We had another long travel day ahead of us. George proposed an alternate routing passing through Baia Mare (including an option to taste cookies made by his mother) and Turda.

Turda was a big surprise to all of us … not really expecting anything, George led us into a Salt Mine. We made our way down and started a walk around the adits – until George finally led us to Mina Rudolf – a huge cavern (a good 14 stories high) transformed to a sort of indoor playground, complete with bowling lanes, table tennis court, ferris wheel, a theater and – a further 13 floors deeper – in Mina Terezia – a lake with the option to go for some rowing. The place is used in childrens’ asthma treatment, the special climate in the mine supposedly helps enhance their situation … the children basically get here, are entertained, have fun – and do not even realize, they are getting treatment.

To us the big mine was a pretty unexpected surprise – leaving most of us awe-inspired. It felt a bit like the (fictional) grandeur of the Mines of Moria as described in the Lord of the Rings.