Amadeo Iasi

... Moldova. So, here I was, a fugitive in the country! I didn't know how I would be able to get thru control if I didn't have any entry stamp. How can you stamp out if you hadn't stamped in?

I took a cab to immigration downtown, but it was very early (and Saturday-I traveled on the weekend, my own rule that I had broken. Anyway, since it was so early, I went to a coffee shop, and found a backpacker ...

... frescos. Each is surrounded by a fortification and flowers growing around its courtyard. In our last monastery, the nuns are beginning mass. They are chanting. It is only us as observers in the tiny interior. Pretty amazing.

Since the nuns get out rarely and transport costs are very high relative to local salaries, Monica turns out to be the transport provider for many of them as they send goods to/from their ...

... me with the info on the one bus and calls to confirm that it will be running. Until this point, I was not even sure that it was possible (without backtracking way South to get around the mountains). Valerie, the only other person at the hostel, is on the same bus. The bus is an experience. It is a 7 hour trip and apparently such luxuries as shock absorbers are skipped. The music is awful, a mix of 50% Romanian folk, 30% urban, 20% euro-pop. The ride itself is beautiful. The ...

... Anyway, there’s nothing around the bus station- which IS a real bus station at least, not just a vacant parking lot, complete with onward transport to Moldova- so I finally grab a taxi to go find my hotel. It seems like a long way at first, but not so bad really. The taxi drivers here actually use their meters at least, unlike Bucharest, so that’s a relief. He’s so happy when I tell him to keep the change on a ...

... just finding a hotel and continuing the journey the next day but I figured I had gotten this far and I might as well at least try to get to Moldova in one go. But it was now decided for me, I would be spending the night in Iasi. Got to a hotel that was mentioned in the guidebook and unpacked things from my backpack as it had been raining the whole time I was outside and my pack was wet. It wasn't drenched completely but a few things needed to be hung up and I'm sure everything ...

Iasi is one of the larger cities of Romania. We got here on the heels of an adventurous car road trip of about 400km, which took about 8 hours to do, due to the vagaries of driving on Romanian roads. It is prettier than Bucharest and has a certain provincial charm, though it does not feel at all like a small city. Tavi's godparents live here and it was a pleasure to visit them, as ...

Spent one night in the Iasi (pronounced more like Yash to my ears). A few hours walking around the city, and I ended in church. I just kinda followed where all the other people were walking, next thing I know I'm standing in a line behind a few people to go into a small Romania orthodox church. I though it unusual that there were 2 cantors, and so many people were making sign of the cross. Then I realize that the line goes by a glass case, and every one is ...

And on to my final destination of this longer-than-originally-intended visit to Romania. Formerly the capital of the medieval state of Moldavia, Iasi is a city that carries the weight of a great deal of Romania's cultural heritage. It even edged out Bucharest as the capital of the unified state of Romania in the mid-19th century (then took up the mantle again during World War I when Bucharest was occupied by the Central Powers). Many of Romania's most celebrated poets ...

... would catch train to Iasi pronounced Yash so we went back to station. Lehel phoned the guy up and he said he couldn't make it but still he didn't want to join me. So I brought ticket and gave Lehel the tent and map. The ticket didn't match the schedule so a helpful local English speaker helped me out and the train arrived after 10m and Lehel helped me on with the bike. Changed train at Suceava with a bit of a struggle and helped on next train by ...

... im Hof angerufen hatte, bevor er mir dass Portemonnaie entriss). Dort blieb er 1,5 Jahre... und dann sass er auf einmal im Minibus neben mir, und wollte ein deutsches Maedchen von mir kaufen, fuer 2000 Euro plus einer Moldauerin... Nach meinem Workcamp (darueber spaeter) ging der Prozess in die naechste Runde. Ich brachte meine Freundin als Uebersetzerin - sie geht noch ans Gymnasium, ist also nicht offiziell legitimiert, wurde aber anerkannt, weil die Gerichtsuebersetzer nicht ...