When we (“we” – pahahaha! It was all me stitching together this itinerary from scratch I WILL THANK YOU VERY MUCH) were planning the road trip, it made sense to add Cluj-Napoca as an overnight stop because it was the biggest city in between Sibiu and our next full destination of the Maramures region. Plus it was less than hour away from our last stop that Sunday – the Salina Turda Salt Mines – so we figured we’d spend the rest of the day there, eat dinner, whatever. I had NO EXPECTATIONS because for some reason, after watching travel videos of Cluj, it just didn’t resonate with me. The general consensus was that it’s a college town, good nightlife, etc. On this trip, I was more interested in the smaller cities and towns, so I was considering this a pit-stop and nothing more. (Especially after Copilot told me sadly that there no Bela Karolyi points of interest here, even though it was his birthplace! Boo!)

Well, touche, Cluj. You are an awesome, vibrant, incredible city and now I am sad that we didn’t have MORE time there! Honestly, I’d have rather had two nights here than Brasov or Bucharest because we barely scratched the surface. Duly noted for the future!

Only having less than half of a day to explore, we mostly stayed in the area where our guest house was and as luck would have it, it was in the middle of a bustling area. Right down the street was a little farmer’s market type of thing set up in the Avram Iancu Square and we spent a good bit of time here because I had to get my magnet, god forbid, but also there were several tables selling locally made jewelry and I needed to shop.

We had the most adorable interaction with this one older woman. I had stopped to look at some beaded jewelry and she was trying to entice us with her table of bags of coffee. Then she learned we were American and said her daughter had just come home from New York and brought all those bags of coffee back from there. “Never mind about the coffee then!” she laughed, and focused on trying to make a jewelry sale instead.

When I asked if she made the jewelry, she said, “No, no, my friend did!” and then waved her over, saying, “And she speaks better English than me too!” (Um, her English was fantastic as well, and as usual I felt like an asshole since she had to talk to us in English AT ALL.)

Anyway, I ended up buying this pretty bracelet from her friend because this design is all over houses and buildings in Romania so it felt perfect. Meanwhile, the first lady had set her sights on Henry and was trying to get him to buy jewelry too and then moved on  to the coffee, but he kept smiling and shaking his head no. Then she pretended to cry and her friend who made the jewelry was like, “Oh for god’s sake, ignore her” lol. But then someone DID come over to buy her coffee and she was like, “HA! SEE! SOMEONE WANTS MY COFFEE!” It was so funny but you know what they say about having to be there, etc.

Now I wish we had bought a bag of her New York coffee because she was so cute and funny!

I had to take this picture with the flash on because it’s sitting on my religious dresser which is illuminated by the red light of the LED cross.

I also got this hand-painted pendant from another table being manned by a friend of the artist. I love both of these so much! I don’t require expensive jewelry, I just like pieces that have a story/memory attached and these both definitely do because that was such a fun little square to walk through!

I got this pumpkin masala chai latte at Tucano Coffee and it was foarte delicios. Finally, something that wasn’t just a shot of espresso in a cup!

St. Michael’s Church.

I feel like we stood here for quite some time while Henry looked up places to eat and then we ended up going to one of the places our host suggested, which ended up being very memorable for weird  (not bad!) reasons.

Enigma Secret Garden!

It turns out this was a popular hangout for local college kids (there was a backroom / outdoor area that was bustling). We sat inside and Henry annoyed because some of the YOUTH at the table behind us were smoking and I was like, “Europe, Henry. Europe.”

One of my favorite things about this place, aside from the steampunk aesthetics, was that there were two guys working there who seemed very young and confused. I kept joking that one of them was a high schooler filling in for his college-aged brother. They literally just walked around looking so lost and I loved this so much. Plus, we were the OLDEST PEOPLE there which also was cracking me up for some reason, like we had stumbled onto the set of Felicity. (That was the first TV Show I thought of, don’t ask.)

This was the beer I had. It was pretty standard beer-tasting. I was just having fun getting to check in beers from Romania on Untapped like the dumb dork that I am!

MAMALIGA!!!!!! This was the culinary embodiment of “I want to dip my balls in it!” It was everything that I had been looking forward to in Romania, all folded up into a hot pouch of cheesy polenta with a cold cap of sour cream. Please hold while I go scream in a pillow.

I miss this so much.

I couldn’t finish it though so off it went to Henry, lol. I had a piece of his pizza and it was also delectable – super thin which I like.

Henry had to get up to find our server at one point and the kid tried to play it off like he was on his way over to us already. I don’t know why, can’t explain it, but these guys were so effing hilarious to watch.

I thoroughly enjoyed our time at this strange little bar/restaurant, even with all the vape and cigarette smoke wisps hanging in the air around us. It was a big fat vibe and made me feel like I was back in the 90s, man, fetch me my duster and bootcut Mudd jeans.

After this, we found a bar to go to that had craft and local beers. On the way there, we passed another square that we had walked through before dinner, but now there was LIVE MUSIC happening on a stage! Ofc we had to slip into the audience and partake in the festive, traditional singing.

I got REALLY excited because it turned out that we were standing next to the family members of my FAVORITE ONE OF THE SINGERS. “SHOULD I GO SAY SOMETHING???” I squealed to Henry when she joined her family later for hugs. Henry just scowled at me. You know, the usual. I was in a state of suspended glee in Cluj-Napoca. I really liked this Romanian version of myself!

This broad was also really amazing. I have clips from these performances which you can look forward to at the end of the post. (See also: PLEASE WATCH MY VIDEOS, I AM SUCH A SAD AND LONELY GIRL.)

I really enjoy traditional Romanian music, btw.

After this performance, a woman MC came on stage and started talking non-stop and super quickly and obviously this was all in Romanian so we decided to continue on to the bar.

Then this happened! ^^^

Loved the cobblestone alleys in Cluj.

The girls behind the bar at the BrewHouse were so friendly and cute! I wanted to stay inside but Henry was like “LET’S GO OUTSIDE” and then Santa Claus’d his way out the door.

In case you are a beer aficionado and care, this was a Pilsdet from Blackout Brewing, local to Cluj.

And this was a Speltbound (saison) from Hophead Brewing, also local to Cluj! Untapped tells me that I earned the “Baking in Balkan” and “Roamin’ in Romania” badges with this one!

OMG OMG OMG I have been following for Hop Hooligans for a bit on Instagram and have become such a little fan bitch over them. I was so excited to finally get my lips on one of their cans, I don’t care how that sounds!! And yes, I took the can back to the room so we could peel off the label for the mems. (See also: me being a packrat again.)

I got irrationality bitchy around this point and it turned out it was PMS lol. MORE TO COME ON THAT.

What a great little bar. I would go back in a heartbeat. (I really do want to go back to Cluj someday.)

OMG on the way back to the room, this guy was closing out the show and I totally imprinted on him!!! WE MADE EYE CONTACT AT ONE POINT AND I SCRAMMED, “HENRY HE LOOKED AT ME” and not even Henry, my biggest fact-checker, could deny this.

This was so joyful! I wanted to join in but I was also afraid of jacking up the flow and/or completely biting it because I was feeling semi-tipsy from the beers. I never built up an alcohol tolerance!

Yo this crowd was eating him up!

There was also a young man dancing with a girl in a traditional dress and he doing the most to outshine her. Also he looked like Fred aka Lucas Cruikshank. I sent a picture to Chooch and his response was “ugh.”

That was also his response to my imprinting red alert.

This diva!!

ILYSM!!!

Oh, Cluj. One day, I’ll be back.

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