La Motoare
What is left to say about Motoare? Not too many things, but that’s why we were there. La Motoare is one of a typical day’s stop for the youth of Bucharest, like it or not. Friends meet there for a beer, it fits a big group of friends, and it’s the place to go after wandering around town of a free place in a bar (and of course, everything is taken). The conclusion: “ok, let’s go again to Motoare!”
The first thing that welcomes you is the wall drawing, a miniature city, colorful and full of life. The place attract its clients with large spaces, (relatively) cheap beer, drafts, French fries, maybe even Bacardi, coffee or plain water. The best thing that defines La Motoare is the color. People wear colorful clothes, the walls aren’t gray anymore, there are sometimes film projected on the white screen right across from the bar, even if the sound is sometimes deplorable.
La Motoare became the place for urban people. Here we can see some alternative theater, the work of Film graduates, artists’ drawings and what not, some events. Here you’ll find all kinds of people, like the typical bohemian with a scarf around the neck in the middle of summer or a corporate person that came up for some fresh air.
For some it’s the most comfortable and within reach choice, for others, we’ve heard, it’s a style-thing. People here wear Converse shoes or string sandals, pink belts and emo haircuts, rock band tees, large pants or flowery dresses, African jewelry and jeans.
Some discuss the last editorials and the book fair, others about ipods or new websites. Plenty talk about school, teachers, and grades. Some about business, others about concerts. We could write entire books about the discussions we overheard here. Showing off, shyness, all of it can be found in this crowd. It’s impossible to go there and not see someone you know.
One of the most annoying parts of this experience is sitting in line at the bar. You have to think ahead, and just buy all the beer you’re going to drink all at once.
You might think of climbing the stairs from the wall, but we advise you not to, we’re certain it’s not allowed.
Yes, it’s a popular place. Some might not like it for this reason, other go only for that reason. One English man told me once, while drinking a 3 am beer, that it’s extraordinary for him that such places exist and that at home he cant just sit at a terrace at night and listen to music while lying on a bench. Of course, the main reason is the cold.
It’s definitely not the best looking or the most interesting, not the cheapest and not the most expensive place in Bucharest. We’d place it somewhere in the middle, but we have to admit it has the gift of attracting people by something. Some come to see what others are up to, others to be seen, some find it cooler to sit on the stage, others prefer the benches. Not important. What matters is that it’s always full, and even those that criticize it, ever for good reasons, sometimes come around for a beer.
