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A few days later in Oradea, Romania

 
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MadSuh's pictureby MadSuh review
added on 11th of May, 2007
It's been a few days since I last wrote about life here in Oradea. I had a busy week, partly due to the fact that my laptop had died on me and I was busy getting all programs running on the new machine. Anyhow, I am good now, so I am not typing anymore on my MDA.

Last weekend I spent some time walking around in the city. I really enjoy my long walks here, partly because it gives me time to think about everything and partly because the area is always changing. I walked to a shopping center called Lotus which is about 1 1/2 hrs away from where I stay. They have been building the thing for the past few years and are finally done with it, I think. the place is super nicely done, pretty much like the malls in the US with a food court, cinemas, and lots of shops. You alomst forget that you are in Romania as outside on the street things are quite different.

I always find it amazing to see the expensive prices in the mall, and how people still buy... well it's usually at least full of people looking. On the other hand, I have seen many shops close because rent is too expensive, easily as high as in the larger cities of Germany. To my surprise though they always have new shops that immediately fill the empty lots, which tells you something about the availability of funding and the entrepreneurial spirit in this border town.

After strolling around in the mall and checking out the shops, I disappointedly went to have a coffee.... unreal, no shoes with a Euro size 46. I guess that's because all the shoes are made by Italian companies:)

Anyhow, I started walking back to my pad and decided to take a detour via the part of the city where my father's family had their house. Around the turn of the century this was a rich area in town, but later on many gypsys moved in and ran the place down pretty good. Anyhow, just a few years ago there were no real streets anymore and all houses looked like &%$&&.

Just a few years later, people are refurbishing all of the places, an the brand new streets, nice side walks and clean houses invite more people to move back into the area.

I passed the huge old family house with nostalgic emotions, thinking how nice the place must have been once, and then walked further down the road to find the church where I was baptised. I went inside and there was nobody, but I enjoyed this and spent a few moments inside having a little quiet time by myself (hard to believe that I enjoy quiet times sometimes:))

After leaving the church I was finally on my way back home following the Crisu river banks down through the city and back to my apartment. A wonderful walk, lots of diversity and plenty of interesting things to see.

One funny thing I saw on the way back was a group of adults with about 70 kids all wearing shirts with European stars on them and waving European flags, kind of reminding me of the communist times where people would go outside with flags and always trying to look happy
 

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Another quick trip to Romania - overview

1. Apr 30, 2006 Another trip to Oradea (Oradea)  (* 3)
2. May 11, 2007 A few days later in Oradea (Oradea)  (* 3)
3. May 15, 2007 More on Oradea (Oradea)  (* 7)

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Read about Oradea in our travel-guide
Another trip to OradeaMore on Oradea
 
 
 
guides

Recommended Oradea Guide

Oradea Travel guide

Since its foundation in the 11th century, Oradea, the city of King Ladislaus (László) I. of Hungary, has always been a significant political and cultural point throughout the course of history. Its late 19th century name: “Paris on the River Pece” reflects beautifully how prosperous the city was by that time. Though the World Wars and the Communist Regime deteriorated the city image badly, in the past twenty years Oradea showed a fast paced development and a real upswing, so that now its old praising name starts to be heard again. The fine architecture the city center can take pride in conveys an atmosphere that... Read more »

 
 
reviews

Recent reviews for Oradea

Had a great time in Oradea - Jul 24, 2009, by asterix
Oradea is a really peaceful and beautiful city, a lot of old style buildings like churches and palaces (mosly Art Nouveua) in the center of it. It's interesting that, at the moment like half of the buildings are renovated and half are not,... Read more »

My visits to Oradea - Oct 12, 2006, by MadSuh
There is not too much I can say about Romania. Lots of fun at night and lots of work during the day. I usually get to the office at around 11-12 and I stay until about midnight. I had my new iPod with me, so I can listen to some music when... Read more »

Carnival of Flowers in Oradea - Jun 30, 2009, by angel
The Carnival of Flowers is an event which is organized in every year on the 20th of August in Debrecen, Hungary. This day is the national holiday in Hungary, which means that in every bigger city different events are organized. In Debrecen... Read more »

My trip to Oradea - Jun 13, 2009, by MadSuh
I left Cluj with some sort of relieve. I did have a nice time there with grandad, but then it's still sometimes tiring to take care of a 96 year-old :) Anyway, I bought a first class InterCity ticket from Cluj to Orade, which is a 2 1/2... Read more »

What to know about the Dendrological Park of Oradea - Apr 13, 2009, by bruzli
Yesterday I took a visit to the newly Dendrological Park inaugurated last week by the Oradea City Hall. The park is situated in the north of Oradea Fortress and is open to the public since April 10. Because of it's location near the... Read more »

 
 

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