Earth is returning to life in the sunshine as you drive west from Bucharest on the A1 motorway.
The capital is about two and a half hours away. The birthplace of the communist dictator is here.
Thanks to its connections with the Ceausescu family, Scornicesti was rebuilt as an important agricultural-industrial hub after being demolished as a village. For a long time, the A1 was the only highway in the country. The road was his way home for the country's tyrant ruler.
Better living conditions were offered by Ceausescu. The shops here never went out of supplies, even though millions were starving and had to queue to buy essentials. The people needed entertainment and life was good.
Football comes in here. The local team rose from the amateur league to the top flight after the communist authorities made a statement. The most modern stadium in the country was built for the team.
Steaua Bucharest won the European Cup in 1986 and the aim was to conquer the continent.
In December 1989, a bloody revolution resulted in more than 1,100 deaths. The ruler and his wife were executed on Christmas Day.
The football team would never be the same again.
The stadium immediately catches your attention as you enter.
It was the most advanced in the country when it was built. It had a mini- hotel, a lounge, a swimming pool, and modern dressing rooms.
The seats are still there 35 years later. Many of its other facilities have been forgotten. The hotel rooms are used for housing by social services, while many of the spaces behind the stands host clothing manufacturers working for English or French brands.
FC Olt is an amateur club in the fourth tier. The arena used to hold up to 25,000 people. Around 200 people show up for the local derbies.
Some of his relatives were angry about the football game. The team should be created by Vasile Barbulescu, the brother-in-law of Ceausescu. He thought it would boost local prestige.
The first game in the fourth division was played in 1973. Locals used to feed their animals on the pitch where the team turned out. The goalposts were used to tether animals. Things were about to change.
Barbulescu hired a young man as chairman in 1978. He had previously worked in two other clubs with good results and was admired for beingresourceful.
He arrived just before the end of the season, when Scornicesti were fighting to get promoted to the second tier. FC Olt needed a big goal difference to get ahead of their rivals. As he recalls how they did it, he laughs.
Aluminiu Slatina forfeited each of their games because they abandoned the competition.
We needed a result. We had to act fast, and I told them to get some boys from the village. We had to convince the team in Slatina to give us their original playing IDs.
We got boys from the stables who used to milk cows, and they played as if they were Slatina.
The promotion rivals were playing at the same time. Police officers were placed in a communication relay so they could talk over the radio. As soon as goals were scored, they had to make sure the score got to Scornicesti.
One of the officers heard a wrong message. He realized that FC Olt's rivals were winning 9-0.
They netted 18 goals against their sham opponents, trying to make sure it was enough. The players and officials stopped on their way to the locker rooms to wait for the result of the other match.
Confirmation came that the other promotion contender won their game. If required, an extra few minutes would have been added.
The next season, the president of the Professional Football League was told to win promotion to the first tier. He was threatened with exclusion from football if he failed. He succeeded by two points.
According to those interviewed for the article, Ceausescu didn't care about the team at all. He asked his brother-in-law to take care of what he was doing.
He was a fan of Steaua and thought the military team could be a contender in the European Cup. Steaua won the European title in 1986 and also reached the semi-finals in 1988 and the final in 1989.
During one of his visits to Scornicesti, the dictator only met Dragomir once.
He remembers that Ceausescu went to our chairman's home after visiting a local factory. I was also asked to go.
My three-year-old son refused to give Ceausescu's wife some flowers because he wanted to give them to him. I thought his wife was unhappy when I was told to go and see him.
Ceausescu asked a joke from Dragomir. About Ceausescu. There were faces around the room.
The man told him about Richard Nixon being stuck on a ship.
They were debating who was more brave: the Russians, the Americans, or the Romanias.
To make his case, Brezhnev ordered one of his guys, Aliosha, to jump into the water and bring back two sharks. Aliosha brought the two sharks even if it cost him an arm.
Nixon asked John to get three sharks using a knife. John got three sharks despite losing an arm and a leg. It was Ceausescu's turn now.
He woke up Bula, who was sleeping, and asked if he could bring five sharks.
Bula put a finger in the water. He said that the water was too cold.
The entire ship's crew started cheering and applauding the courage of Bula, so it was decided that they were the bravest of all.
The eyes in the room were focused on Ceausescu. Everyone was waiting for his reaction.
Elena, his wife, broke the silence.
She yelled that you should be ashamed of yourself. Well done, young man! said Ceausescu. No one touches this guy.
After that, everyone started clapping and they went back to having fun.
FC Olt stayed in the top flight for 10 years after promotion. They missed out on qualification for the Uefa Cup, but their best finish was fourth.
They had players such as ex-West Ham and Spurs forward Ilie Dumitrescu and Dorinel Munteanu. It was an appealing team to join despite modest success.
In the 1980s, there were shortages of essential services and products in the big cities. Hot water, electricity, and heating were all rationed. Life was hard even if you had money, and there wasn't much to spend it on in the few shops.
The picture was different in Scornicesti.
Ion Anghel is a former FC Olt goalkeeper.
There was meat, milk, eggs, coffee, chocolate, anything I can tell you. People would come from the other side of the world to shop.
Many of the journalists who came to report from Scornice became my friends. I told one of them to get something for his family because he had a new car. As a gift, meat, eggs, anything.
He and I both left after the game, but only half an hour later. There was a big traffic jam on my way. People were fighting to get the frozen chickens. There were people on the ground.
I couldn't understand what had happened until I saw the car in the ditch. The journalist had a new car. The meat was thrown in the street.
Fortunately, he was ok. The police officers wanted to know where the meat came from. I told them "Scornicesti" and no more questions. They went to the car to see if there was anything left for them to take home.
FC Olt finished fourth in 1982. They started work on a bigger stadium in 1985.
The venue was supposed to be there for 400 years. Did it make Ceausescu proud? The dictator did not know it was happening, according to those who built it.
Mihai, one of the locals who worked on the ground, says that he only found out when construction was almost done.
I think his family was afraid of how he would react. He was asked to cover everything with cartons so he wouldn't see it. We were supposed to hide it because he was flying over the site with a politician.
Before the revolution of December 1989 and the dramatic changes that followed, FC Olt had played one top-flight season at their new jewel stadium.
The team was demoted midway through the campaign. The official reason was that authorities couldn't guarantee the safety of players and staff. The execution of Ceausescu meant a bullet for FC Olt because of its ties with his family.
The team played at the new arena before being broken up. He is the technical director at the club. He doesn't see much excitement when he looks around.
He says that the big games they won were thanks to their quality on the pitch.
We did not have anything to do with politics. I mean the players. We wanted to play football for ourselves and our families.
Stan was on the field for FC Olt. It was against Steaua. The military club won the game with a goal by a certain Gheorghe Hagi. The referee decided to end the game before 90 minutes were up because of the high tension.
Players from all over the country are no longer joining. Stan and Robert are responsible for keeping the team going. To convince those around them that the dream of a return to glory is still alive.
The reality is not the same. It is a ghost team. The house where Ceausescu was born is guarded by a necklace of grey tower blocks.
Young people leave in search of a better life. The Dacia 1300 car is a symbol of the communist regime in Romania. Time has not moved on despite the fact that the world that gave life is extinct.
I live in Scornicesti and I am proud of the heights this team has reached.
I am doing this out of passion. My dad was a team doctor. I know what it's like to be around a team that makes you feel good.
We have new hopes. The stadium is being modernized. Next season we will fight for promotion.
There is nothing I should be ashamed of. I am happy I got to see the big games.
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