Designed by star-architect Zaha Hadid, Dorobanti Tower was designed to establish an iconic presence in the heart of Bucharest. The new tower is a unique mix of a distinctive form, ingenious structure, and spatial qualities of sky-high living. If approved, it will be the tallest building (656 ft) in the city and will provide a 5-star hotel along with apartments. The meandering exterior columns …

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There’s an interesting story behind the stray dogs in Romania. I’m not sure that it’s the only explanation, but it goes like this:

In the 1980s, Nicolae Ceausescu, a now-executed Communist dictator, demolished a large portion of Bucharest homes. In classic megalomaniacal fashion, he used the newly razed area to build tower blocks, wide boulevards, and grandiose monuments to himself. While homeowners were rehoused in tiny flats, many of them were forced to abandon their pets. Naturally, the animals ran wild and do what animals do best–bump uglies and make more animals.

In 2006, an elderly Japanese businessman bled to death after being bit in the leg by a stray. Since then, the government rounded up hundreds of dogs and lethally injected them, but despite government efforts, stray dogs still take over many-a-dark-alley at night.

Vama Veche (Old Border in Romanian) is a village on the Black Sea coast. Once a quiet fisherman’s village, today it has transformed itself into a large resort, well-known for its nudist beach and rock festival Stufstock.

In previous times, it was known as a counter-cultural oasis and was a popular retreat for artistic/bohemian types. However, in recent years it has become a lot more mainstream, partly due to the Stufstock rock festival (Stuf is Romanian for ‘reed’, stock comes from ‘Woodstock’). This was founded in 2003 as part of the ‘Save Vama Veche Campaign’ in protest against what some people consider bad Romanian music i.e. manele and pop.

1st May is considered the first day of the summer season and is generally when things really get going in Vama Veche.