Salty Lakes

July 31st, 2012

As one of our first destinations in the two weeks of our holiday period we have chosen to visit the salty area in the Eastern Carpathians here in Romania. We have focused on the salty Bear Lake from Sovata for starters.
Sovata
Sovata is easily accessible from Cluj-Napoca via the E60 road until the town of Balauseri, where one needs to take road 13A towards Sovata (marked on most indicators). Of course the easiest way is to just type the destination into your GPS and follow the lady’s voice until you get there 😛 . The actual resort area is up in the mountains, so make sure you make the correct turn when you get to Sovata 😉 .

There are a lot of accommodation possibilities at the resort, however, booking in advance will help get away cheaply (one of the hotels dominating the area is a 4* hotel which has far superior prices compared to the rest of the accomodation possibilities in the area…). We actually booked ahead to Casa Romantic, which is outside the resort area, but provided decent accommodation for a great price.

As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, the main target was the Bear Lake which is by far the biggest lakes of several ones in the area. The entry fee is 20 RON(~€4.35) which does not include any deck-chairs, so you need to pay extra for that. Also it is good to know that this is a one-time only entry fee (once you’re in you cannot go out and back on the same day).
The actual access to the water is prohibited between 13:00 and 15:00, so in that period everyone is called out from the water. In this period you can stay in the premises of the lake: there are restaurants to spend your time at or you can just enjoy some hardcore sunbathing in the peak-hours of sun-strength.

A couple of words about the other salty lakes: mostly you can visit them via great access-paths. All of them have short description-tables so you can learn what makes each of them special. A lot of tourists actually visit the other lakes, because they can access the sludge which they can put all over their bodies. They look very scary with that on them, but it is very healthy and it is entirely free 😉 .

So how are the restaurants in the area? Well we have tried one just on the terrace looking over the lake: it was great, just make sure you are really hungry: they serve a quite large portion/person, even I had problems eating my portion (and I generally do not have such problems).

Some pictures are uploaded here.

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Swing a la Cluj

July 24th, 2012

After following with great interest the evolution of the repairing process of the tram-tracks in the city, culminating at the point when the two brand new PESA Swing trams have arrived to Cluj, I did not find the time for about two months (or more… ) to actually get on the tram. On one occasion we were there, we were ready, but on the exact day the two new trams (of the total of twelve in the future) were not in traffic. It was actually a good day to make a short movie about the reference (old) trams:

Because since yesterday we were on holiday, we finally managed to dedicate some time for the “tram-hunt” (again). This time, we were lucky, the first tram which came to the station after we got there, was one of the new ones:

I have to say I was quite impressed: the vehicle is nice and shiny (let’s see for how long), everything was moving smoothly (including the actual tram on the tracks) and in contrast with the very hot day outside, a nice AC temperature was waiting for us inside.

Two things were a bit (just a bit) annoying. The first one is the ticket-validation device, which is one of the new “buzzers” into which one just needs to stick in the ticket and it will “buzz it” (imprint the date and hour). Well, as we are used to from the buses, it does not work that easily: you have to stick it in just right ( 😛 ) to make sure it recognizes it. After a few trials we managed to actually validate the ticket ;).
The second thing which was annoying was the fact that, at the time when we were traveling, the on-board WiFi (“tram_primaria_cluj”) was alive, I could connect, but there was no internet access… a bit of a shame after so much promotion of the feature 🙁 .

Apart from the above two issues, I have to say I did not see any problems. We had a nice ride enjoying all features (except the WiFi) of the tram. We even met a control who came to check if everyone had a valid ticket:

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Roxette @ Cluj

July 23rd, 2012

Yes, Roxette had a concert here in Cluj and of course we could not miss it. Yes, it is a quite old band, but after this concert I have to say they still are capable of moving the crowds (sorry for the poor quality):

Anyway, there are two things I want to point out with this post: the football stadium of Cluj, Cluj Arena, is great! Although it has been open for a while this is the first time I actually have visited it as a spectator: the arena looks great, lighting is great and after managing to get out relatively quickly, I have to say it is also very well designed functionally. Additionally, the evening lighting is great:
Cluj Arena
The second thing is the relatively good opinion of the band about Cluj that they talked about on their facebook page and on their blog. So, yes, Cluj is a surprise to many visitors from the rest of the EU and by this I mean a good surprise, not a bad one 🙂 .

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Swimathon

July 11th, 2012

Lately I started to swim a lot. So much in fact, that an old friend invited me to “give some laps” to their organization. So how can somebody give laps? Well, let me tell you: somebody came up with the great idea to promote swimming and also non-profit organizations by searching for sponsors who would give as much money to an organization as the number of laps that “their swimmers” can swim in an hour. So how much for a lap? That is something to be decided after the total amount of money is in (and, no, I do not know how much money was generated 😛 ).
Swimathon

That’s me in the center ;D.

The event is called Swimathon and it was organized in one of the local olympic-size swimming pools (50m) in Cluj. Non-profit organizations could sign up with their swimmers so that potential sponsors could choose them (there was a few week period of “promotion time” before). My friends’ organization is called Scoala pentru Viata (School for Life). They do special lectures for students, giving them knowledge about some of the things which are not thought at school. I think the idea is great and, knowing that he can really devote himself for good causes, I decided to swim for my friends’ organization. We (me, my friends’ brother and a group of seven people swimming in relay) have gathered on our three dedicated lanes a total of 159 laps, which I hope will bring them enough money to continue the good work they are doing 😉 …

So, why did I write this post? I just think it is a great idea and these things should be promoted. I really enjoyed myself there, I really hope I have been able help the organization, I really hope that this event will go on every year from now on (this was the 2nd edition as far as I know) and I really hope that such ideas will be spread to different areas in life in the future: do sport, do art, do whatever you enjoy while also helping others…

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A weekend inTokyo

June 12th, 2012

Well, it’s true, we’ve had our dinner at a place which is known to many people… in Cluj. Mainly in Cluj, because it is actually a Japanese restaurant that I am blogging about, which is named after the capital city of Japan. I am saying that it is known to many people here, because it has actually been around for 9 years now, but I have never been there (shame on me 🙁 )
Tokyo

Image reused from this blog

I decided to write about it, because I think it is a special restaurant in Cluj which goes along well with some of the other ones I have already presented. It offers of course traditional Japanese food which is served in a very Japanese environment (although the waitresses are not even Asian… they do wear kimonos…). As one might expect it is not the average go out and fill yourself type dinner: it offers a great exception to all the traditional food one might eat around here.

The prices are OK, considering we payed 35/45 RON (€7.7/€10) for a small/normal Japanase plate. The plate included a soup, vegetables, sauces, sashimi and of course a 7/14 piece sushi combination. I have to say the food was great (especially the soup) and contrary to my expectation even I got full by the end of it and sadly did not have enough room left for a delicious hot ice-cream (a delicacy I tried when I was in the U.S. working in a Japanese steakhouse). Another thing to mention is the humbleness and kindness of the waitresses, I think it really stands out from the usual way of serving food in restaurants in Cluj (and that is not that bad at all to start with).

So there you have it, a short summary of yet another special restaurant in Cluj. Just try it if you are here once, you will not be sorry.

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