My rest day was not as restful as I had planned with an excellent guided tour and various chores to complete.
For my "rest" day I went on a walking tour of Oradea, which included a visit to a Greek Catholic Church, an Orthodox Church and a Synagogue. The Greek Catholics are a strange mix, the pope is the head of their Church but they follow Orthodox (or rather Byzantine) religious practices. I later visited the Roman Catholic Cathedral as well. During the 40 years of communism only the Romanian Orthodox denomination was allowed. Despite this the other churches reappeared after the fall of Cauceseau. The Jewish population was massively reduced by the Holocaust in the Second World War, and their numbers are now small although they were once an important part of the city"s population. The town has a large Hungarian population and was until 1918 part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. The Hungarian name was Nagyvarad.
Much of the city's centre was built at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th, in a number of different architectural styles; Secession, Art Nouveau, Eclectic, Neo-classical and Baroque. I particularly admired the Art Nouveau with its curves, colour and use of flower and other motifs from nature. So it was great to visit the Darvas-La Roche House with Alex my guide. Built in the Art Nouveau-Secession style and restored to its original glory the house included beautiful stained glass and furniture related to the period. It was also an opportunity to have a coffee, a shot of pălincă and taste placinta, a Romanian fried flatbread filled. The samples offered by my guide were filled with cabbage, cheese and potatoes.
After my tour I had to buy supplies for the next few days of walking, charge all my electrical items and other chores.
In the evening I visited a "ruined" bar pointed out by guide. It had a large and confusing selection of beers, I chose a very pleasant pilsner brewed in Oradea. I drank it in the courtyard which has a run down appearance with somewhat contrived tumbledown walls, trees and lightning that adds to the ambience.
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