Cluj Napoca

I arrived in Cluj on Sunday evening, after a very long journey starting on Saturday evening, continuing with a stop on Sunday morning somewhere on a mountain top between Vâlcea and Sibiu and ending with 150 miles of road on Sunday afternoon.

The reason of my coming here was refiling my batteries, as I am really really tired and I could stand no longer Bucharest.

You can get to Cluj Napoca by car, obviously, by train or by plane. Going by train is frustrating - it takes almost 10 hours to get to Cluj from Bucharest (and I must express my amazement that, on Saturday, it took me 7 hours to get to Sibiu, which is less than 300 kilometers north of Bucharest, by train. A ratio of 40 kmph. No comment.). By car, coming from Bucharest, it is frustrating again, because of the underdevelopment of the national roads. By plane would be better, especially if you come from abroad. The airport is quite nice and very close to the city.

Places to see? Yes, there are a few. Basically, the center, but also the Belvedere hill (with wonderful panoramas of the city) and the Botanical garden. I also enjoyed the bridges over the river Someş and the main park nearby. I went to the elegant National Theater and Opera House, and assisted to a good performance of Carmen by Georges Bizet (with the observation that the French spoken on stage could have been better). However, the singing and, from my point of view, especially the orchestra, were very good.

On an easier note, the choice of pubs can take into consideration, but do not limit itself to, places such as: Toulouse, Diesel, Janis Cafe, Janis la Stuf, Demmers (if you like good tea) and Vertigo. A decent club is After eight. As for restaurants, the one I would recommend - and I thank the person who let me know about the place - is La Piazzetta. But I admit that I generally enjoy Italian kitchen, so that choice can be subjective. 

After five days, I don't know if living in Cluj is better than living in Bucharest. Usually, it takes me a little to evaluate the place I see and the people who take part to the picture. Comparing to Bucharest, there is obviously more common sense here and people seem more civilized, but not more educated. However, when getting to know them better, they function just like the kind of people you can meet in Bucharest, keeping in mind that there is a sum of cultural differences which, from my point of view, are clearly fading away.

So, as a sort of conclusion to this rather short post, I would say, to my surprise, that I did not notice important differences between Cluj and the south of the country. People are running for their material interest, which is good mainly, but they seem to put a big emphasis on that. Somehow it was frustrating to listen to people talking only about money, even the students in the university library. I have enough of that kind of chat at home.

The photo gallery:

1-2. Janis Cafe - the library

3-4. the center square, with the cathedral and the statue of Matthias Corvinus

5. flower-shop. It was called "Casa cu flori", if I recall correctly.

6. Eroilor str.

7. side street

8. the stadium

9. the river Somes

10-11. After Eight club

12. the opera (well, a part of it)

13-14. views of the city from the Belvedere hill

15. Janis la Stuf. I loved the candles lying on the piano

Kindle your mind,

Oradea

I arrived here on Monday morning, after a journey of 12 long hours by train. I decided not to go further west and to spend my week off swimming in hot waters. So far, I can say, it is a good decision.

Oradea is a city of medium size located some 10 kilometers away from the western border of Romania. Budapest, Debreczen and Miskolc are much closer than Bucharest (which is situated some 600 kilometers away), so it is not a surprise that my presence here looked exotic to some. And 20 % of its population is ethnic Hungarian.

It is for the first time that I take contact with Oradea. I have to say I discovered a beautiful city, with a well-established urban identity, as most of the edifices in downtown were here already one hundred years ago.

On the other hand, my surprise was to find out that prices in general are higher than prices in Bucharest, while wages are obviously lower. If you go to the restaurant, to the cinema, to the hypermarket or if you take the cab or the tram, you have to pay more than in Bucharest. So far, there was not a single situation when I could see the prices to be lower here. As about the wages, there are a few people who manage to live well: those who have businesses in tourism, those with businesses in town and those placed in medium and high positions in the local administration. Plus, obviously, those lucky few working abroad. Overall, a small minority - while most of the people hardly manage to get to the end of the month. I noticed many shops where you could buy cheap stuff - generally clothes - made in China. On the other hand, I didn't notice important foreign corporations operating in Oradea. It is to no surprise, then, that many people are angry and hopeless.

I was curious to see more about the cultural/entertainment life of the city. I went to see a movie on Monday, I listened to a concert of a Hungarian rock band yesterday and I went to the Philharmonic tonight. There is also a state theater here, but all the seats for the tonight play were taken, and tomorrow I'll be already on my way back. In the end, I can say there is some cultural life here, but sadly and yet unsurprisingly the cultural offer is not rich. On the other hand, there are some good pubs and a handful of decent restaurants.

As for the historical part,  I noticed, before coming here, that there are two synagogues in Oradea and that the Hebrew minority was very important here until a few decades ago, so I decided to ignore a little the relations between Romanian and Hungarian ethnics - which by the way seem rather normal and much better than a decade ago.

The Holocaust - effective in that part of Romania occupied by Hungary during the Second World War - and then the communist dictatorship reduced the tens of thousands to six hundred Hebrew inhabitants of Oradea today (the third largest community in the country, after Iasi and obviously Bucharest). I visited one of the synagogues and listened to the explanations of my guide. I saw the place where people were forced to take the death trains to Auschwitz. The community is struggling to survive as religious community, as most of its members are old and the youth is generally ignorant of the old Hebrew used in religious ceremonies. This is, by the way, a general trend concerning the Hebrew communities in Romania. Their main problem today is to gather the ten men necessary for the daily prayer.

A few words about Baile Felix. Baile Felix is a station located 8 kilometers away from Oradea where one can find hot thermal springs, many outdated two-star hotels built during the communist period - left as such during the last two decades, as they were administered either by the state or, even worse, by the syndicates - and a lot of small mansions. My honest advice is that, if you ever decide to come here, you should avoid the hotels and go to a mansion. I am fully satisfied with the flat I rented this week, and my only regret is that I am alone.

And a few photos.

 

descriptum53. Monza

state> sleepy
soundtrack> Eros Ramazotti - se bastasse una canzone

The destination of our voyage was not Milano. It was Monza. We sustained a concert there. It went well. But let that be all about me in this post.

Monza is very close to Milano, about 20 or 30 kilometers. A typical Italian city, not very big (Wiki attributes to the city a population of about 120,000, although to me it seemed bigger), with a dome carrying its own history, rather narrow streets, noisy people and active summer nights ( I also saw the city at night, but unfortunately the charger of my photo camera was down at the time).

We stayed in a cosy 3 star hotel in the suburbs of the city, not far from a huge mall. And that being said, I want to point out that prices in Italy in general seemed high to me, I'd say twice as high if compared to Bucharest for instance. Maybe that does not say very much, but let me remind you that in 2007 Bucharest had a per-capita GDP very close to the medium of the EU. I did not have that feeling when going to Poland or Bulgaria last year. I guess high prices come together with high revenues.

We interacted more with the dome (il duomo) as our concert took place in it. It is a very large catholic church, monumental, dating - in its actual form - from the 13th century. I enjoyed it. The acoustics were also good :)



There are, though, two things I dare say are specific for Monza and should not be neglected if you ever have the chance to visit the city:


- the Royal Villa (Villa Reale) with its very nice gardens - a huge park uniting five cities;

- and the Monza Formula 1 circuit. I'm not much into races, nor into F1 (especially since Ayrton Senna died, at Imola in 1994; or, why not, Ronnie Petersen, in 1978, on the very racing circuit we visited - Monza), but I told myself that, if I got this possibility, I should take it. Racing circuits are completely congruent with the Italian passion for sports cars - you know, the likes of Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati, Bugatti or Alfa Romeo. So, a few photos for those of you, guys, with a crush on cars :)

In the end, one observation about the Italian restaurants. The rule there is that you have to pay a tip of 15% of the bill if you order. It is included on the bill and if you are not accustomed to this rule there might be misunderstandings - and so it was in our case, both in Milano and in Monza. By the way, these misunderstandings can go higher if you do not speak Italian, as it was also our case.

I have the habit of leaving a decent tip (at least if the service is good), but it was a little bit weird, I would say, to have to pay it anyway. I do not understand how the waiters are motivated, in this situation, to provide a good serving. And I would say that, if the food was arguably (not much) better, the service was, over-all, worse than the one provided at the restaurants I frequent in Bucharest.

descriptum52. Milano

state> good
soundtrack> Riccardo Cocciante - ti amo ancora di piu

I'm back. I arrived home on Monday, on a late rainy evening, after a 2 hours flight from Bergamo.

Before anything else, I want to say that this is the third time I traveled to Italy. I did it for the first time in 2002 and for the second in 2005. I always visited the north of the country and I always passed through Milano; I was always part of a group. I was delighted every time. This time, too. It is my belief that you cannot speak about enthusiasm when going to a place you've already seen before, but it is something like saying "hello" to an old friend if you enjoyed your first visit.

I guess I will not be able to squeeze everything I would like to in a single post, so there will probably be more posts about this short and rather dense travel. I'll try to accompany my words with suitable photos and I'll try to avoid the usual non-sense about "my flight was OK", "the sun was shining" and "in Italy they eat pizza".

So, let's go. This post, about Milano.

If in 2002 I visited Milano and Venezia and in 2005 I visited Milano and a wonderful little city called Cita di Soave, now I visited Milano and Monza. With a short exit to Lugano, in Ticino, Switzerland. It mattered, because it provided me with material for comparisons.

This time, I am rather firmly convinced I had the best tour of Milano so far.

I passed through:
- the Sforzesco palace (Castello Sforzesco);

- Via Dante;

- the Biblioteca (and Pinacoteca) Ambrosiana. Unfortunately for my memories, no picture taking was allowed during our tour. But, putting that aside, I was really impressed by some paintings of Botticelli, Tiziano, a sketch of Michelangelo and, of course, by the books themselves. Including lots of sketches written by the very hand of Leonardo da Vinci - the famous Codex Atlanticus. I am sorry I only visited the library for the first time. It is a must-see;

- the Dome, of course;

- the commercial galleries (galleria Vittorio Emmanuele II);

- the Scala (Teatro alla Scala). I still hope one day I'll have the possibility to attend an opera there.

As a sort of a conclusion, I'd say these are the best known parts of Milano. They are definitely not the only ones, and I am aware that my image of Milano is very incomplete. After all, for a man Milano means first of all Inter and AC Milan, and for a women it means fashion. As for me, I'm not quite the usual football fan, nor am I very interested about what to wear. I guess I can confess that for me Milano is more about history, culture and people. And perhaps, a little, Italian cuisine :)

With love,