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BUCHAREST - IT'S HISTORY AND IT'S PEOPLE
Friday 7th April - the morning after the greatest comeback since Lazarus. Middlesbrough in the semi-final of the Uefa Cup. With only Steaua Bucharest standing between us and a place in the final, we celebrated loud and hard.
But on the other side of Europe, twelve hours after Dinamo Bucharest had been eliminated by Steaua, a battle was still was still raging between the two bitter rivals. But the battleground had moved and the new venue was the ComeOnBoro.com message board as both sets of supporters descended on us.
There are links to some of the best threads below. Perhaps you had to be involved to appreciate the full entertainment value of the situation and those who were will no doubt agree that 7th April was the best day in the history of internet message boards, ever. First up though, a potted history of Bucharest and it's ship dogs.
Bucharest History
According to legend, Bucharest was founded by a shepherd called Bucur who built a settlement near the Vlasia forest. It was recorded as a nameless "citadel on the Dāmbovita" in 1368, and named as Bucharest in an edict from the time of Vlad the Impaler who according to legend once killed 20,000 Turks in one day.
During the early Middle Ages, Bucharest became a commercial centre, important enough to enable the voivodes to build the Princely Canot - known as "The Old Court" - which became the nucleus for the development of the medieval town. The first mention of the name of "Bucharest" is dated September 20 1459 in a document issued from the chancellery of the voivode Vlad Tepes (Vlad the Impaler). Vlad The Impaler liked to take his holidays in Whitby apparently.
Violence, bloodshed, warfare and assassination were all rife at this time. No, not in Whitby - in Romania. Bucharest endured a turbulent history and was ruled in turn by the Hungars and Ottomans before emerging with it's independence in the seventeenth century.
Capitalist elements started to develop with the Bucharestan economy and a new administrative structure was formed between the years 1806-1812. Many great Romanian landmarks were built around this time but progress was halted by a plague, known as "Caragea's Plague", and probably started by the rat dogs that inhabit the streets of Bucharest.
The first Romanian ruler was Prince Grigore Dimitrie Ghica who was the boss between 1822 and 1829. In May 1857 Bucharest became the first city in the world to have petrol lamp illumination. Rumours that the system is still in use are unfounded and hurtful.
"Bucharest is a creation of our own nation, it expresses our originality, it is what were able to do. By its own vitality, Bucharest has managed to impose itself as a unique Capital, that had received all the attentive care of some great personalities we have not fully understood, to show then the gratitude they deserved"
Nicolae Iorga "The History of Bucharest", 1939
By 1918 the city's population had grown to 380,000 and roads such as Podul Mogosoaiei, Podul de Pamānt and Podul Calacilor were widened, paved and renamed as the Calea Victoriei, Calea Plevnei and Calea Rahovei, in honour of the battles of the 1877-78 War of Independence from Turkey.
After World War II the city was ringed with ugly apartment buildings, first in areas such as "Red" Grivita, which the Allies had bombed flat. They were aiming for the railway yards apparently but missed.
Communist rule interrupted Bucharest's cosmopolitan days. Many years after the overthrown of the communist regime, the "House of the People" - the world's second largest building after the US Pentagon - reminds Romanians of the communist years. Only Romanian materials and products were used - local marble, cherry and walnut paneling, crystal chandeliers, specially commissioned hand-woven tapestries, carpets and draperies - to build what supposed to be the headquarters of Romania's last communist leader. Now renamed the Palace of Parliament, this magnificent building of 1,000 rooms reflects the work of the country's best architects and artisans.
Bucharest is one of the few cities in east-central Europe with gambling. Many 18th and 19th Century palaces and mansions now house elegant beaux-arts casinos. Today, Bucharest - the capital and largest city of Romania - is experiencing renewed vigor. The city reflects an interesting heritage of mixed cultures influenced by the old Romanian aristocracy educated in France, the German King Carol I, and the communist society.
A SELECTION OF THE BEST MESSAGE BOARD POSTS FROM ROMANIA
BLAKE_25 @ Apr 7 2006
YOU UGLY PEOPLE COUNTRY IN FIRST PLACE AM ITALIAN,IN SECON PLACE MY GIRL ITS FROM ROMANIA,AND JEVE FANS AND STEAUA FANS ARE BROTHERS ESPECIALY AGAINST UGLY AND STUPID PEOPLE MORE UGLY THEN CAMMILA ,AND I WAS IN ROMANIA THIS YEAR AT JUVENTUS GAME IN TIMISOARA,AND IF U SEE WHAT MOBILE PHONES CLOTHES, LAPTOPS,THEY HAVE U ALL GONE CTHINK U ARE IN THE 70`S IN ENGLANDS ,THEY PUT MORE ACCENT ON CLOTHES,PHONES GADGETS AND LAPTOPS AND MP3 PLAYERS,AND MORE CLEAN THEN YOU UGLY PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY ARE LATIN AND OUR BROTHERS,AND MORE RASIST THEN YOUR UGLY COUNTRY GONE BE ALL TIMES,THEY HATE ENGLAND PEOPLES BECAUSE THEY SMMEL BAD AND THEY ARE UGLY,MANGIARE MIA CATO NEGRO
Another one here...
And here...
More to come...
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