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Yesterday, the Børsen, the Stock Exchange building in København [Copenhagen], burnt down. I’m not talking about a financial crisis, but about a beautiful monument that literally went up in smoke. Its great spire was damaged, as well as most of its structure. I was there, in February. I walked past it and took pictures of it, replicating what my younger self did in 2016. Indeed, the picture of this monument was the one I chose to highlight my first visit to the Danish Realm on Facebook back then. And now, it might be gone for good, unless they find some kind of fixxxer. This is a reminder that not all is eternal. Not everything will « always be there ». And of course that is often true in much more dramatic ways: look at the countless countries at war right now, that we’ll stay unstable and unsafe for decades after guns will go silent. Or think about the cities erased from the map by earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones…

So go out there! Now! Stop saying « I’ll go there some day ». Just do it. Now. At least start actual planning. Don’t live your entire life to regret it at its dusk. There are just too many gems to find, places to gaze upon in awe, extraordinary people to meet. Don’t wait to be stuck by job, family or old age. Go out, now!

As for your humble narrator, he took a six-hour train to București [Bucharest], only realizing in the train that he didn’t had any food left, and will starve until 3 PM. The weather turned atrociously bad today in Romania, and I didn’t even get to see the mountains in the distance as we neared Brașov. Not the greatest ride, but that was alright anyway.

Once arrived, and after an emergency KFC, I took the metro to center of București. Holy s… I had completely underestimated the size of that city! It is gargantuan! This might have been the first time in my life crossing a 10-lane boulevard. And that’s only one way!

I checked-in at the hostel, located in an unpaved(!) road in the center of the city. I took to the street, crossed the old town, which was rather nice, and arrived in front of the monumentous, colossal, stupendous Palace. What a beast!

Overall, I must say that what I saw of București were some scattered gorgeous buildings, surrounded by neglected, ugly streets. Everything looked gray, and the weather made it grim all the more.