Cluj-Napoca Part 1

Cluj-Napoca (often just called Cluj) is a wonderful place, nestled in the Transylvanian countryside, full of wonders.

The city centre has a beautiful cathedral, St Michaels. Its an interesting mix of Gothic architectures, and the centre around it has many little nooks and cranny's to explore. The city centre as a whole has many interesting monuments as well to see.

 Also worth a visit, is the Assumption Cathedral. Its more of an orthodox style cathedral, not too dissimilar from the ones I saw in Ukraine. Just behind it, is a small park with a water fountain. There's a little touristy market there, and also the theatre and Opera house. And just behind that is a concrete construction that is beginning to take shape as another cathedral. Just how many do people need?

In the city centre, there is also the tailors tower, which had an exhibition of artwork from the local children. And its worth wandering around too, I found a little sort of ethnographic/historical museum in the centre, which showed you a collection of traditional clothes, toddler holders (Yes I know) and farming equipment. There's some really nice little alley ways that weave through the centre, and some nice little parks to take a minute to sit down in.

One thing I will say, is the tram line is confusing. So when I booked the hostel, it was a little way out of the centre, but was right opposite the tram stop. Brilliant. From the train station, I could catch either tram 100, or 102. To get to the centre, I needed to catch either tram 102, or take 100 and change at the train station (Gara) for tram 101. Except, tram 102 runs the whole line, and 100 and 101 just do half each, with all meeting at the train station. Why is that? Why not just have one line that runs the whole way. Odd. But easy to use and frequent, so I couldn't complain about that.

Cluj is also home to a lovely Botanical garden. Even more expansive and beautiful than the ones in Iasi, they were filled with themed areas and even has archaeological finds in them!

                                            (Bonus picture: Me in the greenhouse!)

There's also the Transylvanian ethnographic park, which was full of history and Romanian architecture, and drama too! More on that in the next post :)