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It was another hot and sunny day so I had put a dress on and some thing patterned tights. Headed into the city centre and towards the Botanical garden that my host had told me would be especially nice now in spring, with lots of tulips.
My knees were quite tired from the run the evening before so I tried to not walk too fast, and the sun was making me sweaty underneath the backpack. Since it was a good and sunny Sunday, the entrance to the garden was also full of families with kids and strollers. I got a ticket for some 5 lei, and got into the park where it immediately felt a bit less crowded.
Admittedly the tulips were a few days or however much time past their prime but they were still really pretty and there were so many different colours and types. A big tulip that was deep red was called love story. Another one that was red and yellow ish was called firework. Many others had names relating to love that strangely made sense in some way.
They also had a Japanese garden with, you know, a Japanese bridge over a tiny lake and a gate and a building with those Asian roofs. There was a pink tree there but it wasn't a cherry blossom though. I think…
I went a bit uphill towards a big building with several green house wings. Unlike the Botanical garden in Denmark though, it didn't take you around the entire building so you had to walk to the end of the wing, then back. Walk to the end of the opposite wing, then the same way back. And they mostly had big plants and trees in the green house, but hardly any flowers. So it wasn't as colourful as the tulips had been in the beginning.
I continued a bit further, as the map at the entrance had shown a huge area, but I only got to a closed section marked "no access" in Romanian. So, at least I think, I had already explored everything. The rest of the green parts on the map, I've no idea how or if you were supposed to go there. So I headed back towards the main entrance.
There was one more park, a public park that my host had recommended with a nice view over the entire city. Considering how late I had left the house, I had thought that I would have had to prioritize one of the gardens/park, but now, looking at the time, I calculated I'd have time to do the public park as well, since the Botanical garden had taken much less time than expected.
So I headed past the Old Town and found a path that lead upwards in the park. It was so steep that you had to climb stairs the way I came from but somehow I felt like I got to the top surprisingly quickly.
The view definitely was rather nice from up there. You could see all the cathedrals from up there and get a panorama view of the city. There was also a hotel up there and something that looked like a very modern church, but I didn't check it out. Instead, I headed back to my accommodation to get something to eat, pack my bag, and head for the bus station.
I took the bus, since there was no way I'd be walking with my 60l backpack for over half an hour in 26 degrees. I don't remember but I think it may have been a trolley bus, you know the ones that run on electricity, they're connected to overhead wires…
The drive was only about ten minutes but then I still had a few minutes' walk left to the bus station. My friend texted to ask if I had got to the station yet but I decided not to reply until I'd be be since I'd be there so soon.
This time, there was so queue or mass of people by the ticket booth where I had gone first the day before. I asked if they spoke English but only very little they said. I said I had a reservation, and they asked where to. I told them I was going to Baia Mare, and then they just issued a ticket without asking my name, even though my friend had reserved it for me. I tried to tell them my name and that I had a reservation but that didn't seem to matter. So I just got the ticket, paid and then stood and waited for the bus.
It was a big bus that pulled up by the station and there were already a considerable amount of people onboard, but I still managed to get my own row. At some stop a lady with a really cute dog in a traveling basket got next to me but she got off already at the next stop again. One thing that confused me a bit was that people would ask if the seat next to was taken, even though there were free rows at the back of the bus. But thankfully no one asked me, since I was too far back in the bus (only somewhere in the middle) for anyone to bother.
Some three hours later, we were let off at a bus stop in Baia Mare. I took a seat on a bench and waited, since I knew my friend's bus wouldn't arrive until half an hour later ish. So again, great opportunity to do a bit of writing.
When I was almost done, my friend called me, asking where I was. I started getting I had gone off at the wrong stop, but everyone else had gone off too. Sometimes there are two stops in a city but that hadn't seemed to be the case. However, I had hardly had the time to try to answer the question when I saw my friend on the other side of the street. He seemed to also just have stopped me as he was making huge movements to make himself as visible as possible.
I got my back, and closed the gate to the waiting area, as a lady had asked me to do after having tried to ask how long I'd be waiting for, or what I was waiting for. Something like that. My friend crossed the street, while the car, which turned out to be a cab, he had come in made a U-turn. We shoved my bag in the back, and got in. Drove for a short while until we got an apartment building close to a pretty church.
We'd be staying at his brother's place, though my friend also used to live here when he studied in the city. His brother just temporarily moved to another city that very day, so unfortunately I wouldn't get to meet him. He lived on the top floor, without elevator in a really nice two bedroom apartment with a big living room and small balcony as well. I don't know why I was surprised that it was so nice.
We freshened up a bit, while apparently waiting for the brother's girlfriend's father to come pick up don't stuff she had forgot. It was actually alright since that meant we could get a ride with the father downtown.
There was a big, old-fashioned really cute square with lots of restaurants with outdoor serving, and a concert stage they had set up. Behind some building, there was a beautiful clock tower. It was just very cute. Idyllic.
We walked around towards some… Tent ish things where they sold, according to my friend, some very typically Romanian food, cooked in a regional way. So we got some of that, and then found some table where we could sit and enjoy it.
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After we had eaten, we walked to behind the square where the clock tower was, right by an Orthodox Church, which was right next to a Roman Catholic church. There were some ruins from an old church as well, and some bells you could ring. I saw on a poster that Carla's dreams would be playing in town on the 1st of May, and another Romanian singer who is quite good, on the 2nd. That's why they had built a stage at the square. At the time, I thought we'd have left by the 1st, but considering we're still here now, maybe I'll go see them tonight. Even though I already have tickets to see then in Bucharest on Saturday.
Anyway, we walked around a bit more, talked, then got a pancake for dessert with Nutella, banana and… Biscuit! Not plasma though, but I had no idea putting biscuit in pancakes was a thing outside the Balkans.
We ate the pancake while heading back to his brother's place through a nice park, containing a lake, a big museum looking like a palace… Some people playing the guitar in the semi darkness.
It was around 11 PM when we got back, so by then it was time to sleep, as we were going to go to the museums the next day. You'll hear about that next time though. Thanks for reading!