My first trip: Oradea, Romania. Beautiful city, nice people, good food.
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If you're lucky enough to live nearby it's a pity not to visit this city; or, if you're well endowed (monetarily) - take the plane there. Otherwise you should know the travel by train or by car is going to be long and tiring (or at least it was like that for me (truth be told I was coming from Piatra Neamt by train, going through Bucharest, so the total time spent on the train: 26 hours)).
Anyway, the old part of the city is breathtaking; Vulturul Negru (the Black Eagle) building stands out amongst all the other around it and the pedestrian walking passage is not to be missed.
If you suddenly get hungry after all the walking and shopping, stop at the Cyrano Restaurant — great food at decent prices (the mulled wine might be a little too sweet but after the second one it won't matter anymore).
The best thing about Oradea is its closeness to Băile Felix. I recommend getting the pampering package from the International Hotel: less than 20 USD will get you access to hot baths, hot pool, sauna and a 20 minutes relaxing massage. You'll almost want to move there...
Of course, if you're on a longer vacation — it only takes 30 minutes to cross the border to Hungary, another wonderful place, but that's going to be another story.
