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.

Next Stop Transylvania

We're headed to Cluj-Napoca this weekend, the largest city in Transylvania.  #Draculaland 🧛‍♂️ Here's a bit about the region.

Transylvania is located in Romania.  On the region's east and south are the Carpathian Mountains and the Apuseni Mountains on the west.

The area was conquered by the Roman Empire in the 2nd century and it became part of the province of Dacia.  After the Romans, between the 3rd to 9th centuries came the Goths, Huns, Gepids, Avars and Slavs.  During the 9th century, it was conquered by Hungarian tribes.

From 1000 - 1526, Transylvania was part of the Kingdom of Hungary.  During this time, the elites were the Hungarian nobility, Székelys, and Saxons (Germans) while the Romanian majority were largely excluded from political representation. 

In 1526, it became the Principality of Transylvania which was an autonomous state under the Ottoman Empire.  After the Ottomans were defeated in 1699, it became part of the Habsburg Monarchy.  

After WWI, the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Treaty of Trianon, and the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it became part of Romania.  Romanians see it as a moment of national unity.  Hungarians consider it a national loss since it was part of Hungary for centuries.

There are a little over 1 million ethic Hungarians living in Romania today.  While some nationalist Hungarian politicians may talk about "Historical Hungary", and the need to protect Hungarians living abroad, Hungary does not officially lay claim to Transylvania.  

Romania and Hungary are both members of the EU and NATO, and both countries recognise each other's borders.

A fun historical twist:  Béla Lugosi, the start who made Dracula famous in the 1931 film, was an ethnic Hungarian born in what is no Romaia.

For Americans, the classic "Dracula accent" is actually English spoken with a Hungarian accent, not a Romanian one - a cultural legacy of Lugosi's performance.

European Day of Languages 2023

Today is the European Day of Languages again.  The EU promote linguistic diversity and encourages everyone to speak multiple foreign languages.  There are 27 EU member countries and the EU has 24 official languages.   

The official EU languages are Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish (Gaelic), Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, and Swedish.

This means that EU legislation must be published in all 24 languages.  All EU citizens have the right to communicate with EU institutions in any of the official languages.

Within the EU, the European Parliament is the most linguistically diverse institution.  All 24 EU languages are used as MEPs may speak any official language.  Very diverse but it's expensive to have interpreters and translators to handle all 24 languages.  

The European Commission values efficiency over linguistic diversity.  While legally bound to all 24 languages of the EU, in practice the three main working languages are English, French and German.

Adding or removing a language to the official list requires the approval of all 27 EU members.  This is normally a part of the ascension process when a country joins the EU.  For example, Croatian became an official language when Croatia joined the EU in 2013.

When Luxembourg joined the EU in 1957, back when it was originally the European Economic Community (EEC), the national languages were French and German.  Both of which were official languages.  In 1984, Luxembourg made Luxembourgish an official national language.  However, it is not an official EU language because (a) Luxembourg didn't submit it as a language when it joined, and (b) to add it now would require all 27 countries to agree.

In Cyprus, both Greek and Turkish are official languages but only Greek is an official EU language.  More or less, kind of for the same reason as in Luxembourg.  

Last month, Spain formally requested that Catalan, Basque, and Galician all become official EU languages.  I don't think that this will happen anytime soon because all 27 countries have to agree, plus the associated administrative cost of adding three new languages.

English is an official language in Ireland and Malta, which is why English stayed an official EU language even after the UK left the EU. 

Gliwice, Poland

Gliwice is located in southern Poland, about 25 km (16 miles) west of Katowice.  The city was founded in 1250 and it's home to just over 180.000 people.  Gliwice is one of the oldest cities in Upper Silesia, is an important industrial centre and a university town.  On Friday evening, we hopped on a train for a weekend away.

Gliwice where is WWII began.  Prior to the war, the city was called Gleiwitz and it was a part of Germany.  On 31 August 1939, German SS officers, wearing Polish military uniforms, commode a false-flag attack on the radio station.  Nazi Germany used this as an excuse to invade Poland the next day which was the start of WWII.

The Gliwice Radio Tower is the world's last wooden radio tower.  It is 118 metres (387 feet) tall and it is part of a local museum and a registered historic monument.

The Market Square dates back to the late 13th century making it one of the oldest medieval squares in Upper Silesia.

In the centre of the square is the neoclassic town hall and a fountain.  Around the square are a number of restaurants and cafes.

Saint Bartholomew's Church dates back to the late 1200s.  It was rebuilt in the 15th century and expanded in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The Christ the King Church is a Catholic Church that was consecrated in 1935.

The All Saints Church was built in the late 15th to early 16th century.  The exterior is Gothic and the interior is Baroque.  The tower is about 63 metres (207 feet) tall.

The Church of the Holy Cross is a Baroque era parish church that was built in 1623.  It is part of a monastery complex and is a registered cultural heritage monument.

The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a wooden church that was built in 1493.  It was moved to its current location in 1925, near an old German cemetery. 

At Starokozielski Park is the Memorial Sarcophagus of French Soldiers.  It is a war memorial for 71 French soldiers who died while serving in Upper Silesia in 1920-1922 following WWI.

The Jews House of Remembrance is a branch of the Gliwice Museum focused on the history of the Jews in Upper Silesia.  The building was completed in 1903 and located next to an old Jewish cemetery.

There are over 600 tombstones in the cemetery.

Back in 1929 there were approximately 2.200 Jews in Gliwice.  Only 25 survived WWII with all of them being in mixed marriages with gentiles.

The Red Army Cemetery was established in 1951.  

There are about 2500 Soviet soldiers buried here.

The Weichmann Textile House was built in 1922.  It was built as a textile and department store.  In 1988it was designated as a historic monument.

The 19th century Chopin Park is home to the municipal Palm House, one of the country's largest.  

The brick water tower was built in 1918.

Vila Caro was built in 1885 for a local industrialist.  Today it is a museum.

Piast Castle was built in the mid-1300s.  Today it is part of the city museum.

The Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul was completed in 1900.  The church became a cathedral in 1992.

Gliwice has a street art scene and we found an industrial area that was full of various murals.

We enjoyed our little Polish city break weekend.  Well worth the trip.

Bad Medical Experience

I've had nothing but positive experiences with health care here in Czechland.  But last month that streak came to an end.  So here's what happened...

I had two lipomas that I wanted removed.  If you don't know, a lipoma is just a fatty tumour normally below the skin.  Normally it's a genetic thing and usually harmless.  I've had them before and they're usually not a big deal to have them removed.  

I went to my primary physician who referred me to a local surgeon's practice.  I got a consultation with the surgeon who examined me and sent me to go get a sonogram.  I went back to the surgeon's office with the results.  He told me that the sonogram looked fine but that he was not set up to remove them in his office.  He was not able to refer me to someone who could.  WTF! Why not tell me that before going to get the sonogram?  I really got the impression that doctor just wanted to be able to bill the state for the two office visits.

I was so angry.  I immediately went to my primary physician's office and complained.  My doctor apologised and referred me to a surgeon that's located at the same place where I got the sonograms done.  

I managed to see the new surgeon a few days later.  He examined me and reviewed the sonograms.  He told me that it wouldn't be a problem.  I got a surgery scheduled for two weeks later.  

I showed up for my appointment and everything went smoothly.  Both lipomas were removed in under 30 minutes.  I went back 10 days later for a follow-up and to have my stitches removed.  My faith has been restored and one bad experience hasn't ended my confidence in the Czech healthcare system.

Day at the Zoo

We went to Vienna yesterday with Kája's friends Hana and Alena.

After the 90 minute train to Austria we started the day at Aïda, my favourite Vienna coffee and cake shop.   

Then it was off to a day at the zoo.  Of course I had to check out the the pandas, koalas and penguins.

The pandas, because they are my goddaughter Tünde's favourite.

A few years ago I told Tünde that the English word for "penguin" was "snow chicken."  She knows the real word now but we still call them "snow chickens."