So, after living for a while in Spain, we went back to Bucharest as official photographers for the 4th edition of the International Festival for Musical Performing Arts "Life Is Beautiful!". And we couldn't agree more with the inspiring title of the festival! Between attending beautiful theatre and operetta shows, concerts and meetings with very special artists that we have met there, we also discovered the city. Rox has grown up in Bucharest so it was now her turn to wonder the streets of the city with San and show him the best stuff around, as it was only his second time in town..! Surprisingly, the city kept changing year by year. There are a lot of notable improvements, even more obvious for someone who has been away for a while. So, all in all it was a journey of discovery for both of us..

We stayed in Bucharest for almost three weeks, in november. It was autumn already, with cold mornings, windy afternoons and lots and lots of beautifully colored leaves everywhere... Weather can change very quickly in this time of the year, sometimes autumn brings heavy rains and not very pleasant atmosphere in general, if you combine it with the heavy traffic in the city.. But luckily, while we were there we enjoyed a very pleasant weather, with no drops of rain.

Of course, it was cold, as the end of november means almost for sure winter! We loved the deep fog that sometimes covered the city in the first part of the day, it gave us the chance to play with light and capture beautiful moments!

This trip was one of the most inspiring we've had, we returned home with tons of material. That's why we decided to create a special page for the festival, where you can enjoy our best photoseries from the shows. About that, we rediscovered an old passion for theatre and operetta and we can't wait to see more in spring when we will be back.

We also met a bunch of very inspiring people, that we will be meeting again for sure.. Among them, Alina, one of the most spontaneous and hard working person we know. And many other members of this great team, that put together one of the biggest festival of this kind in Europe. Florin Budnaru, our good friend, and very talented artist- here you can see snapshots from an afternoon we spent together. Randy Gener a brilliant editor, writer, critic and conceptual artist from New York, Old Fish Jazzband, a group of inspiring young musicians based in Berlin that bring the past back to life by singing the oldest jazz in the world!

We also had the pleasure of discovering that San was not the only dutch guy in Bucharest at the time. After spending several nights enjoying a hot chocolate (real one, thick and creamy!) in Grand Cafe Van Gogh, to share opinions after the shows, it finally occurred to us that this place has to have a dutch owner: the cosy atmosphere, beautiful furniture (everyone knows the dutch just love to make their homes the coziest place possible), the idea of a work-space in a bar, many dutch treats in the menu, a picture of Beatrix, not to mention the name and the fact that next door to it we noticed the...Rembrandt Hotel. It was more than clear we had to meet the guy behind all this. So, a phone call and a day later we found ourselves together with Jerry and his (very nice!) girlfriend, and part of his team in Bucharest... A very pleasant night, with dutch cheese and good romanian wine.. and lots of talks!

So, if you ever decide to visit Bucharest, you should definitely have a drink here and consider a room with one of the best views in Rembrandt Hotel. We experienced it a few days later, in the room from the top... It almost seemed magical! A view over the city center, with lots of copper roofs everywhere, smoke coming out from in between, and to make everything perfect, you could hear the sound of an accordion coming from down on the street!.

Probably a street artist trying to make some money on a winter day. Rox finally understood why Bucharest used to be called Little Paris. You have to be there to feel this!

In between all of this and some delicious family dinners, we basically walked around every little street, starting from the center and until the more remote areas of the city and we took pictures of all the things that we found to be special and reflect the ambience of Bucharest.

One of the most interesting things you will experience there is how eclectic the city actually is. Still recovering after the communist period, the city is rediscovering his old charm. At the end of the XIX century, before the second WW started, it used to be one of the most cosmopolitan capitals in Europe, full of life and open to the new. The most beautiful architecture was being built by romanian and foreign architects, parks were born, people were living a good life enjoying music, theater and good restaurants, fashion with the latest influences from Paris. It was truly the golden age of the city. Unfortunately, after WW2 the communists managed to destroy most of it, but now the city is slowly recovering and as you walk on the streets of Bucharest you can feel once again the charm that was lost for so long..

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