It finally rained...

...or at least it did in Iași. Cause that's where I am. Closer to Russia than I'd wish but... a man's got to do what a man does.

You know things got weird since you started sounding like your grandma: "It's not raining sweety! It's not raining.". I mean yeah, she would do that in the month of August... but not in May. And for 3 days now, in Bucharest and the surrounding areas, clouds were getting more and more threatening but it didn't fucking rain. There were only 4-5 sterile drops and I was watching the sky like a prostate doctor would watch one of his patients trying to urinate: "Just pee already...PEE!!!"

So you could say I headed up north. For rain and some fewer degrees. 30-32 degrees in May... for weeks now?! Either I'm panicking or I think we screwed up mother Earth pretty bad.

In Iași sure things are cooler. It started raining since I was approaching the city. Ah... good, old, refreshing rain. It's 15 degrees outside while I write this and it feels so damn fine. I hate extreme heat.

I stay at this hotel, Grand Hotel Traian. It is an old, late 19th-century building, designed by no other than Gustave Eiffel. 1882 I think they opened up. It somehow gives me the feeling of Hotel Budapest, if you've seen the movie. I still look under the bed cause I guess there are ghosts lying around. The hallways sure look like it:

So tonight I took the time to roam around the centre of the city and take some pictures. Let me tell you that the city centre is really nice, full of life (there are big Universities in the city) and the old royal court and what is left of the old city has been remade with some buildings still being renovated. The feeling is great, the walk is great... I knew this as I'm in town at least 3 times/year. Every time I come, I see the mayor did something new or remade something old and I think that Iași could be one of those cities in Romania that will show the finger to the capital. As it was in the old times actually. I will not start making history lessons about what Iași City meant to Romania (you can find lots of articles about it). But I see a tendency of other bigger cities in my country that have taken their lives into their own hands and are not waiting for rules from the centre. Bravo! Together with Cluj and maybe Oradea, Iași is becoming a great hub.

I took my camera with me tonight so I can have my first, face to face encounter with night photography and play with the 3 mains settings. I mainly edited in b&w because... you know... I'm a begginer :D so lots of colours in my picture, during the night, are maybe not so nice. Anyway. I had the reliable 50mm with me and below it's a little bit of what I shot.

^{Iași is a pretty orthodox city that keeps it's ties with deep christianity close}

I like to photograph as underexposed as I can. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing but especially during the night, now that I have the settings in my hand and the sensor to get everything, I deffinetly try to keep the veil of the night, the shadow that night brings. Keeping a little mistery behind a shot in regards with religion... that's my view of this. I got lucky and I got people in the shot to animate the church picture.

The nice thing about the monuments in Iași is that they have lights on them. They are in pristine condition and the shadows that are being cast, from underneath the details of the architecture, can make for some exquisite detail shots in my opinion.

In the centre of the walkway (that until a few years ago, in the former mayorship, used to still be a street full of cars) and of the whole "old town", there is the Palace. This is the best piece of architecture I think we have in Romania. Sure, I can be counter-argument with other incredible pieces of architecture we have, but this is my opinion. The fact that it's also in pristine condition is a plus for sure in my argument.

Going back to my hotel, I took some pictures on the street, you know, playing like a Chinese tourist with the camera. Some of these are also in colour as I considered they are not so crowded, chromatically speaking.

Love the feeling I have when walking through Iași. I remember when I first came here, I think I was 19 (so something like 11-12 years ago). The city was dark and there was no life after nightfall, in the centre. Now, the centre is alive, there are terraces having clients until late, lots of foreigners are roaming the streets, students have a lot of specific bars and pubs laying around the main artery of the city centre. There's this calm feeling, like things are going in the right way.

I really hope they do Iași. I really hope...