Romania in photos

These are some of the pictures I managed to take in one afternoon and one morning, basically, in the city of Cluj Napoca.

It is a city I love, but a city I do not consider my home (unlike Bucharest, Bistrita and Timisoara).

Last time I've been there was June 2007 and it was my birthday. And I was together with the person I loved. Before that, I've been once in 2005, countless times at the beginning of the 90s, and one time in July 1980, when I was only six weeks old and when a doctor had saved my life in this very city.

This time, there were places I had not the time to visit, like the Botanical Garden - which is superb - and others. But I'll go again to Cluj next month, for a week, and I hope I'll have the time to do some more visiting. 

The pictures were taken somehow in a hurry, but I guess you can observe that in Cluj there are quite a few statues, some numbers of Romanian flags, nice buildings in Central European style (including cathedrals), the river Somes, and - what you cannot see - a breathable air.

But also a lot of nice pubs with decent service and nice people - unfortunately, this is not yet always the case in Bucharest. I spent my night in the 4 star hotel Napoca, lovely situated on the bank of the river Somes and just refurbished, but I must warn you the price is very high, a double room is charged approximately 350 RON (about 85 euros) per night, besides some small inconveniences, and I guess there must be plenty other more affordable places right in the center. Given the lack of time, I could not take quite a proper look at the people, putting aside the obvious fact that there are a lot of students in Cluj.

I noticed a new stadium is being built. I was angry when I discovered I've forgotten my tripod, so the night pictures might have been better.

In the end, my invitation to you is that, if you have the time and the opportunity, you should pay a visit to this city - but don't do it like me, in a hurry. In my view, a visit is definitely worth it.

Kindle your mind.