Klausen Burger (Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

Bine. Bre. Cie faci. Aratam cecele. Ciuperci.

That’s a short demonstration of useful phrases in Romania, or at least those that we’ve learned. There’s also a phrase for thank you, which I have tried to learn and remember on many occasions, but for some reason, it just hasn’t stuck as much as “aratam cecele” (which, at numerous points during the trip, meant “hello”, “how’s it going”, or a “traditional vegetarian dish with fried aubergines”)

The whole trip began for me at 4am on Friday morning, 10th of June. I woke up to catch a train to Liverpool, from where, surprisingly, there’s a direct flight to Cluj-Napoca with Blue Air, a Romanian low-cost airliner. Slightly worried what that might mean, I was positively surprised and the whole journey went perfect (though we had a initial delay, which was due to (quoting) “heavy traffic along the way” (???(!))).

I haven’t seen any traffic jams up in the air, but perhaps that’s because I slept like a baby the whole journey. The traffic came, however, once in Cluj, where Ondro introduced me to the laws and rules of driving in Romania. It took a while, but towards the end of our stay, we had our theories about how it works. Mine was something like: "if there’s just one lane, go up to 100km/h, otherwise it's unbounded speed". But I must admit, that Juro was probably closer with: “it doesn’t matter what the number in the speed limit says, it always means "nejeb si to moc"” (couldn’t find a good enough translation in English).

Bre!

We did a bit of shopping, especially at the central market, where one could get beautifully red tomatoes (RGB 255,0,0), home made juices or cheeses that make one hungry just by looking at them. We also bought a rain poncho and some thermal underwear in Decathlon. Did we just get crazy in the middle of June? Nope. I forgot to mention our plan - to hike up to Moldoveanu, the highest peak of Romania with height 2544 metres above sea level. The temperature there gets down to about 6 degrees Celsius, not to mention the chances of rain, which even in the most optimistic forecast were 100%.

That's not where we went, but it's a good picture

The mood was positive, however, and when all 12 of us finally gathered, I realized that the team spirit and the company of a group of friends is simply the most important “item” to take with you into the mountains. Of course, Juro would object that toilet rolls should be highly considered too, but let’s not get carried away this way :-P

The whole hike was quite loosely planned, but luckily, not too little. On Friday evening, Ondro found a phone number which we nicknamed “the important number”, as the lady on the phone told us not only that the path we initially wanted to take wasn’t traversable due to too much snow, but also that the cabin Podragu (~2100m) where we wanted to sleep would not be opened till few days later! She thus advised us on alternative journey from Victoria, with a sleep-over at Cabin Turnuri (~1500m), from where a round-trip to Moldo is possible in a single, yet challenging day.

Thus the next day we got up early, split into 3 cars and after some safety instructions about emergency exits and fastening the seat belts, we took off in a rocketing speed (as per Romanian driving laws), proven by the blurry background in the following picture.

Kika’s need for speed.

The hike to Turnuri from Victoria can be managed in half a day and leads mostly through the forest, with occasional refreshing crossings of a stream. You’re likely to meet a salamander, walk by an (open) entrance to old abandoned mine, or find food along the way, although not everyone is able to appreciate the “good protein” as much as Juro.

Good protein

At Turnuri, it’s small but cozy and beautifully natural. Mountain peaks all around, water from the nearby stream, donkeys used to carry food or (most importantly) beer and toilet sheds with a hole large enough to make your everyday need a feared experience (ok, the last thing was a bit less beautifully natural).

Scenery at Turnuri

We came to the cabin quite hungry and I’d like to dedicate this paragraph to an activity called “zajesť si”, which can loosely be translated as “snack on food with the greatest joy imaginable”. It can sound as a synonym of “eat”, however, there’s a fundamental difference and a whole new dimension to it, especially if you do it as a team with Ondro and his brother Jano. Basically, it works like this: Ondro takes out dózičkas (food boxes) and igelitkas (bags) with amazing šmakovičkies (unimaginably tasty goods). Jano than says: “Ondro, nože odvaľ (cut off a giant piece) from that klobása (sausage) and naváľaj (keep cutting off giant pieces) the cheese!”. So Ondro does, addding in e.g. “slanina? Mmmm?” (how about some delicious bacon, my friend?). Finally, you'd say you eat the food, however, that's not the right term. What you do is "zničiť" (destroy) it.

All kinds of šmakovičkies

That night we slept like šproty in a can (i.e. like dead, but also in a similar density) and soon Mišo was hailing a beautiful morning at something like 5:30am. The "wohoo" moment lasted, however, only till we got ready. 100% chance is 100%, and already the first steps from the cabin were in rain. For me, it was a new experience as I have never hiked up in the mountains in a rainy day like that. However, it did not ruin our spirit, and although some of us turned around a couple of kilometres before the peak, it was still a very enjoyable hike, with a bit of added fear for life at the “exposed passages”.

Before setting off for the hike to the peak

Shelter at cabin Podragu

Exposed passages undertaken by the first group

Clouds opened up at times to reveal beautiful valleys around

The next day started, but this time also continued, with a beautiful weather and we all stood on our tiptoes to catch the first morning sun rays peeking in from behind the mountain. Getting down, I’ve learnt two new important hike songs - one about sun and one about children of Soviet Union, which, combined with “Nepi Jano nepi vodu” made up for a pretty enjoyable musical experience for everybody around, I’m absolutely sure.

Next day morning

Another positive experience came a bit later, when we found an amazing restaurant half an hour drive from Fagaras by using "OK Google: restaurant" (although first attempts of Ondro led him, for some reason, to Vietnam). For the similar price as one would barely get a single main dish in UK, I got a brilliant soup, large main dish (half saved to dózička), a beer, pancake and a coffee.

After the feast, 5 of our comrade pioneers forked off and left back home. The rest of us decided to have a bit of exploring around the region and aimed for the city of Brasov. It was not much we’ve done there, other than scaring a fleck of pigeons, interviewing European Central Bank or playing around with AV mode on my camera, but was certainly a nice day :)

Coming back to Cluj, we’ve reunited with Ondro, and went for a “Viking dinner”. Here, yet again, a portion exceeding our capabilities was brought to us. More interesting was, however, the waitress. I couldn’t help it, but when you come from UK, where everyone forces a smile and super-excited cheers-mate-excellent-good-one! behaviour, even if all you've accomplished is literally a shit on toilet, I couldn’t but appreciate that this lady was simply “authentic”. She was not rude or in any other way ruining our experience - not at all. She was simply busy and doing her job efficiently. Her behaviour was a polite one, yet a reflection of the situation. And I say - why not? In those moments, if you get a smile, you know you’ve deserved it (and we got one :)).

The Viking dinner

What we probably did not deserve, however, was a Lei or two for our busking attempt down the road. On the other hand, that was not the goal either and we were pretty happy with just enjoying the night and shouting some weird hockey commentary from 2002.

The rest of the comrades left Cluj the following morning and I stayed two more days with Ondro, before heading off to Brussels to see my sister. I was working remotely, so we could say the trip was finished. This blog post, however, isn't, as, quite obviously, it misses a mention of pizza. All right, I agree I should make a separate blog and keep this one for pizza fans (if any).

On Wednesday evening, I went to meet Ondro in the office. He was just finishing off work and we went out for a soup to nearby place (coincidentally called something like Moldovaneau). Dorin joined a few minutes later and soon him and Ondro were discussing which place to go to. They agreed on Klausen Burger, a nice place with a restaurant/bar on the roof, which fitted great the sunny evening. The only worry was their mischievous smiles when they told me they will let me experience a Romanian tradition there, and that it's a must. Well, if it's a must...

Up in Klausen Burger it was almost full as Romania was playing a match in the Euro finals. Fortunately (unfortunately?), screens were not visible from some tables and those were thus free. We sat down and ordered a beer, examining the menu. Quite a few to choose from, and with some surprisingly Italian ingredients. Ondro, for example, went for Pizza Gorgonzola, which, other than the blue cheese, featured also prosciutto crudo, mushrooms and rucola, a very nice looking combination. I decided to choose something conventional, and ended up with Diavola - salami, onions and chillies, of course.

I made a quick visit to bathroom and when I came back - nothing. Hey, not even the beer! "Ah, the waitress came and she accidentally spilled it", Dorin and Ondro unashamedly lied :) . Well, so that's the tradition than (though, as I found out, it's only Romanian tradition in Rubrikk). Never mind, having drunk all my beer, they soon needed to excuse themselves and there was a time to pay back. Sooner or later, the business potential of this tradition dawned on me! It makes people drink more beer in less time - a dream of every pub. At least we were in Romania, where beer still costs reasonable money :) .

A bit later, the pizzas came (Dorin had pasta) and we smiled for the picture. Then we "destroyed" them. They were good. That's it.

By now, you've probably guessed correctly that this was merely an excuse to write this blog post about our trip, as I have no other suitable blog :- ) . However, that would not be fair to Klausen Burger. It really is a place worth paying a visit when you are in Cluj. The staff is friendly, views amazing, beer is beer and the pizzas - were actually very good! Quite crunchy, well baked (perhaps up to the slightly undercooked bottom), and most importantly tasty.

Chill in the Central park in Cluj

As on many other occasions in Romania, I can say I was simply surprised - in a positive way. Did I just have low expectations? Maybe yes, Romania is more developed than I had thought. But that's not what I came to like it for. Arriving from UK, I found it more relaxed, without too many rules, and much, much more authentic. Ondro would make fun of it, e.g. when he'd see unfinished piece of pavement ("Botond, you call this "shithole", Fero calls it "authentic""), and of course, I've spent there only a week so I can't say how would it be to live there. However, I felt good in Romania, and I believe that at the end of the day - that's what counts.

Dough - 7
Ingredients - 8
Sauce - 7
Pizza atmosphere - 7
Atmosphere - 9
Service - 10

PS: Bit thanks to Ondro for organizing trip, lending me thousand things I couldn't bring in hand luggage and hosting me at his place :-)