They didn't have malls when I was a kid. Which is to say, they did, but they had only just come to Romania. I was a kid when they opened the first shopping mall in town and it was kinda far away, so I don't have much of a memory of that.
When dear @ericvancewalton asked
What store did you love to go to as a child?
It was a bit of a challenge. I know of a toy store that my mom used to take me to, but all I could really tell you about it is, there were toys. I don't remember it per se. I also remember finding a shirt, this plasticky bright shirt, with a cartoon design from some show I loved, and that's right down the street, but the store burned down a few years ago (so no pictures). Not many memories of it, other than that, either.
So instead, to answer Eric's question, I decided to settle on the first shopping mall in our area of the city. It was called Liberty Center, and it was a fairly unimpressive, fairly small mall compared to modern day standards. Goes to show that, in more recent years, the opening of another, much roomier and fancier mall a few stops down ran my old mall outta business.
For the life of me, I can't find a picture of the place in my own archives, so this will have to do. source
But for me, as a kid, this was the place to be. It was two stops from our home, and one stop, I think, from my best friend's home. It was the first place we were allowed to hang out on our own. Unsupervised. Trusted with our very own money. It was the height of luxury when we were 11 or 12.
So, Liberty was the place to be, and movies were the thing to do. I actually still love the movie theatre there (which I think still works) since it's significantly cheaper than fancier ones. We used to go to the movies a lot when I was a kid. We saw movies with actors we fancied (I'm looking at you Johnny Depp! Tom Cruise!), we saw action movies, rom-coms, chick flicks, cheap horrors. Anything that came our way was a go.
I guess it was a popular outing because it was fairly cheap. As I said, movies were very affordable here. So was popcorn or whatever. And since it wasn't that huge a mall, the worst that could happen was you'd wander into a McDonalds afterwards. It was also fairly safe, I think. Movies are a safe, next-to-home pastime that our parents felt they could entrust us with.
It was also here that we got to make our first purchases. Like, this was the first place we'd wander into a store alone (well, parent-less) and actually get to choose to buy something. It didn't matter that it was a basic t-shirt or a pair of sunglasses, it felt so mature and just so damn cool.
They also had an ice skating rink where I fell magnificently a few times.
Magic. source
It's interesting how we form relationships with the things and places in our childhood. Like, with that mall, even as it's rundown now, even though I haven't gone in in years, it still feels like I know it. It feels like right in my backyard, very safe. Which is weird 'cause it's not in a very safe area. It feels more comfortable than the mall they opened later a few stops down, even though my friends and I go there all the time now.
It just doesn't have the same appeal. The same power.
But then, I guess nothing ever will. Not quite the same. Oh well. I'm not one for dwelling on the past too long. Not when there's new places to be discovered and memories to be made. Thank you, Eric, for this trip down memory lane. I enjoyed it.