One of the days we are outside exploring Cluj we decide to climb up the Cetatuia Hill, a famous landmark where we haven’t been for quite some time. However first we go to the Central Park close to the base of the hill to enjoy some time outside with some elderly relatives. We are surprised at the number of weddings parties in the park, they have taken over seemingly the whole area.
There is a small lake with boats and some early 20th century buildings including the casino, while impressive we do not see James Bond playing roulette here.
We then follow the Somes river for a while looking for a bridge so we can start our climb. We find a few gulls, surprising, but it takes a bit to get to the nearest bridge so we can cross over.
But finally we reach one and it is a historic one. It is a spot that back in the days was considered to be a favorite for lovers and where single ladies waited every Sunday for soldiers to descend from the fortress to the city hoping to find Prince Charming. Or so the legend goes.
Before climbing we enjoy a few more historic buildings and a really historic car, we cannot decide what is more historic the car or the building.
And then up we go on paths that are good enough to follow but with little direction, we know that we have to go up but it is not easy to know which direction to choose otherwise. Still we are soon high enough to get a good bird’s eye view of the city, quite beautiful.
Close to the top there are many birds including jays and crows as well as a few smaller birds, likely already in migration.
The sight that we knew about at the top is the famous Belvedere Hotel. At least it was famous during the communist times as one of the only hotels but now it looks a bit rundown. What we didn’t know about are the remains of the old Austrian fortress here, there are a few gates and even some barracks still standing. But by now our relatives are getting antsy so we decide to skip the detailed exploration, maybe another time, as we make our way back to the relatives and the car.
