Practical suggestions

Shopping: Polus-Center, www.poluscentercluj.ro, Julius-Mall, www.iuliusmall.com, stores in the heart of the city.

ATV mechanics: Authentic-Spirit, www.authentic-spirit.com, at Polus Center parking lot.

Food: Romanian cuisine has many influences from Italy, Russia, Turkey and Saxony. There are also Hungarian and Greek influences. Various foods, eg. "Hominy", reminiscent of Italian polenta, or Hungarian goulash, which in Romanian is called "ragout", various forms of cooking the meat, such as grilling, borrowed from the Turks, and ingredients like the sour-cream from Russia and Sauerkraut from Saxony, show the influence of other culinary traditions, resulting from centuries of foreign domination. Therefore we can’t speak of a Romanian cuisine.

Romanian cuisine is simple but very tasty, yet too fat and portions are usually huge for our expectations. Of course, no food in the country of vampires will lack garlic and some dishes are cooked from pig, cow, lamb or chicken viscera.

Various wines are produced in Romania by dozens of small producers. However, they do not make it to the international shelves, but are usually drunk on the spot.

The most loved liquor is „cherry brandy“, made of sour-cherries, and the most famous brandy is “plum brandy": “tsuica” or "palinka".

Romanian dishes:

* Farmer’s sour soup
* Cabbage rolls (cabbage rolls with minced meat and rice filling – a Romanian national dish)
* Ewe-cheese
* Polus-Center has several restaurants and snack - bars, but the city has many fantastic restaurants:
* The Wheel (“Roata”) - traditional Romanian
* Red House - Hungarian cuisine
* Club Italia - Italian cuisine
* Tokyo - Japanese cuisine

Time zone difference: Romania is aligned to the Eastern European time – which is one hour ahead of Germany.

Formalities to enter the country: Romania is an EU member. Entering the country is completely without problems and all you need is your identity card. There still is a border control until the Schengen Agreement comes into force. Vaccines are not necessary. At border crossing, car documents are sometimes checked: green card insurance and rovigneta are compulsory. The latter can be purchased at gas stations for a period of 7 days.

Electricity: 220 Volts

Customs: Romania is a member of the European Union, which guarantees free movement of goods between Member States.

Currency: “the new Leu” or “RON”. One Euro is about 4,2 Lei or RONs. Romanians may also speak about "the old LEU", which was “the new Leu” x 10,000, that is: 1 Euro = 42.000 Lei. In written documents “the new Leu” is always used, yet in conversations "the old Leu" is more often mentioned. We’re getting used…

Health: Cluj-Napoca is a modern city with many clinics. The overall level of medical care isn’t quite like the West European level, but emergency treatment is good. As the competition area is very near the city, any injuries that may occur during the event can be quickly handled by the emergency units.

Tap water is drinkable, even if slightly chlorinated.

Meals can be taken anywhere without restraints.