Southeastern Europe Travel Diary Part Nine

3.12. 21:11
Where do I start? I’ve been busy those last two days. Yesterday I met an American guy in the hostel and he joined me in visiting the famous Bran castle. It was a really nice castle, but for me personally, there was too much made-up stuff about the whole Dracula thing and it was way too touristy. I liked the Peles Castle way better.

After that, we went hiking up to Tampa, a famous viewing platform. The view at Brasov really was great, and the hike was exhausting but good.

To not lose time, we took the gondola back down and went for some traditional Romanian food. It was really good.

Soon enough, it was time for me to leave for my last stop in Romania, Focsani. I arrived in the dark, so I didn’t see much and was exhausted from the day, so I went to sleep right away. The next day, I got to see more, and as I had already spent so much time in Romania, I was eager to leave for Moldova. But first, I wanted to donate my clothes. There were Orthodox chuches about every kilometre, and locals suggested that these churches might accept my donations. At the first one, I didn’t enter because it sounded like there was a service going on. At the second, I asked a worker outside, and he told me that I should go to the other church (as if there was only one). Communication wasn’t easy because they didn’t speak English, so I used Google Translate. At the third church, I joined two women on their way in. I asked one of them, and although I wasn’t sure she understood me, she gestured me to walk in. So, for the first time in my life, I entered an Orthodox church. It was small and only a handful of people inside, and I got to see a little of the rituals. There was an automated (at least that was my impression) voice, and it seemed like a sermon. I quietly told the lady at the entrance what I wanted, and when she gestured to me, yes, I was happy. She showed me that I could bring my stuff to the small building next to the church. When she opened it, I saw that there were already a few boxes there, so I was really happy that I found the right place. She helped me carry the stuff and I hope that they will like it.

Three quarters of my car emptier, I finally drove to Moldova. At the border, I had to open my car, but as usual, there weren’t any problems. Again, I was lucky to have been on this side because, on the other side, there were even more trucks than at the last border crossing. It looked like they would be stuck for a week, at least! Once again, the cars had to use “my” lane to pass them. Moldova is not included in my internet plan, but it was very easy to drive there. The streets are in a really bad shape but still better than Albania’s. At first, it was pretty quiet, but obviously, the closer I got to the city, the heavier the traffic. Luckily, it was Sunday, so it wasn’t too bad. Even more luck, I found a parking spot (but only because my car is small enough to fit in) right at my accommodation. I was really looking forward to this one, as the photos looked really good and the ratings were very high, plus I would spend 4 days here. And it didn’t disappoint. In fact, it’s one of the nicest accommodations I’ve ever stayed in, pretty much like the one in Thessaloniki, only bigger. After settling in, washing my laundry, and having lunch/dinner, I made my way to the centre of Chisinau and rushed to be able to still make it to the National History Museum. I didn’t do a lot of research on Moldova, but I found out at the museum that they declared their independence only in 1991. So it wasn’t surprising that there wasn’t much history to tell. There were only descriptions of the pieces that were displayed, but unfortunately, there were almost no background stories. One thing that was pretty interesting, though, was an exhibition with press photos that’s meant to point out the importance of press freedom. It showed many current situations, like pictures of the war in Ukraine or the situation in Afghanistan, as well as things that are going on in South America.

Afterwards, I went to a cute park and stumbled across a big Christmas market. I checked it out, and it was really interesting. The Christmas markets so far are pretty much the same in every country, including Austria. This one also had live music and a bobslide. There wasn’t snow, so for me, it was interesting to find out that people slide without snow. It reminded me of Copenhill in Copenhagen, where you can ski without snow, and the concept looked the same. Growing up in Austria, I guess it would never feel right to me to do either of those things without snow.

It was already getting late, but I saw a few more interesting buildings and landmarks like the Triumphal Arch, the Metropolitan cathedral, or the Ciuflea Monastery. It continues to amaze me how much money there is for the huge and pretty buildings of churches and how many homeless people are sleeping on the street in the cold winter. I’ve seen enough churches to know there would be more than enough space for each and every one. One building that really impressed me, however, was the Parliament. I’ve never seen a Parliament this pretty anywhere.

Before going back “home,” I bought some groceries at Kaufland, a German chain. I’ve already noticed this in other countries, but I was surprised to also see it in Moldova, that there are many groceries in German. I wouldn’t have thought to find that here. Anyway, I made my way back, had dinner and now I’ll go to sleep.


7.12. 20:39
It’s been a few days, but I had to work in Chisinau and therefore only took walks at night and one time in the morning to see it by daylight. I really liked Moldova and can recommend visiting this country. This morning after breakfast, I started heading towards Ukraine. I did have some doubts after my research, but I was determined to see what the situation would be like at the border. I believed, if I shouldn’t go, I would get a sign there. When three quarters of my journey were already behind me, a police car stopped me and asked for my papers. They checked and also asked if I had a vignette for the road. I didn’t, and they told me that it’s a problem and I needed to get it done. The officer went back to the police car to his colleague, and I thought that they would give me a fine to pay. I was really surprised when he got back into the car and they just drove off. I was really confused. Were they coming back? What was I supposed to do? After a few minutes, I continued my drive and stopped at the next gas station to ask about it. They couldn’t speak English, but when I said ‘Vinjeta’, they just answered ‘No’. I was even more confused. I continued the drive and wondered if the police just said it as an excuse to stop me. When I arrived at the border, I learned more about it. The Moldovan officer didn’t speak English, but she got a colleague from the Ukrainian side, and he translated. She told me that I needed to get back to the last checkpoint house (50 metres) to her supervisor to pay a fine because I didn’t have the vignette. So I parked my car and walked back where two officers were waiting for me. They were THE friendliest people ever. They greeted me nicely (one of them in German) and asked how I was. Then, they communicated in Russian a bit and finally told me that I would only have to buy the vignette for 4 days and didn’t have to pay the fine. I thanked them, and one of the officers walked me to the place to buy it. There were many people there, we had to wait about 30 minutes and talked a lot. I found out that he was from Slovakia and he asked me about where I travelled and what I liked most. Turned out that I would already have needed a vignette in Romania, and he couldn’t believe that nobody so far had told me about it. ‘Lucky girl,’ he said, and finally, I got the papers done, and they sent me back, but not before wishing me a merry Christmas in German and safe travels. The atmosphere was so nice and easy, no one asked me about why I would travel to Ukraine in the current situation, which was all the confirmation I needed to know that I was doing the right thing. Now, it was time for the checks on the Ukrainian side, and they were very thorough. I even had to open my suitcases and they checked my spare tire, no one else had done that yet. Finally, they wished me a pleasant stay and again, everyone was very friendly and no one wondered why I would come to visit now.

I continued my drive, and the villages I passed were all very busy. There were many people on the streets, a lot more than in many of the other places I’ve been during this trip. There was absolutely no sign of an ongoing war. I arrived at my first stop, Chernivtsi, and was welcomed by my host. He showed me the bunker when we entered (I asked him before I arrived), and told me that the bunker system was 30.000 metres long and the people in Chernivtsi don’t use the bunkers. I asked him about the alerts on the app, and he said,’When we work, we continue to work’. He told me that Chernivtsi has never been shelled, not in the two World wars and not now. The only thing that has ever been destroyed was one synagogue. Nothing else. The only thing I should oblige was the curfew, which takes place every night from midnight to 5 a.m. He recommended coming back home at 10 p.m. and during the curfew, it wasn’t allowed to walk outside. As I’m sleeping anyway during those hours, I didn’t see a problem. After settling in, I went for a small walk to the centre and was amazed, how beautiful it was. It started to snow and looked like a Christmas movie. People were enjoying it, going for drinks and having fun. I did not feel at all like I was in a country of war.

Before I went back, I bought some groceries. Then I cooked dinner and now I’m enjoying the evening with a book.