The salina (salt mine) in Turda is such a bizarre and beautiful experience. The mine itself is in the middle of a small town called Turda, like literally in the middle of suburbia; when you go out of the old entrance (the only entrance that was in use the last time I was there with Mina) you can see into people’s back yards. We arrived at the “new” entrance which is much more official looking than the old entrance, with a car park and little building you get tickets from and it’s where you take the stairs down into the mine.
The mine itself is gorgeous, with beautifully layered walls, and a little lake down the bottom where you can hire row boats (we of course did). There’s a few activities to do, but other than the row boats we mostly just walked around the pretty boardwalks and enjoyed the beauty. It takes quite a long time to get out of the mine via the glass elevator, but it was really nice waiting and enjoying the mine, and breathing in the salt air. I kept reminding Andrew to breathe it in, and he kept assuring me that it was literally impossible for him to avoid it.
On they way out we enjoyed the echo chamber, felt sorry for the horses that spun the mechanism to lug the salt to the top of the mine, and also checked out the old entrance, which is now more built up than I remember it, but still really cool just exiting out into the suburbs. Last time I was here with Mina, I remember getting to the middle of nowhere with a man sitting on a chair and a lazy dog, and a creaky looking door that was the entrance to the mine. Pretty much the same now, same door, but with a cute little glass building around it, a more official looking man in a chair, and alas, no dog. We walked the 780m back through the mine to the new entrance, since this is the only way (other than walking 5km through the town) to get back to the carpark, where there were a few cute stray dogs.
Andrew dropped the car at the airport and ran the 10km home, and barely survived the dodgy places that Garmin tried to send him, which included crossing live train tracks, trying to enter a military base, and seemed to suggest the paths where all the stray dogs hung out. He aborted and took the main road back! Meanwhile I took a lovely 5ish km run to and around the central park.
At night we explored Cluj and got drinks at The Brewhouse (best Romanian IPA I’ve had so far from Blackout Brewing), Che Guevara Social Pub (also got some vinete), The Soviet (cool negronis and chips), and dinner at Casa Veche (more michi). It was fun walking around the pretty streets, but I think I expected more of a party atmosphere! The most partying was actually at The Brewhouse where they had a very stylish looking DJ playing EDM, otherwise it was bustling but for some reason not quite what I expected. We did see the funniest graffiti ever, which just said Sarmale, love it. Now waiting for our bus to Budapest!
About Me
- Jess Manea
- Perth, WA, Australia
- Well, just a little about myself. I was born in Perth and have lived here my whole life, and I count myself as an Aussie even though my family are all extremely Romanian. I went to Mercedes College - the one with the winter green uniform and the poo brown shoes. I'm putting my Bachelor of Engineering/Computer & Mathematical Science at UWA to use at a mining equipment simulation company, and working as a fitness trainer in my spare time. I have a pet bunny named George. He's a white dwarf lop and we love each other very much. I have a weakness for anything peach flavoured, especially peaches, and I never say no to fairy bread.
No comments:
Post a Comment