Central Suceava

... 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. <br><br>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 ...

Before I leave the hostel, I get my laundry back. It has been 24 hours and the laundry is folded but is very wet. I am guessing that they had it had been drying outside when the rain hit last night. Yuck!<br><br>I am crossing the mountains to get to the Northeast section of Romania, apparently an uncommon path. There is only one mini-bus per day. The availability of such buses is difficult to ascertain until one is actually at the departing location. The hostel is able to ...

... de molid<br>uscat 18 %. Lemnul poate fi tratat clasa IV ( la etuva ), cu vopsele<br>sau lacuri ecologice pe baza de apa , acestea asigurand o rezistenta<br>foarte mare in timp ( nuante pentru vopsele si lacuri la alegere din<br>paleta noastra de culori ).<br><br> <br><br><br> <br>Modelele pot fi diverse si se pot executa pe orice dimensiuni. Tansportul si montajul pot fi ...

... distinctive because they are painted on the outside as well as on the inside. They are rather unique and charming and we had the good fortune of visiting some of the most famous: Putna, Voronet, Sucevita and Moldovita. To do that, we had to drive around rural roads, in a bucolic region where the houses are new, huge and gorgeous, but where the local people still dress like they did a century ...

... in that painting. Nor does it have anything to do with members of the gentler sex being the guardians of hell. It might be that the Orthodox priests weren't comfortable with all these nuns running the place. Painted monasteries are very nice. But mostly it's the settings - like the absolute magic of a Japanese temple settled in the mist of mountains and pine trees, these places are sublime. So quiet and peaceful - except for all the funny dogs!!

... used for services for the general public. Since most were founded as monastic communities, I'm not sure that they were ever really used as the "Sunday" church for the locals. Each was built in early to mid 1500's, with painting completed anywhere from 5 to 50 years after built. While not unusual to paint interior of orthodox church, painting the exterior was unique to this northeastern part of Romania. Not found anywhere else in the world. Many of the scenes are repeated at ...

... I hope to pick up something today if I can find the right piece. It's not really my thing, but I know what Julie likes so that helps :-) Tonight, we meet our translators for one final goodbye at the train station. The train comes about 11:00 and we travel all night to Bucharest. It is a neat experience, but still pretty rustic. The trains are from the 50s and 60s, but not bad. We share sleeper compartments with a roommate and the beds are short and space is ...

... very busy day. The scheduling desk is up and running and it is going to be a busy week for everyone. We have a great group of people and I have met some new friends and seen some old ones, too. I have a very nice translator who is very bright. Her mom cooks lunches for us and her brother also translates so I have met her before. The hospital was pretty busy today with patients, but tomorrow will be the true test of how the week will go. Well, my time is up here ! More tomorrow ! Mark

Wow, has today ever been a memorable day. Without question, it's been the most unexpectedly crazy days of this trip in terms of how events unfolded. What started as a seemingly straight-forward plan of a little looking around Suceava, followed by a couple daytrips out to nearby towns by bus, went terribly wrong somewhere along the way. It actually began perfectly according to plan. I got up at 8, got myself together and headed straight down to the ruins of Suceava's former Cetatea de ...

Beautiful weather again after an interlude of rain and cold, and I've now moved on to the northeast of the country. Getting from the Székelyföld to Southern Bucovina isn't the most direct of routes, but fortunately there was one relatively painless maxitaxi connection leaving this morning. The ride took nearly five and a half hours though, so my mp3 player saw a lot of action. Then as soon as I got in, I phoned up the hostel I'd arranged to stay in, and got a ...