Sunday started with us viewing and learning about the legendary rock at the First Unitarian Church of Kolozsvar from which (supposedly) Francis David preached about Unitarian principles in 1566 and converted the whole city. We then attended the regular Sunday service there (all in Hungarian of course).
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| Francis David's famous platform |
We had a traditional lunch at a local restaurant where we ate a special local dish: Cabbage a la Kolozsvar (baked cabbage with ground pork topped with a sour cream sauce). Dessert was another local specialty: Varga Beles (baked noodles with farmers cheese and raisins, very much like kugel). Delicious!
Then it was on to the scenic Torda Gorge for a hike, with just about everyone else within 100 km. Since it was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, the uneven path was just as crowded as the scenery was spectacular. Maureen and Rob did the full 1 1/2-hour riverbank walk alongside 1000-ft+ sheer cliffs that rival Yosemite's. At times, we had to hold onto cables anchored to the cliff to avoid falling into the ravine!
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| One side of the gorge |
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| "Gorge-ous" Maureen |
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| Rob testing the limit of the safety cable |
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at the famous Unitarian Church in Metzko, the "Alabaster Village" of the book by Christine Frederiksen Balazs Morgan. The very small rustic church is situated on a hillside just outside the gorge. A picture is worth 1000 words, of course, (see photo), but it's still hard to capture the mood outside of simple, quiet dignity, and inside the light and airy, yet devout, atmosphere amidst the rough-hewn pews and elevated wooden pulpit where the minister and faithful met the previous day to share worship.
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| Exterior |
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| A sweaty blessing |
The long day ended with a leisurely dinner at an outdoor cafe in the old center of Kolozsvar/Cluj, down the street from where not one, but two, Hungarian kings were born.
Additional contributors: Rob and Maureen
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