a form of advertising which is very strictly controlled (and not very visible) in most European cities. If he enquires about train or metro links from the airport he will hear some cynical, rude and perhaps amusing replies. (more…)

  • Cars have more rights than people

    The ancient historian Herodotus had some useful advice for the travellers and writers of his day: in order to understand a situation you must ask lots of people the same question. I have been following Herodotus’s advice for some years now by asking people I meet in Bucharest — taxi drivers, policemen, old ladies, shopkeepers – “Why are people allowed to park their cars on the pavements?” (more…)

  • A green proposal for Romania

    Adevarul made a sensational discovery last week – it found a copy of Romania’s post accession strategy. It made for depressing reading. By 2025, the strategy stated, Romania’s population would be decimated, the economy would be on its knees and the level of poverty would be sky high.

    But this is not a strategy, at best it could be called an “analysis”. What the authors did was simply take current social and economic trends and project them into the future, coming up with their gloomy prognosis. It lacks the essentials of a strategy: a goal, a target, something to which the country (or at least the politicians) can strive towards; not to mention the public consultation and publicity that accompany similar strategies in normal countries. (more…)

  • Romania’s European Parliament elections

    There are several things that Romania has in common with my home country Britain: the worship of the car and under-investment in railways; slow progress when it comes to tackling climate change and, most noticeably, a feeling of being on the “edge” of Europe. Britons feel closer to America than continental Europe and refer to “the Continent” as somewhere quite distant and remote from their daily concerns. Both populations share a lack of interest in the European Parliament elections. (more…)

  • Bran, the Capital of Kitsch

    Five days after Romania joined the EU I visited Bran Castle. I was sadly disappointed by the incredible kitsch on display in the carpark, the ruination of the village by uncontrolled banner advertising and an interior that has been ruined by bad restoration. What was an intriguing fifteenth century castle has been reduced to a centrepiece of the kitsch capital of Romania. The Habsburg’s asking price of 60 million Euro is laughable; they would be lucky if they could get 10% of that over inflated value. (more…)

  • Mission impossible: Branding Romania

    A lot of money is being invested into the development of a brand for Romania but this can only lead to embarrassment and financial loss. Branding a country requires a level of coordination and trust that is unattainable in Romania. According to Charles Brymer, chairman of Interbrand, “Creating a brand program for a country demands an integration policy that most countries do not possess – the ability to act and speak in a coordinated and repetitive way.” (more…)