It’s not something we can put our finger on, but after a day out in Cluj we’re not feeling the love, it has to be said. There are things to look at and it’s not an ugly city by any means, it just doesn’t really invite you to explore.
This might be our fault – both of us are feeling a little bit under the weather – or the weather’s fault itself, but after a few hours of walking around looking for exciting things, we decided to go back to the Airbnb and do our washing instead.
There are many churches, and some of the the buildings are pretty, but the sum of its parts just doesn’t add up, so you’re left with something a little soulless; anything that might be picturesque is blighted by catenary wires or traffic lights, and any tranquility ruined by the fact that someone seems to have routed every flight to the nearby airport right over the city centre – which at least is advantageous in that it occasionally drowns out the perpetual sirens.
We explored a little in the evening and were, at least, treated to a sinister sky which gave us a bit of Transylvania experience, then found a bar where two Bloody Marys and a Jaeger shot cost us 31 lei – that’s about 6,50€ – so that was a bonus.
We are determined to find something, though, so that we don’t leave feeling too … meh. To that end it’s been decided that tomorrow we’re going to explore the park, Museum Square (we got distracted), and the citadel. There are salt mines neaby – the somewhat aptly named Salina Turda – but it’s a bank holiday tomorrow and we’re off on Friday morning, so another thing missed.
