Outing to Turda

As we are not ones to idle, extra time in Cluj had us scrambling for things to do.  For Easter Monday we put together a full program for ourselves.  First thing in the morning, we caught a bus 30km outside Cluj to Turda.  Lucky for us the bus was running on half schedule.

Our first destination was the Turda Salt Mine.  By no means is this an impressive salt mine.  What they did with it is peculiar; they built amusement and entertainment park down in the mine.  It sounded cheesy, but the photos looked intriguing.  It did turn out to be one of the more surreal places we have been.  By the time we left around 10:45 AM many people were coming in for their holiday outing.

From the mine we walked through the center of Turda to get catch the trail to our next destination, the Turda Gorge.  As we headed out of the center we first walked through a poor-ish neighborhood, then we had to skirt around a number of vicious dogs guarding piles of garbage and cows.  We didn't spot a single trail blaze though we had seen the track on two different maps.  The good thing was the gorge was easy to spot.  You pretty much just head straight to it.  It turned out to be a very nice walk.  The day was beautiful. A couple of MTBers headed towards us scared up a fox. Nonetheless we were surprised that when we finally arrived at the gorge after a 10km trek from the mine, there were hundreds of cars parked in the grassy lots at the entrance of the gorge.  Clearly this is what one does when the town is closed for Easter holiday.

John and I joined the throng of people through the gorge.  Some parts were not an easy stroll, yet people of all age and shape cheerfully plied the trail.  Their enthusiasm was most precious to see.  By the time we traversed the gorge back and forth, it was 4pm.  We decided to try our luck at hitching a ride, given the number of cars around, granted many came full.

In the end, we were picked up by Anamaria, a bright young woman fluent in English, among her other six or seven languages in a Dacia which she very proudly pointed out.  She also informed us that the local tradition for Easter Monday is for girls to stay at home expectant of boys (guys) showing up to splash perfume on them.  Anamaria did not have that kind of "patience for such silly tradition" -- my kind of girl.  Needless to say, we had a new friend by the time she delivered us to our hotel.

Into the Salina (Salt Mine) via a 500 meter tunnel. Neat!




13 stories down. Check out the Ferris wheel.


And pool hall?...That's the stairs and elevator in the back.


And farther down. Boating?


Walking along the "balcony" of the one pit was way cool.


Just follow the road and fence line for 5 kms to the Gorge.


Unknown to these MTBers, they scared up a fox as they passed us.


Getting closer.


Just some of the cars parked at the one end of the gorge.


And into the gorge.






There were some rock climbers at one section.


Photobombed by a young couple on one of the tighter sections.


And some bonus video of Easter Sunday at the Orthodox Cathedral in Cluj.

Easter In Cluj

 Cluj (the full name is Cluj-Napoca), Romania's 2nd most populous city is located in western  Transylvania. Yes the Transylvania of Count Dracula. We arrived by train and took some time looking for a hotel as Cluj will be our home for 3 days during the Easter holidays. And since Cluj and the rest of Romania pretty much closes from Easter Saturday through Easter Monday, our first order of business was some feet-on-the-ground research on bus schedules, supermarket and restaurant open-close times, church service times, and open-close times for museums and other attractions.

Saturday we slept in then stocked up on groceries at a Lidl supermarket (it's much like an Aldi), caught up on blogging, and strolled through an almost deserted city center on Saturday night except for folks attending the ~9PM mass at the Catholic Church and the midnight outdoor service at the Romanian Orthodox Church.

We were out early on Sunday morning and hiked up to the fortress and on to the  Open Air Ethnographic Museum (closed for the weekend) then back to town passing the Stadium and the busy Central Park.


More Easter happenings in the photos below.

On the train from Oradea to Cluj.


We saw these building with flamboyant rooftops near Huedin. Hmmm? They turn out to be Gypsy Palaces.


Since many folks in Cluj eat vegetarian for Lent, we managed to score one veggie restaurant meal at Connection Food before all the restaurants closed for the long weekend.


The Synagogue.


Building the stage for the midnight service at the Orthodox Cathedral.


The nearby National Theatre and Opera.


The Cinema Victoria (nice Bauhaus stylings).


The Cluj Botanic Garden is superb.














The Orthodox Cathedral; ready for the midnight outdoor service.


Easter morning we were pleasantly surprised to find these colorful Easter eggs in the breakfast room at our hotel.


View to Cluj on Easter Sunday. That's the Catholic Cathedral at right.


On our Sunday walk we happened on an outdoor Easter Sunday service at a small church in the suburbs. And normal for an Eastern Orthodox service, the congregation stands whether inside or outside.


Walking back to town along the river.


Central Park was much more busy than indicated by these photos.

Oradea

An early train from Arad to Ordea had us striding past the Town Hall, its nightime lights still on, in a damp chill. On the plus side the train was soon rolling along through the countryside at dawn rousting ring-necked pheasants and rabbits from the thick brush along the tracks. The deer were not so skittish and merely raised their heads out of the knee high shoots of wheat for a look-see.

We were busy in Oradea; seeing the sites - there are many - and planning where to spend the upcoming Easter weekend. Seems that in Romania public transport, restaurants, attractions, and supermarkets either cutback or close down from Easter Saturday through Easter Monday. Which town do we want to be stuck in for 4 nights: Sighetu Marmației a small town with a population of 37,000 or Cluj-Napoca, the second most populous city in Romania with 370,000?.

Cluj wins. Stay tuned for our report.

Arad Town Hall at dawn.


Rolling north to Oradea just after sunrise.


Next door to our hotel was a building with a "needs repair" yet eye-catching Art Nouveau balcony and doorway.




Lunch at Cris Vegetarian.


Architecture.




















Several shots of the massive two-part Black Eagle Galleria.










We received a short history lesson and then tour of the Greek-Catholic Church. Interesting...The Holy of Holies.


Iconostasis lit up.


Town Hall.


Bishop's Palace.


View from Town Hall Tower with Jewish Synagogue (look for the dome) center behind the bridge.


More Oradea photos here.