The Scotophiles of Bucharest

“So… what is happening with Glasgow Rangers?” I laughed.  Partly it was out of surprise that this Bucharest taxi driver was aware of the collapse of one half of the Old Firm.  Partly, though, what I also found amusing was the tone of resigned bewilderment, making it sound like the sort of small-talk opening gambit…

Artificial reality

I spent a week in artificial reality. Ostensibly it was a week of work in Bucharest, the Romanian capital, at a European conference. But the week could have been spent almost anywhere. It was a plush, comfortable but bland hotel on the very edge of the city, where we ate, slept and worked in the…

Off to Bucharest

I don’t remember much about my time in Romania. To be fair it was over a decade ago, it was only Bucharest I visited, and I spent only two days and a night there, sandwiched between sleeper trains from and to Sofia. Moreover, as Niall and I travelled our way further southeast through Europe we…