Hotel Pami Cluj-Napoca

It is Sunday at everything except the churches are closed. CLuj has several large churches, one of which is broadcasting its sermon into the plaza. 20 people are standing outside, listening to the service while facing the church. Not sure why they don't go in.

I hike to the top of a hill for a great view. Two of the museums ...

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.

One of the classes I took at Eotvos Lorand University was on the ethnography of Hungary, or rather the ethnography of Hungary as it was prior to World War I. Included in the class was a weekend farm stay in a small ethnic Hungarian village of Kalota-Szentkiraly (Sincrai in Romanian) in Transylvania. That weekend was incredible, the village was like stepping into the nineteenth century, ox carts were more common than cars, the house we stayed at had an outhouse in lieu of indoor ...

... of open pit mining historically....we go to Turda, where there are underground bell-shaped mines...larger than imaginable. After walking through underground tunnels - all sided by salt - we get to some serious caverns. I think this trip has been designed to challenge my issue with heights. Because once again I'm faced with having to go beyond my comfort zone to fully experience. We stand in pits that have been mined since the 800s/900s...which is a ...

... way and that, with no space in between. I've wrapped myself in my coat, hood up, to sit and write. Wish I'd brought my camera. I caught the end of a funeral. The casket was buried, but the horse-drawn hearse was just pulling away through the mud. It looked like something from a Tom Waits song, big black horses, the drivers dressed in antiquated black clothes and hats, the shovels showing out the back of the ...

I did a really stupid thing in Cluj. I got off at the wrong place, just a little over-anxious I guess, but that's what happens when you don’t speak the language well. I wouldn’t speak it at all if it didn’t have significant similarities to the other Romance languages ...