Nevis Hotel Oradea

... typically costs 100ft (~70 cents). If you bring along a container of any sort (old wine bottle, or prefereable something larger like a 20l jerrican), you can fill your wine up by the litre and depending on the wine, you may pay from a couple of $ to maybe $10/litre for the expensive stuff. And although I'm not a huge wine drinker, there were some pretty impressive wines there (particularly the sweet ones of course!)

... 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.

... me through a number of villages to the actual border checkpoint. The villages in the north east of Hungary are all perfectly formed enclaves, neat and green, the communal spaces are carefullly kept yet acessible, there are water fountains and cycle paths and gypsies living seemily peacefully amongst the Hungarians.

As I'd travelled east through Slovakia, the number of Gypsies had steadily ...

... a little from the boring and tiring trip.

We continue and make good way to Oreada, without problems. Hungary is from a countryside perspective not very attractive as all is flat and very flat, without many objects that would distract the eye. Additionally there is a strong wind (of course against us) which requires our attention. I don't envy the cyclists that plan to cross this ...

... and spent the night in the hills. It was our first chance to cook on a wood fire, and all the boys got very excited at the prospect of chopping wood! We were told to look out for gypsies stealing our stuff! It was, again, freezing cold, with some people's tents being dusted with ice in the morning.

... 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.

... was too long, and we opted for a nice alongside walk from the outside. After lunch in trattoria del Calicio restaurant, our favourite place in the Capital (?) Lorenzo the Great (our driver), together with Camelia took us to the Airport. Bucarest-Otopeni to Oradea 1 hour on time. At the arrival, Calin and Oscar (Rotary Marghita President) were waiting for us. Fantastic and warm ...

... where motivationnal messages were displayed, promises of rewards for the best and punishments for the weaker ones. I left early to explore a little further streets from the hotel, and take pictures of the buildings. Some were just refurbished, once again sporting bright fresh paint but others were old, cracked and stained but were exceedingly charming. I also visited the fair where you ...

... ou boire jusqu'à ce qu'on arrive à Oradéa. Un gros repas nous attendait au allentours de 3h30. Soupe, salade, plat et dessert roumains typiques. Nous avons quitter le restaurant vers 5 heures après quelques verres d'alcool local pour s'installer à l'hotel. I used the little time available before our next scheduled meeting to explore the streets around the Vulturul Negru (the Black Eagle), our hotel. It is part of a complex that bears the same ...

... 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.