Forget Ionesco, when it comes to traffic and parking, Bucharest is your absurd theatre stage. The number of cars in Bucharest has gone way over the parking capacity of the city, with only a couple of underground parking lots and very little parking space for old communist apartment buildings. As if this was not enough, the Bucharest Driver (TM) makes it all worse. If someone wants to go to a restaurant or a particular shop, you can bet he/she will park the car right in front of that establishment’s door. There isn’t any parking space? So what? There is a car already parked? No problem, the Bucharest Driver (TM) will park his/her car in the street. Thinking of the other cars passing down the street? "To hell with'em, they can pass by me, let the City Hall build more parking places!" And if, when he/she returns to the car, he finds an illegal parking bill, hell will come down on earth. Everyone, from the president, to the cleaning lady will be guilty, but not our Bucharest Driver (TM).

But there is more to it. A few multi storey parking lots have been built in the last years, but they have the inconvenience of not being located right in front of the post office or bank our Bucharest Driver needs to go to. In an attempt to settle things down, the City Hall assigned many parking lots to a private company, Dalli, and you will see their staff, dressed in blue, charging a fee (1.50 lei per hour). But, as always in Romania, there is (even) more to it. Parking places not assigned to any company were quickly "taken over" by smart ad hoc antrepreneurs. You will see them near București Nord railway station, on Splaiul Independenței, near University Square or on various streets where parking is possible and the demand is high. They will show you where to park, even tell you how much you can reverse, a bit more, yes, straight on, OK, stop! And then they will expect (actually ask for) money. Illegal? Yes, it is.

Note: contrary to what anyone but a Romanian might think, the car in the picture above did not get there by accident. Nay, it was parked there. I can see a different car in that spot next to every morning and it is gone in the evening.