Īn Ceasescu's footsteps: Switzerland, Serbia and Romania via SQ346/345

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Once airborne, I emptied the literature compartment to see what was available.



Model aeroplanes were for sale. But I doubt available on this short hop.



Inflight magazine.



RO's fleet has shrunk quite a bit. It is probably the smallest airline in ST at the moment. A mere 14 aircraft. Like other airlines in Eastern Europe, it has faced a lot of pressure from low-cost carriers and a lack of or smaller number of premium passengers in its market area.



Routes within Romania.



Routes within Europe. RO does fly to a handful of destinations in the middle east outside of Europe. But a far cry from the days when it sent a B763 to JFK.



Cabin crew handed out bottles of water. And that was the extent of service on this flight.



We soon started our descent into OTP.



We landed, again, on schedule in OTP.

The cabin as we left the runway and taxied to our gate.



We pulled into a non-schengen gate and were met with an air-stairs and a bus to bring us to the schengen part of the airport.



Seat upholstery.



Deplaning in OTP.



It was a long walk to baggage claim. We were given a belt in the old part of the terminal where I gather all the other domestic flights within Romania arrive.

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YR-BGK operating RO648 CLJ-OTP tonight.



TAROM stands for Transporturile Aeriene Romane






Cabin during boarding. It was a full flight owing to Easter weekend.



Seatback.



Flight time was announced to be a quick 45 minutes.

Pushback was on time. Engines were fired up and we taxied to the runway for an on time departure.

Climbing out of CLJ.

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Flight: RO648
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800 (YR-BGK)
Origin: Cluj-Napoca (CLJ)
Destination: Bucharest-Otopeni (OTP)
Class: Economy
Date: April 2024

Time to make my way to the capital, Bucharest. I call an Uber after a chat with a Singaporean living in Sydney who happened to be staying at the same hotel as me in Cluj.

After clearing a traffic jam 1 km from the airport, I arrive at the drop-off area of Cluj Avram Iancu International Airport.

This airport does handle non-Schengen flights mainly to the UK and TK to IST, and you can also reach the airport via MUC on LH.







There were 2 check-in counters open for TAROM flights. RO only operates a shuttle up to OTP from CLJ. But there are several flights a day operated on either a turboprop or 737.


Waiting area at CLJ. I had dinner at the airport from a local 'Asian' fast-food place called Noodle Pack.


FIDS at CLJ.



Boarding took place on time.

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The Hungarian Theatre of Cluj. The theatre company was founded in the 1700s and performs Hungarian-language plays. The building was built in 1910 and reconstructed in the late 1950s.





Went for a walk in Central Park.







The city's opera theatre.

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Back in Cluj for lunch.





Transylvanian dish of stuffed cabbage rolls and polenta at Casa Vece.



Cheese cake.



After lunch took a walk around the city centre and headed to a local history museum on Transylvanian history.

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The park also has a tropical green house.

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Alexandru Borza Botanical Garden. The park was founded by Hungarian linguist Samuel Brassai in 1872.

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Īn Cluj.





Ssint Micheal's Church, a gothic style, Roman Catholic church.





Statue of Mathias Corvinus, King of Hungary, outside the church.

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At mid-afternoon, I headed to the main railway station to catch my train to Cluj, the second-largest city in Romania about 180 km northwest of Sibiu. However, it would be another 5 hours on the train, with a connection in a small town called Vintu de Jos. My connection was only 19 minutes and I was certain I wouldn't make it. So, I bought a ticket from Vintu de Jos to Cluj for a later train as well.

Sibiu railway station.



The Carpathian Mountains are visible from the city.







Diesel locomotive pulling my train to Vintu de Jos. The train is formed of 2 coaches. My first of two trains is a regional train stopping at every single station. The train will go past small villages stopping at stations demarcated by a mere pole and serving, sometimes, just 1 lonely home.





The train ride to Vintu de Jos was quite spectacular. We passed through gorges and rolling hills, passing small villages with just 1 house. At one point, we passed a farmer burning trash next to the trackside. Unfortunately, this was a very local train and I did not feel safe taking out my phone to snap pictures. This was the only photo I took.



Train at Vintu de Jos. We arrived on time. Bravo CFR Calatori!



My train to Cluj arriving from Budapest Keleti. Vintu de Jos, even though a small village, is located along the mainline from Hungary.

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After the museum, I walked around the centre of Sibiu some more.







Carpenter's Tower built as part of medieval fortifications.

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Headed to the Brukenthal National Museum. This museum was established in 1817 and is the oldest in Romania and Southeastern Europe. The museum was founded by Samuel von Brukenthal the Habsburg governor of Transylvania who consolidated his art and book collection in the museum.







The museum also has an extensive collection of contemporary art.

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Bought a placinta, which is a flatbread filled with potato, for breakfast.



Sibiu īs an important town in the history of Transylvania. It was a military centre for the region and the capital before the region was ceded to Romania from Austria in 1918.







The bridge of lies.

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What an amazing trip so far...quite an adventure!

Thanks yflyer! I've been wanting to go to Eastern Europe for a while, particularly to satisfy my own thirst for adventure that was unfulfilled by my inability to visit Latin America while I lived in the US.

Did you visit the markets or supermarkets? Wonder how the locals shop in these towns/cities.

Unfortunately, I didn't. But what I did notice was how similar the food in both Serbia and Romania were and how were they were, in turn, similar to Turkish food. Romanians also eat a skinless minced meat sausage called Mici which I had in Bucharest. Romanians also dessert on baklava. I did also see Romanian cooking incorporate pasta in some places. But otherwise Romanian food can be heavily meaty and sort of a mixture of Central European, Turkish and Balkan cuisines.

[yflyer]

What an amazing trip so far...quite an adventure!

Many of these are places I have never even heard of. Appreciate the food pics as well. Always interesting to see what people eat in different cultures.

Did you visit the markets or supermarkets? Wonder how the locals shop in these towns/cities.

Looking forward to the next installment...

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Welcome to Sibiu, a gorgeous Transylvanian town.