Hotel Capitol Cluj-Napoca

... closed but I find the art museum open. Some of the paintings make me feel as though I am in Transylvania with portraits of people with white faces, coming right out of horror movies.

I spend the afternoon with the locals at a café, working on photos. Nightlife looks really good but I have to get some sleep for my early train.

Located out of town, but close to the economic area of the city, BLACK TULIP, a four stars hotel, represents the perfect destination for those wishing to rest. I have appreciated the room atmosphere, the quality of the services...and the high degree of refinement of the cuisine.

15th June

Fine, mostly sunny 20 degrees

Brasov to Turda via Sighisoara

We left Brasov and drove through the hills of Romania past some rolling fields and rustic villages. We stopped at the lovely town of Sighisoara where we spent a couple of hours sightseeing. The town was originally settled by Transylvanian Saxons in the 12th Century and Vlad the Impaler's Dad lived in exile there ...

The train from Sighisoara to Cluj Napoca was another sauna experience. I had opened the window, but the elderly woman in our berth asked me to close it (though she herself was sweating).

The only good thing about Cluj was a brilliant candy store in which we spent a fair amount of money (for Romania).

Sighisoara to Cluj: one 2nd class ticket (3 hours) – 36.70 lei

... paikalliset isännät ovat laittaneet parastaan pitääkseen meidät rikkaiden maiden kasvatit tyytyväisinä. Tarjoilu pelaa pienintäkin yksityiskohtaa myöten ja meidät on upotettu lahjoihin. Ensimmäisen kokouspäivän jälkeen naisvieraille lyötiin jopa kukkakimput käteen. Ennakkokäsityksestäni poiketen palvelu Romaniassa on erittäin ystävällistä. Kohta alkaa suomalainen moi mitäs sulle-asenne suorastaan ärsyttämään verrattuna tähän ...

... stampile, stampila cu timbru sec a primariei Cluj, stampila cu semnatura lui Boc, stampila cu semnatura arhitectului sef al orasului.
De ce e acuzat acum Marius, de fals, uz de fals si de astea. Dus cu pluta, nu crezi?"

Dus cu pluta zic si eu, dar cum a putut un om ca asta, semidoct si lipsit de cel mai elementar bun-simt sa manipuleze si insele zeci de oameni. Poate vom afla vreodata.

... europe for 6 months hitchhiking, couchsurfing and using help exchance (helpx.net) and managed to spend only 400 euros in that time!!!! That is incredible! If you don't know these websites you have to check them out if you want to travel on the cheap and more importantly travel on the alternative routes meeting locals and what not: couchsurfing.com wwoof.org helpx.net Well we'll see when the next post comes, hopefully in the next week or so. adios from the land of Dracula!

... who calls herself Princess Lumenitcza and she writes story books for children..love that name...means little light....she might be worth googling... So the Carpathian Basin, as I believe I've mentioned, which contains Transylvania, is an old ocean basin, the mountains blocking the drainage of water to the Black Sea. Which means that Syracuse might have some competition in the world of salt mining...this place has salt deposits all over. There's been ...

... Vienna, across the flat plains of Southern Czech Rep. I sat up front in the cab with our driver Iain which was a very nice change from sitting in the back. Luckily the tomtom works up to the Austrian - Hungary border so no navigating needed on my behalf, all I was doing was help look out for height and weight restrictions (our truck is 16 tonnes, even when empty!). Vienna is a stunningly grand city with an extensive amount of baroque (I think) architecture ...

... closer to the original Latin than French, if deviant in the opposite direction. The funny thing is that Latin characteristics show up in other aspects of the culture, like red tile roofs and city-center parks. All in all Cluj-Napoca is nice, though without any obvious tourists or attractions.