We began the day with a 2-hour lecture on current conditions and politics in Romania. It was held at the Unitarian University. Our tour leader is active in the Unitarian Church and perhaps he is steering some revenues in its direction.
Continued with a walk around downtown Cluj. We liked the Catholic Church. Parts of it are said to date back to 1340, consistent with simplified structure of late renaissance.
The austerity of the interior probably also reflects the counter-reformation.
The pulpit is extreme baroque.
The Romanian Orthodox church dominates a different square. It was built in the 1930s.
The telephone wires and power lines are not buried here.
Th cafe culture is strong here, but the weather is a bit too cool.
A "renaissance" (16th Century) doorway.
The Holocaust memorial was designed by a survivor decades ago, but installed only this year.
The synagogue is in very good condition and still used on holidays. But there are only 400 Jews still in Cluj -- no children.
We had lunch back at the Unitarian University. It was very good. A strange sour cherry soup, followed by wonderful stuffed cabbage, finished with a floating island dessert we found too sweet.
We had our final group dinner at a village about 30-minutes out of town. They saved the best meal for last: salad, goulash, apples cake, cabernet from SW Romania.
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Wed. Oct. 8.
9 hours on the train to Budapest. We started with maybe twenty people on two cars. Along the way, the engines were switched and a lot of cars added.
Our hotel, Parlament, does not have the lively location we had expected. Ate late at Da Maro, a popular place. Compared to Romania and Bulgaria, the patrons were middle age, carefully groomed. Bruscette, lasagna, chianti, tiramisu, pannecotta.
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