Sometimes you need a break from nature. And not because it becomes an unhealthy habbit, but because you forget to appreciate it at its truest value.

After attending the concert of my favorite singer, dealing with a crazy flu, and three seasons experienced in two days only, I'm finally back with a travel blog.
And as much as I enjoy sharing pictures or taking part in all kinds of communities, my biggest love will always remain writing about my travel experiences which not only make me feel alive but hopefully will also inspire more people to explore Romania and what it has to offer.
Anyway, if you've read my previous post where I tried as best as I can to share a bit of the emotion I felt while attending the concert, perhaps you are aware of the trip I'm talking about, but if not, then I'd like to let you know that my most recent trip (that I had 2 weeks ago) was taken in Cluj-Napoca which is a fairly big and imposing city of Romania.
Even though I've crossed Cluj in the past for quite a few times, I never got time to actually explore the urban life but only some of the surroundings which are not less impressive either.
However, with the occasion of being in town for a few days, even from the first day I, my sister and my cousin arrived, we decided to only leave our luggage at the Airbnb we rented and then start our very first journey on the way to a quite famous place in Cluj, known as Parcul Cetățuia.

While I'm used to be the one who gives advice to my friends when they ask what they should visit in a town or county, I felt quite stupid to hear people talking about this park and get surprised when they heard that I've never visited it, so I sort of felt like I had a debt that I should handle before the whole vacation would begin, haha.

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When it comes to parks, I'm used to thinking about them as one of those places hidden in town but which still manage to bring a small part of nature right in the middle of the chaos. However, what is less common, is that we are talking about a park located on top of the hill from where you will have a great view over the city. So you will enjoy a proper hike until you reach it.

A while ago, I bet there was just a single way of access to the upper side of the park because there is just one paved path, but considering that there are thousands of tourists and locals making their way to the top daily, these days you can enjoy no less than 5 paths both safe and filled with adrenaline, but which of course, will let you decide which one you shall follow.

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Even though it's been more than 2 months since I started going to the gym, equally it's been two years since my latest hike and considering that I've already had to deal with COVID two times, I'm not really in the shape for hiking anymore so any single step made on an inclined surface makes me get tired quite instantly, while some time ago the same activity used to bring me only smiles and excitement.

This is also a thing that perhaps will make you observe pretty quickly who are the locals and who are the tourists because the locals are quite used to visit this park and no doubt they are more in shape than most of the tourists.

For most of you, "Cetățuia" might not say much, but in reality, it makes the connection with "cetate" which can be translated either as fortress or citadel in English, that is not a randomly picked name.

Thus, on the way to the top, not only that you will cross through numerous stories shared either on the grass, or on a rock, but also get to see some of the leftovers from the past which used to represent the very first Vauban type fortification created in Transylvania, which was raised by the Habsburg Empire in the 18th century.

So we are not talking about a common park, but also a place which is very rich in history that only began to be called a park in 1900 after 2 years passed since the death of Empress Elizabeth who used to be the wife of the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph. Even if both of them died, the locals didn't want to let the history get lost with the passage of time, so they used the word "Cetățuia" as the name for both the hill and the park, but also the name of the Empress for the southern ridge of the hill where can also be found a statue with her.

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While the statue and the southern ridge of the hill are not very easy to be reached, that doesn't represent the single 'interesting' part of the park, because on the southeast side of the park (which also represents the paved trail), you can discover a big monument noticeable from the distance due to its big and imposing cross that was built to remind about the martyrs of the 1848 Revolution which played a particularly important role in the French Revolution from the same year that led to repercussions on the whole Europe.

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Even though I'm a fan when it comes to walking between pieces of history and perhaps learn a bit more of the past of my home country, this time it felt different because it was quite a while since I last reconnected with nature and the opportunity to meet it again right in the middle of the town, felt more important than anything else.

So along with my sister and my cousin, we hardly found a free spot where to rest our feet and enjoy the view of the town for quite a while before making our way to the center of the town and look for a pretty terrace where to enjoy the dinner.

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For us, reaching Parcul Cetățuia was quite easy because our Airbnb was just 20 mins away from it but as a landmark, this one is located very close to the old town and it's pretty easy to reach it from any side you are coming because there are plenty of indicators to it, as well as an old hotel entitled "Cetățuia" that can be noticed from the distance due to the light you will see up on the hill with this name.

In order to reach Cluj-Napoca, you will need to follow the European road E60 and depending on the direction you are coming from, perhaps you will cross Turda which is another city I recommend visiting, especially for Cheile Turzii (Turda Gorges) and Salina Turda (Turda Salt Mine).

SEE YOU IN THE NEXT TRIP! 🗾

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