Cismigiu Park
Cismigiu used to be the romantic heart of Bucharest. It also used to be the place where servants and merchants came with their girlfirends in the years before the second World War, not just for a walk but also to drink, dance and gossip. Writers loved this park and so did many officials and state clerks of the time.The park was the idea of the Russian General Kiseleff who decided to value the ground of the infectious swamps and turn it into a public garden. Wilhelm Mayer, an austrian landscape artist, was especially brought to make out the design of the place. His idea was to make it look like the English gardens. The park was officially opened in 1854.
This is where people would skate in winter and dance or go boating in summer. There were parties arranged in Cismigiu exclusively for the common people, and even today many come and dance during hot months of the year on Aleea de Tango - free dance lessons in the open.
The word Cismigiu is a sort of pun in Romanian langauge. It comes from cismea, meaning well or fountain and a suffix to be translated into weller of fountainer - that is the man who was responsible for supervising all fountains (cismele) and public waters of the Capital.
Nowadays the Cismigiu Park is no longer a romantic spot but rather a pleasant way to cross the center of the town. It is always crowded and in summer there are many old people that get out for a short walk and sometimes fall asleep on the benches.
It is where students for Gheorghe Lazar highschool come when they skip classes and grandparents bring their grandchildren to play on the small playgrounds. Some people come to have lunch in the restaurants or pubs near the lake but you must no that services are awful and the food itself not much better.
At night the park is like a motley painting, a bit distasteful but at least it's illuminated. During hot July and August you'll find many walking down the alleys at night when the air gets breathable. It's a beautiful place like any other if not crowded. However it only startles nostalgical emotions in our (great)grandparents who recall very old times when a brass band used to sing in a kiosk every weekend and when young ladies were gently hiding from the sun under silk and lace umbrellas. :)
