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My wife is from Cluj-Napoca, Romania; great town. by ferndog

It’s in Transylvania, and becoming a trendy off-the-beaten-path destination in Europe. It is a great town; lots of University students, with an old and lovely downtown contrasted with parts of the city that the Communists built “blocks” in, and herded the citizens into.

I love it there: we are going at beginning of Sept for almost 3 weeks. I love how rural things get in a hurry out of town: my in-laws have a beautiful little cabin there about 1/2 hour outside of town. My father in law keeps chickens: the neighbors have goats, cows, pigs, various livestock. The food is fresh, delicious, and the tuica (Romanian palinka) flows freely.

The Romanian people are an absolute blast: they have a great spirit, perhaps maybe because they’ve struggled more the rest of Europe / Eastern Europe. They really appreciate everything they have, appreciate life, and family. And are generous as can be despite not having much. In my personal experience, if a Romanian only has a single apple to eat, he’ll gladly cut in in half and offer it to you.