Sweet little memories

I was born and raised in Maramureş, a hospitable county situated Northern Romania, a place where traditions take place every special occasion, the food is impossible to forget and people are always happy to host new visitors.

But my parents come from the heart of Transylvania. My mother is from Cluj Napoca and my father was born in a village (now a small town) named Sarmaşu, situated in Mureş County. They met each other while my dad studied at Technical University of Cluj Napoca. It wasn’t love at first sight, but the love they had for each other came slowly and ended inevitably in a happy marriage, followed by mine and my sister’s birth. After finishing his studies, my dad had 5 job offers in 5 different cities, among them Baia Mare, my hometown. When they decided to move there, they didn’t know much about the city, and it was also a location quite far from their family. But they moved anyway. Inevitably, traveling followed every time we had holidays.

When I was little, infrastructure in Romania was way behind. We didn’t have our own car, so every distance we had to travel was considered long. Also, the borders were closed. UE did not exist at that time, so most of the holidays people had to plan, only national destinations were considered. For me and my little sister, our only destinations were our grandparents’ homes. We were lucky because we had possibility to choose one of the 2 places: mum’s hometown, or a country side holiday. Most of our friends spent their holiday home, or in places close to home. Very rarely my parents took us to the seaside. But I was too young to remember those days.

CITY SIDE

Cluj town, because it was accessible to get there by train, it was the chosen destination most of the times, especially for spring holiday.  Distance between Baia Mare and Cluj Napoca is 150 km (100 miles) and the fastest train makes this route in 3,5 hours.

I remember that our train was usually departing at 6.00 am and I was sleepy while we were waiting in the station for my parents to buy the tickets. There was always a big line at the tilt. Smell of tobacco was everywhere in that big green building; those ugly pathways and stairs to platforms were dark and scary – for me, at least. 

But I was always thrilled to get into that train every time, because even now when having a car is something not only normal but necessary also, I love to travel especially by train. I was looking for window seats and especially on the left side because that was the side with the most beautiful landscapes. Sometimes it was crowded. It happened not once to share our seats with someone else, or have no seats at all and we were forced to stand all the way. But I preferred that way than have a seat where I couldn’t see anything on the window.

I could never sleep on the train. Mum, however, fell asleep almost every time with her book in her hands, and dad was always happy to tell us stories and memories about places we passed.  

Right after we depart from the station, we still see city blocks. We pass a bridge above Bucharest Boulevard and we can see on the right side “Semiluna” – a crescent shaped building. 

Few more high buildings from “Meda” neighborhood, while we turn left and we get out from the city, and I can admire the hills surrounding in a very familiar landscape, almost the same as the one I can see from the balcony in my parents’ home.

For a while there is nothing interesting to see. Then, when on the right side there are only stones, trees and concrete for railway protection, on the left side we can see a valley. We are now near Ulmeni, in Salaj County. I quietly admire de road that accompanies us, along with the river, and enjoy the green of the hills. We make a first stop in Jibou. Until a few years ago the only thing I saw in Jibou was the train station, seen from the train, while we were waiting to move on. But not long time ago, some friends recommend us to visit The Botanical Garden “Vasile Fati”. It is absolutely beautiful. We prefer to visit it in spring, when all the tulips are bloomed.

The train doesn’t stay long here, 5 minutes the most. I am anxious to move on because I know that from this point we will see Someş Valley, with beautiful landscapes on both sides. 

When we pass this valley during early summer we can see all grain fields full of poppies, sometimes like a red carpet. It takes almost 2 hours for the train to transit this valley, without any stopping. I enjoy every minute even if the landscapes are the same every year.

We reach Dej and the train stays for about 20-25 minutes. Sometimes my mum gets down from the train to buy pies from the station and I am always afraid that the train will leave and she will not have enough time to get back up. But that never happened.

We are 45 minutes away from Cluj and we have one more stop in Gherla. After almost 4 hours we arrive in Cluj Napoca Station. From here we have 7,5 km to grandma’s home. Sometimes we take the tram, sometimes we take a taxi, my parents decide. My grandma’s home is a 3 bedrooms flat on ground floor block in “Mănăştur” neighborhood. After welcoming kisses and hugs, I run on the balcony to see my flower bush. This is why I loved spring holiday in Cluj – I had a Forsythia bush that I admired every day because it was bloomed during that period of the year.

We have many relatives in Cluj Napoca. Sometimes we didn’t have enough time to visit all of them, but I was never bored there. I enjoyed every moment, especially talking with my Nan for hours.

Now my Nan is gone, the flat was sold and I have nothing to return to, but every time I see bloomed Forsythia I remember those holidays. And I always smile.

COUNTRY SIDE

There isn’t a direct train line from my hometown to Sarmaşu. So most of the times my parents made a stop first in Cluj before going from there to my other grandparents. We have to travel 60 km by bus to get there from Cluj Napoca Bus Station. We have to pass through Transylvanian Plain, but I don’t see any plain. All I can see are hills, and beautiful landscapes all around. 

Since we go there in summertime, the bus is always crowded and hot. Sometimes is difficult to breathe but you get used to it after a while. After we get down from the bus, most of the time we walk fast because we are thrilled to get to our grandma’s house.

Recently, since most of the people have their personal cars, the road is more accessible. Although it takes almost 3 hours to get there by car from Baia Mare, that doesn’t compare with almost half a day that we had to spend traveling, before. And the excitement is still inside me every time I return here, because a lot of memories come back when we enter grandma’s village.

It is impossible to miss my grandma’s house. It has yellow outside walls and brown metallic fence. But the most distinctive sign is the fir tree that stands at the gate. It is the tallest tree in the area.

Among all my holidays, here I liked the most, I ate the best traditional foods, and I had the best playing moments outside during summer. Grandma’s garden was rich with everything: tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, peppers, potatoes, corn, carrots, there were plum trees, apricots, apples, and also raspberries, blackberries, and grapes. For me, coming from a flat from a crowded city, where you could find fruits and vegetables only in stores, it was like heaven.

Winter holidays are also good to remember. It was a little difficult for us, as children to stay inside most of the time, but outside weather, no matter how cold it was, it was beautiful and very different than the frozen city back home.

NOW

Now…nothing is the same. I don’t use train because I have a car. If I have to go to Cluj, it will be only passing through, never to stay. I don’t have enough time to visit my grandma’s house in Sarmaşu even if I miss it so much. And the fir tree is gone. My hometown is now my holiday destination because I chose to live far away. My daughter has city side holiday as my parents flat, and if she wants to have a country side holiday she will have to travel at least 3000 km to Portugal, where my mother in law lives.

But I still have so many beautiful memories, never to forget.