Author Archives: Fatca Pop

About Fatca Pop

Fatca Pop is a dreamer, adventurer, cook, and blogger. Fatca was a hairdresser, company secretary, and teacher.

Who was Octavian Goga, the politician?

Posted on April 24, 2026 by Fatca Pop

So, we had a draft article. It was based on wikipedia and attempting to watch videos on Youtube.  When writing it, we realised that we didn’t really know a lot about Goga the poet and Goga the prime minister. First, … Continue reading →

Posted in History | Tagged , | Leave a comment

What Foreign visitors tell us about Romanian cuisine…

Posted on April 23, 2026 by Fatca Pop

A foreign visit to Romania shows local food that isn’t traditional.  Burgers, kebabs, laiden with fatty and sugary sauces. Eventually, we fall upon mici (miches?  Miki?), but they come with a side of fries and another sugary sauce. We see … Continue reading →

Posted in opinion | Tagged | Leave a comment

Iarmaroc la sat returns to the open air museum

Posted on April 18, 2026 by Fatca Pop

The open air museum on the outskirts of Cluj, also known as the ethnographic park (or the outdoor museum of old mills, churches and houses), is again holding its “iarmaroc la sat.”  What is “iarmaroc la sat?”  (In the first … Continue reading →

Posted in Events | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Scientist casts doubt on KFC “Chicken”

Posted on April 17, 2026 by Fatca Pop

A US based scientist compared “chicken” from three major fast food retailers, and found that the chicken from KFC looked the least like real meat.  It seems that KFC has the worst meat, if you like real meat.  It doesn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in opinion | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Romania is not safe from fake news online

Posted on April 1, 2026 by Fatca Pop

Today is April 1st. I would expect to see more fake news than usual. However, I see the same, or even less. We had a couple of prank ideas that we thought might be funny, but unfortunately the world is … Continue reading →

Posted in opinion | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Barefoot walk in Rome

Posted on March 27, 2026 by Fatca Pop

So, Romania is no longer part of Ancient Rome.  However, many Romanians live in Italy, some say over a million at a time. A much larger protest than is usually covered by the Romanian media.  DRM News entitles it, “Israeli … Continue reading →

Posted in politics | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Will Trump’s son open a golf course in Cluj?

Posted on March 27, 2026 by Fatca Pop

Romania borders a few countries, the most important borders are with Moldova, Serbia, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Hungary.  Now, many Romanians consider Moldova a cultural extension of Romania, so we’ll cut that out.  Bulgaria and Serbia don’t have many expats, and … Continue reading →

Posted in opinion | Leave a comment

Is Romania safe to visit?

Posted on March 21, 2026 by Fatca Pop

We normally won’t comment on things like Adonis Live.  He is not in Cluj, and his channel brings out his story very clearly, in clear English.  Do we really have anything to add to the conversation? There are a lot … Continue reading →

Posted in opinion | Leave a comment

Beginners, Test your German knowledge. Or, just watch films in French or Italian

Posted on March 12, 2026 by Fatca Pop

The “Central Cultural German Cluj Napoca” has announced A1-level German tests in April. Exam date: 24 of April, 2026. Last day to sign up, 20 March, 2026. Now, they advertised this exam in Romanian and German.  We haven’t taken the … Continue reading →

Posted in entertainment, Events | Tagged | Leave a comment

Learn Chinese language and traditional Chinese instruments at UBB.

Posted on February 27, 2026 by Fatca Pop

Institutul Confucius (at UBB) is offering courses in chinese language, caligraphy, and music.  The deadline to sign up is 2 March 2026. Chinese language courses Beginner Tuesday, 7-8.30 For other levels, see the confucius institute’s website.  You will find options … Continue reading →

Posted in education | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment