Toto, we're not in Texas...

Just to clarify because there seems to be a bit of confusion among my readers. When I make references to Dallas, I am not referring to Dallas, Texas USA. I am referring to the community called Dallas at Pata Rât in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. No, I am not flying back and forth from Romania to Texas every week to conduct research and take pictures. Whew, that would be exhausting...

The Dallas story in Romania is actually pretty interesting. From what I hear, during communism, Dallas was one of the few American TV shows permitted in Romania. During the years of Ceauşescu-era deprivation, the show came to represent wealth, freedom, capitalism, indulgence... all that American stereotypical stuff. So, now that communism is over here and Dallas is no longer on the air, it left its mark by remaining a representation of these things. Dallas is a big theme here and everybody knows about it. I even met a dog named Bobby (after Bobby Ewing) a couple of years ago. There are a fancy boutiques called Dallas, brands, etc. Well, the naming of Dallas at Pata Rat is ironical. The people who established this community obviously had a sense of humor. They named their garbage-scavenging squatter community after the wealthy oil-tycoon Ewing community. I love it!

So, for future reference:


This is Dallas, Texas













This is Dallas, Romania














The Ewings at Southfork



















Again, the Ewings at Southfork