It’s never been easier to get from Paris to London in just two steps – London Street. We will commence our journey with a visit at the museum.
A visit at the National Museum of Maps and Old Book
For a 10 lei fee, as much as the entry ticket into the National Museum of Maps and Old Book is, you have the possibility to enter a fascinating universe in which the world is described differently. Impressive is also the building hosting the museum, being a splendid edifice combining a number of architectural styles. Built in the twenties of last century, the mansion on 39th London Street is possessed of broken arches within its framework, of Gothic inspiration, but also loggias making reference to the Venetian houses distinctive of the 15th century. The blend of Gothic and Mediterranean style gave birth to a fascinating construction, impossible to escape notice. Because of its value, the edifice is enrolled in the National Heritage, B Class.
Once you have stepped into the museum, you will marvel at the way the rooms have been furnished. Decorated with stain glass containing heraldry and cartography elements, the rooms are possessed of painted ceilings. In a number of cases, you will discover works of mythological inspiration, and in others, astronomical maps. As it is furnished, the place conveys serenity to the one visiting it. In such an intimate atmosphere, you can take at leisure your magnifier for a detailed study of the exhibited maps.
The heritage of this unusual museum consists of more than a thousand works in the 16th-20th centuries: maps of a number of regions, astronomical maps, city plans. Here you can see a series of graphical works (landscapes, portraits) as well.
London, the Museum Street
We will return to the street, London being a real outdoor museum. Here we find no less than 21 buildings enrolled on the list of the heritage monuments. Thus, beginning at 10th London, all the way to 13th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 19th, 20th, 23rd, 33rd, 34th, 35th, 36th, 37th, 39th, 42nd, 43th-45th, 46th, 47th, 48th, 49th only buildings heavily laden with history present themselves to you; there is no way you can pass by them without stopping and admiring the architecture.
Among these fascinating houses, at No. 19, we find the place in which Mihai Ralea (1896-1964) lived and created during the latter part of his life. Psychologist, sociologist, esthetician, philosopher, essayist and political figure, Mihai Ralea remained in the public conscience especially on account of the significant contribution he brought to the constituting of the scientific psychology in Romania. In the first part of his live he lived in Iasi, and in 1938 he was transferred to the University in Bucharest, where he taught many generations of students. The house on 19th London is the place in which he lived the last years of his live.
London Street is the perfect place for those who want to relax taking strolls in a tranquil area, laden with history, but also with a lot of verdure. The area is reminiscent of residential areas in other European capitals. Even though you are on London, you may feel just as in Paris or Rome. You can breathe the air of a bohemian world. London is the ideal place both for the tourist come to discover Bucharest, and for the native looking for an oasis of peace to relax in, and forget the everyday tumult. The street is possessed of a special energy you can find nowhere else. The architecture of the houses, the tranquility of the courtyards, the oases of greenery that dominate the area make London Street a particular place.
I, for one, have discovered this street during the fall, but I believe it as interesting in any other season. During the spring it gets filled with the fragrance of the flowers blossoming in the courtyards, and during the summer it refreshes the passerby who passes through it by means of the trees overlooking London on either side.
When you choose to take such a stroll, it is good to allow yourself to be carried away by the wave, to give in to the scenery and to explore without necessarily having a plan. The capitals in the middle of Little Paris must be passed through on foot, and the route must be sketched by intuition.