Tineretea Hotel Balti

... It turned out he was a native, and also SPOKE ENGLISH! So, he helped me out alot! We went later to visit immigration people, and they told him "no problem". So, I felt a little better.

I decided that I wanted to leave; it was raining, chilly, and I had not booked a hostel, so I said! "I've had enough!"

so Andre and I headed for the 2nd bus station in the city. (I had arrived at the first ...

... that’s worth- probably not much- though in South Africa that’d be gold. Actually it’s about the most sullen bunch of people I’ve seen in ages. Is it just me, or are these some unfriendly mother-flippers? It’s not the staff, mind you, but the travelers mostly. The staff are almost TOO friendly, in the Turkish or Thai way, such that you might doubt their sincerity, though I don’t. I doubt ...

... s notable, probably more notable than the city of Iasi, actually.

I do the obligatory walk around town, and it’s not bad, but nothing spectacular, the most notable feature being that everything- hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza- is weighed and measured. I even buy a Romanian-English textbook/dictionary, albeit intended for Romanians learning English, but quickly tire of it. There’s something in the Romanian personality ...

... they seemed to live the same as we did in the West and the first impression you got when you saw them in their smart copycat Western clothes is one of normality. They have tarmacked roads and modern looking shops, transport, banks and schools, all the indications of Western society. But these things are only there to mislead you, and it will not take long for the reality of the place to hit you right between the eyes. Everything that we take for granted ...

... to the north bus station, only to realized we needed to be at the central bus station (strike two for Lonely Planet and Chisinau buses) we finally headed out. The drive through the Moldovan countryside was gorgeous with rolling hills and beautiful foliage. Alighting in the town of Orhei, we negotiated a taxi for 250 Lei ($22) to take us 20 minutes through more fall beauty to the monastery. Like Crimea, Moldova's ...

... edge of the highway. Thankfully, most were tied up. Mile after mile of vineyards, and then orchards. Police stopping vehicles everywhere. Horse-drawn wagons driven by old and young alike. Old ladies with babushkas selling mushrooms, walnuts or other goods by the side of the road. People leading a single cow down the road. Trucks belching great clouds of black smoke. People harvesting walnuts with ...

... then hop off at a turn-off for the village of Ivancea, from where you can taxi onwards. Conveniently, the taxi wound up cheaper than expected - only $10 for round-trip transport, with two-hour wait time included. I'm pretty sure I got gouged on the return minivan I picked up, as it was about four times the price of the outbound one, but by Western prices, it was still a very cheap day. I didn't think there was much to the place when I first rolled in. Once you get ...

... went strangely smoothly. Cycled through beautiful tree lined roads to next big town 25k away and found a bank atm which didn't work so went inside. Asked for 1000 and cashier who didn't speak English tried card and said it wouldn't work so I persuaded her to make a few phone calls and it did. Took ages and I had to go and get my passport with big queue forming, She said it would cost $20 and I went ballistic so another phone call and ...

... finden, der fuer 15 Euro den "Karborator" reinigt und mal dagegen schlaegt - sodass der Passat wieder perfekt laeuft. Ist das interessant? Die Kinder sind aufgeweckt, aber ihnen fehlen die Eltern, die im Ausland arbeiten, trinken, oder einfach zu viele Kinder haben. 10 Geschwister sind nicht aussergewoehnlich. Es gibt den starken Jungen, der auf den Haenden laeuft; die rothaarige liebenswerte Kuenstlerin, die uns gegen ihre Atersgenossinen verteidigt, nachdem Cris und ich den ...

With this small exhibition, actually initiated through my application for ECLA, I want to show some of my dearest pictures that I already worked out to digitalize. I will give critics to where I would improve the picture if I could take it again, so you yourselves can improve while watching them. But of course a short hint to the story behind the picture as well, because though an image should speak for ...