Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Cluj-Napoca is located in northwest Romania.  It's about equidistant from Bucharest, Budapest, and Belgrade.  The city is home to about 287.000 people with over 410.000 in the greater metro area.  It's the country's second-largest city and the largest in Transylvania.  

While the city is officially Cluj-Napoca everyone just calls it "Cluj."  The city dates back to 1213, and is located on the site of a pre-Roman settlement named Napoca.  In 1974, the communist government hyphenated the name to emphasise its Roman history.

In 2021, it was named a UNESCO City of Film and joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.

St. Michael's Church was completed in 1487 and it is named after the city's patron saint, the Archangel Michael.  It is the second-largest church in Transylvania.

The opera housed was completed in 1906.  Since 1919 the building has been home to both the local Romanian National Theatre and the Romanian Opera.  In 1920, the first two concerts were conducted by the Czech conductor Oskar Nebdal.

The Dormition of the Theotokos Cathedral is the Orthodox cathedral.  It was was consecrated in 1933.

The State Hungarian Theatre is also home to the Hungarian Opera.  The building was completed in 1910, and renovated in 1961, and is listed as a national historic monument.

The Palace of Justice was completed in 1902.

The Franciscan Church was consecrated in 1290.  It is a mix of Romanesque and Gothic styles with a Baroque tower.

The Matthias Corvinus House was built in 1443 and it's one of the oldest buildings in the city.  Over the years it has been a jail, a hospital and a museum.  Since 1950, it has been a visual arts institute of the local Art and Design University.

The Transfiguration Cathedral was consecrated in 1803.  It is known as the Minorites' Church and in 1924, the Vatican donated it to the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church.

The Evangelical Church was consecrated in 1829.  It also serves the local German-speaking Lutheran community.

The Cathedral of the Martyrs and Confessors of the 20th Century is still under construction.  Work began in the early 1990s and there is no timeline on when it should be completed by.  It is financed by private donations and is expected to cost over €270M.

The House of the Army is functionalist building that serves as a cultural and social centre for both military personnel and the public.

The Central Park was founded in the 19th century.

The Jewish History Museum opened in 2020.

The Neolog Synagogue was completed in 1887.  It is also known as the Temple of the Deportees because Jews were sent from here to Auschwitz during WWII.

We also took a couple of local day trips to Sibiu, to a salt mine, as well as some hiking at the Turda Gorge.

The Tatra Mountains

Tomorrow we're headed to Tatranská Lomnica, in the High Tatras, in northern Slovakia.  Visiting the Tatras has been on my list for a while so I'm looking forward to doing a bit of hiking.  We're going to meet his dad and sister who are already there.  I'm still not 100% over the jet lag from our USA trip but I'll manage.

The Tatras are the highest mountains in the Carpathians and form a natural border between Slovakia and Poland.  Many of the Rocky Mountains exceed 2000 metres (+6,500 feet) tall.  There are three main parts: the High Tatras, Belianské Tatras, and the Western Tatras.  

The Tatras take up 785 sq km (303 sq miles) with about 78% in Slovakia and about 22% in Poland.  The Tatras are basically the "Slovakian Alps" and a favourite place for hiking and skiing.  

The mountains were a problem for hikers back in the day because it was illegal to cross the border without going through an official border checkpoint and there weren't any checkpoints on the border ridge.  At least until 2007, when both Slovakia and Poland joined Schengen and internal border checks became a thing of the past.

There's a Tatra National Park in Slovakia and a Tatra National Park in Poland.  And both are part of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves.

I hope that we survive.  Slovaks love to joke about Czechs getting lost, or needing to be rescued, in the Tatras.  Usually because Czechs took the wrong equipment, wrong clothes or wrong shoes.  One joke is that the world's biggest Czech cemetery, outside of Czechland, is called the High Tatras.

Hronsek, Slovakia

Hronsek is a village on the left bank of the Iron River about 10 km (6.5 miles) south of Banská Bystrica.  It is home to about 60 people and dates back to about 1250 when it was called Zyklafalu.  

Over the centuries it's been called Czwiklafalwa, Czwiklina, Galowyczfalwa, Galowycz, Czwyklina, Galfalwa, Garanzegh, Cwklina, Garamsseg, Hronec, Hronsek-Skalka, and Garansek, until 1946 when it became Hronsek.

The village and surrounding area used to be royal property.  Hungarian King Belo IV gifted it in 1250, as a reward for fighting against the Tatars.  Today the village is known for three main sights.

The oldest building in the village is a Gothic-Renaissance mansion.  It was a 14th century moated castle.  

Part of the fortifications were removed in the 1920s and since 2002 the building has been owned by a private company.  Renovations have been underway since 2007.

The Soósovsko-Géczyovský castle is in the centre of the village.  The Baroque castle was built in 1775.

Interior renovations took place in the 19th and 20th centuries.  But looking through a window, it might be time for more renovations.

There's a small park surrounding the castle where there's 250-year old linden tree which has been protected since 1984.  

Nearby is the village's town hall.  

Above the door is a plaque that was unveiled on 1 July 2000 to commemorate the 750th anniversary of the first written mention of the area.

The most well-known sight in Hronsek is the wooden Evangelic church.  The church, made completely from timber, was completed in 1726.  It only took one year to build.

The church is made from solid oak and larch wood, without a single nail.  Everything is connected by carpenter's joints and wooden pins.

The church can seat 1100 people and there's supposed to be a rare baroque organ that dates back to 1764.  

Unfortunately it wasn't possible to go inside while we were there.

In 2008, the church was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Museum Island, Berlin, Germany

While in Berlin last week, for the Johannes Oerding concert, we wanted to visit Museuminsel, the Museum Island.  It's a complex of five museums, sitting on 8,6 hectors (21 acres) in the historic part of the city, on Spree Island, located near the Berlin Cathedral and Humboldt Forum.     

The five original museums, originally built from 1830 to 1930, are the Altes Museum, the Neues Museum, the Alte Nationalgalerie, the Bode-Museum, and the Pergamon Museum. 

In 1999, Museuminsel was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In 2019, the James Simon Gallery opened which is an art gallery and visitor centre.

The Altes Museum, the oldest on the island, was built in 1830 is known for Greek and Roman art.

The Neues Museum was completed in 1859.  It was renovated in 2009.  

Famous for Egyptian and Etruscan sculptures including the bust of Queen Nefertiti.

The Alte Nationalgalerie was comped in 1876 and hosts 19th-century art.

The Bode-Museum opened in 1904 and is home to late Antique and Byzantine art.

The Pergamon Museum was completed in 1930.  It contains the Greek Pergamon Altar and Ishtar Gate of Babylon.

Here's a short DW video I found out on YouTube about Museum Island.

©Deutsche Welle

We wanted to check out the some of the museums because the area is about to go under significant renovation but everything was sold out.  I believe that everything is supposed to be completed by 2025 to 2026.  

Update December 2025:  Here's a short YouTube video about the Pergamon Museum renovations.

©Deutsche Welle

Pamukkale and Hierapolis Tour, Türkiye

On Wednesday we had a tour to Pamukkale and Hierapolis.  It's still a couple of weeks before the tourist season really starts so we got lucky that our group tour ended up just being the two of us so we basically had a private tour.

We were met by our guide Umut and our driver Ali who drove us, from Kuşadasi, on the 200 km (125 miles) to Pamukkale which took about 2,5 hours.

Pamukkale, in southwestern Türkiye, means "cotton castle" and it is famous for the carbonate mineral residue from thermal springs which at a distance looks like snow covered mountains.

The Ancient Greek city of Hierapolis was founded in 2nd century BC.  In 133 BC, Hierapolis became part of the Roman Empire but it and it was destroyed by an earthquake in 17 AD.  The Apostle Philip lived the last years of his life here and he was crucified here in 80 AD.  

There are lots of Greek ruins, a necropolis, theatre, temples, and a museum that are all easy to explore by walking around.

In 1988, Hierapolis and Pamukkale was added as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

There are 17 hot springs in the area and they range in temperature from 35℃ to 100℃ (95℉ - 212℉).  The most famous one is Cleopatra's Pool.  It's said that the waters have curative properties and you get to swim around ancient ruins.  

I'm still not sure why it's called Cleopatra's pool because she never swam here.  The plan was originally to go swimming but Kája was fighting a bit of a cold so we decided to skip the swim here.  Although we did wade out a bit in one of the springs overlooking the valley.

The big draw here is still the travertine terrace formations formed from mineral-rich waters cascading down the mountain side for hundreds of years.

Here's a Rick Steves video I found out on YouTube.

©Rick Steves

One of the cool things to do here is go paragliding.  I am still not a fan of heights but for some reason I had it in my head that I needed to do it.  I have no idea why but I did it.  It was brilliant!!

It was a tandem run and my pilot Gökhan was great.  Here's a bit of the video he took with my iPhone.

Me and Gökhan