Pensiune Minion Suceava

... and amongst themselves.

We discuss the economics of the hostel. Roughly, she pulls in $1,000/mo in revenue. $600/mo pays her rental costs. She has another $100/mo in utilities. It is enough to pay her bills and in Romania, she is doing pretty well. The extra $ comes in from tours and she freelances as a limo driver for one of the big hotels. She had a 3 AM airport pickup later this evening. She works really hard.

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!

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 ...

... ceea ce
inamicii caselor de lemn, considera ca fiind marele lor dezavantaj –
rezistenta la foc si daunatori, si faptul ca o casa de lemn scartaie.


Vanzari Case Lemn

O casa de lemn este cum nu se poate mai binefacatoare. Dupa anumite
studii, bine cunoscute de medici, constructiile din lemn, inclusiv
casele de lemn nu intrerup campul ...

... and where cows and horse-drawn carts are a very common cause of traffic jams on the road. Many of the young men of the region have gone to work in Western Europe and they send money back home which is used to built these new houses, but the old traditional culture is still very much alive in these parts. One wonders though what will happen to this culture when all the young men come back...

... with Voronet, then Humor, then Sucevita, before driving to Suceava for the night. The monasteries are Romanian Orthodox and the outside of all of them are completely covered with religious paintings. They were built in the 15th and 16th centuries and the paintings serve to tell the religious stories to the peasants who might not have been able to read. They're pretty amazing although the devil is portrayed as a woman at Humor - I'll let you make ...

... when Lonely Planet came out with their latest "Romania and Moldova" featuring her establishment as an "Author's Choice." She says she hadn't even known who the reviewer was until she got the book and looked at his picture. I guess Lonely Planet's sneaky that way. In the spring, visitors started pouring in and three years later, business is going strong, with a new location opened this summer. Matt and ...

... ability to see clearly and focus for the first time in their lives. Most kids in the US are treated with glasses for crossed eyes, but when the children are older, the only option is surgery. The surgery takes about 30-45 minutes and there is virtually no blood. It is very cool to watch. We have the opportunity to watch surgery here and can get right up next to the patient or stand over the surgeon's shoulder. Tomorrow, there are some orthopedic cases and they are ...

... so I'd have no chance of missing it, which was very kind of him. As I descended, I asked him about return buses, only to have him confirm my suspicions: there weren't any until tomorrow morning. Hitchhiking time again, evidently. There was a little problem at this point though. Not long out of Suceava, the rain began and it showed no sign of ceasing upon arrival in Arbore. I did have my umbrella though, so at least I could stay fairly dry. But then there was another, more ...

... main city was going to be really dull, but there were a smattering of sites, like some beautiful churches and an old fortress. And guess what? I got caught in a thunderstorm, my third thunderstorm of the trip (Arles, Venice, now Suceava)!! And I hear Seattle weather is perfect these days! So that was a wonderful day. Also, this is my first experience on this trip with a hostel. I kind of hate the hostel/backpacker idea. I ...

... look at a room and to meet her daughter, who could speak English. The room was ok, so we took it, and started planning as we had some walking to do to see four of these monasteries Voronet From our guest house, it is around 6 Kilometres to the monastery. We decided to walk it after being told that there was no public transport. After about a K, a guy picked us up and drove us there. He would not take any money, so we did not force him. After entering a huge wall to ...