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According to an anthological saying, ”there is no place like home”. For National Geographic reporter and columnist Andrew Evans, home could be anywhere else in the wide world. The ”Digital Nomad” columnist, who is travelling all around the world and twitting his experiences by picks and comments, has finally made his stop in Romania to depict spots from Bucharest and rural inland regions within a documentary shot following an agreement between National Geographic and the National Tourism Authority (ANT). The documentary is due to be screened next year.
Actually he has been in Bucharest for a week now to shoot part of his documentary. He said he was impressed by the magic of the Romanian Capital, where ”the little Paris” architecture harmoniously blends with Ottoman influences. He visited the Old Center, ancient churches and the Romanian Athaeneum, walked down the Dambovita river and even over the outskirts and enjoyed local cuisine.
”I am in a Capital city celebrating 555 years of existence, which is named after a shepherd and which used to be at the crossroads of two great empires, Roman and Ottoman”, the American journalist reports.
Andrew Evans was caught by Stavropoleos Church frescoes but also by the revamped facade of Coltea Hospital. The church was built in 1724 in the Brancovenesc style, his name being a Romanian rendition of a Greek word, Stauropolis, meaning “The city of the Cross”. Now it stands in the heart of the crowded city as a oasis of peace.
Then, the National Geographic columnist went marketing to a vegetables marketplace, where ”a grannie” taught him a few Romanian words and where he found out garlic is a seller. How could it not be?After all, we are in Dracula land, we should say. Poet Mircea Dinescu taught him some traditional Romanian recipes a few centuries old. He mostly savored the stuffed cabbage ”which must be necessarily dished up with polenta and a lot of sour cream” but also the white grapes must.
He did not leave Bucharest without making a selfie near Vlad the Impaler statue, ”the 15th century ruler who really enjoyed killing Turks”.
No matter whether he was walking down the Dambovita river, prying into Pantelimon outskirts district, meeting local artists and paramedics, admiring the city architectural remnants or attending the opening of the academic year, Andrew Evans was set to one single opinion: ”Though serious, Bucharest is an wonderful city”.
One beautiful autumn day, the American journalist reached somewhere in the Carpathians, admiring the magic of the solitary natural landscape, mountain sleepy wooden houses villages, hedged by rough hobs and overcrowded by critters and poultries.
According to the ANT project, estimated at almost EUR 1 M, Bucharest and the Romanian tourism brand are to be promoted by the National Geographic Channel in 10 countries. The 45-minutes documentaries will be aired in Germany, France, Italy, UK and Russia, as target markets, and in Spain, Poland, Abu Dhabi (UAE capital) and India, as opportunity entry markets, during February-May 2015.
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