Cluj, a city in Transylvania (Erdely) that keeps much of Hungarian history

Cluj botanical garden
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Until Alba Iulia (half way) I had some guys in my compartment who were thereCluj offers you to see two  for military school. We had some talk about football and stuff … what else can guys talk about than football :) I arrived to Cluj just on time, where I had Aliz waiting for me. We spent that night at a pub called Corvinium, mostly popular among Hungarian youth in the city. We joined a few friends of Aliz who were already there and had an interesting night talking mostly about Peninsula festival that was over that day and the performers they saw. They were really amazed. We ended up at one of the guys’ place, at Levi’s flat where we filled up our drinking capacities and stayed until 2 or 3 in the evening, I cant remember really!

St. Michael church
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Next day I woke up with a bit of a headache and stomachache, but obviously, it was my fault. Aliz’s boyfriend, Tamas showed me around a bit, gave me some directions what to see, so I had a clear plan how to spend a beautiful day in Cluj. One thing that even Anca recommended before I went to Cluj was the botanical garden in Cluj. And it was really worth seeing it. It was a nice walk in shades of various plants and trees in different areas of the garden like Japanese garden, the Carpathians and others. Beside open air areas there are few greenhouses with plants more typical for subtropical and tropical areas. At the top of a tower in the garden you have a perfect view over the garden and city as well. Apparently, after this morning walk my stomach and head made some progress, so I felt much better. I went to see the famous Babes-Bolyai university, famous in Romania and former hungarian regions. After I had some snack for lunch at a nearby cafeteria I went to Matyas (Mathias) king square that has a huge statue of Mathias king made in 1902. Unfortunately it was in the middle of a restoration so I couldn’t see much of it. Beside the statue there is a huge roman catholic church in gothic style named after St. Michael. The church and statue with their surrounding make the old “Hungarian” centre of Cluj. Not far from there, only a block away, is the Orthodox temple with Avram Iancu’s statue in front of it. That square is much newer than the former one, still spreading, getting renewed and arranged. Just across a road is the National theatre and Romanian Opera house building, dating back in 1919. Just behind the corner is a remaining of a wall with a tower, but I totally forgot what was that before! Then I wanted to see some green so I headed to a nearby park. There is a small lake within the park, for paddling and relax. The park is pretty big and there is a stadium just next to it. It is home to Universitatea Cluj FC, but football teams from Cluj are not a big deal, so neither is this, nor CFR :) It was about time to meet up with Aliz at the square so I headed back. Along the way I had enough time to visit the birth house of Matyas (Mathias) king. Now it has been rearranged to a museum and is very popular destination for children, families and others from Hungary on their school trips since Mathias king was one of the most powerful and popular ruler of Hungarian kingdom. Not long after I arrived at the square Aliz showed up with a friend of hers and we joined a CouchSurfing meeting at a local pub. There were a quite enough of us. Several hosts and several guests as well. It was really interesting listening to others stories and plans. There was a guy from the USA, who had a lot in common with me by that moment. First it started with the fact that we both travel to Braşov next day. Then it has turned out that we both take the same train to Braşov. And as the biggest surprise … we both stay at the same host!

Avram Iancu square
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Next morning I said goodbye to Aliz and her family, thanked them a lot for hlping me and hosting me. They were very kind! Aliz and Tamas walked with me to the train station where Eoin, my new co-traveler was waiting for us.