Cluj The Painted Monasteries

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After Sighisoara, I took a train to Cluj Napoca, hoping that I could take a train from there to Gura Humorului (hard to say) in the North of Romania to see the painted monasteries of Bucovina. I got there around 5:00 and the next train was at 11:00 and got there at 3:45 in the morning. So I decided to stay in Cluj, which is the largest city in Transylvania, I liked it a lot. It doesn't have the medieval stuff in the rest of the region, but it has lots of pretty buildings from the 18th century and a more relaxed city vibe than Bucarest. It was a good place for a pit stop.

An interesting thing I read was that Transylvania was once part of Austria-Hungary, so about 30% of Cluj is Hungarian. The former mayor hated Hungarians, so every bench was painted red, yellow, and blue, the colors of the Romanian flag, and around the statue of the Hungarian king dominating the center, large Romanian flags were put up and a mysterious "Roman ruin" was found at the base, leaving a big hole right in front of the statue.

I got up early the next day, the train was a 5 hour trip, to a little logging town in the middle of nowhere. It was the closest to what I think of as "real Romania;" with lots of cows walking down the roads, people who actually don't have stylish shoes, guys in their 40's and over with suspenders and little green hats, and lots of horsecarts. The monasteries were small, built in the 1500's (?) during the wars against the Turks, they are among the most beautiful things I have ever seen, the original frescoes still survive. At the second one, I heard nuns singing and I thought it was quite beautiful. Then I noticed it was coming from a speaker, and I was a little disapointed. Then I went inside, only to see them actually singing with a microphone in front of them, and with a real Orthodox priest with a golden robe and one of those metal balls on a chain, it was something else. It was definitely worth the long trip there and back, it was a taste of real rural Romania.

Okay this stupid Hungarian computer won't let me put on pictures, I'll put them on later.

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Photos

Me and King Matt
Some people have complained that I havent uploaded a picture of me, so here I am in the main square in Cluj.

Voronets Monastery
The strong blue color is said to be made from a material that no longer exists... Either way, the Orthodox frescoes were both beautiful and chilling.

The Last Judgement
From the Humor monastery,

Comments

[Stewart]

I'm so jealous!
What a wonderful place! Wish you would be my tour guide some time. We missed you at the beach, especially little Hallie, who kept asking about Tall Baby...

[Lizzy]

jealous!
David, this sounds so amazing. You are incredibly lucky to be doing this, and I can't wait to see all the pictures. The monestaries sound absolutely gorgeous and i can only imagine being inside surrounded by the singing. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it! Well, I'm so happy you are having a good time, and can't wait for more updates!! Lizzy

[Leslie]

Notes from home(-ish)
Hey David, I just caught up on all your blog, I have been busy doing multiple trials (with significant success even). Sam and Jim were here for barbecue last night, Jim brought the vegie hotdogs I think in your honor. Sam seems way grown up and ready for anything. You certainly have found your feet as a travelor. I just wish I were going to meet up with you too! Syd was Charlotte in Charlotte's Web for TFYP, very fun. I trust you did find some fruit, eventually. We promise a big veggie meal here when you get back. I can't wait to see the whole slide-show. Love!