Whistlestop Wanderjahr: Moldova

After an unusually busy summer week, including some excellent meeting and greeting with the new group of volunteers, I finally made my way to the Chisinau airport to pick up my parents. This was the the zero hour of a 3+ week trip from the Republic of Moldova to Germany. In this trip, I am the guide (at least for the Romanian-speaking areas) and the passenger, as my parents (read: mom) have designed the overall itinerary. It's a great plan, of course, although its pitfall thus far appears to be the inordinately short amount of time we plan to spend in each town. With an average of one day at each place, this trip will feel more like a series of whistle-stop blitzes than the plodding, meandering wanderjahrs to which I am more accustomed. Still, the company is great, and I certainly can't complain about the amazing places I'll get to see.

Stop one: Moldova. This includes the Republic of Moldova as well as the Moldova regions of Romania -- primarily Suceava. At the airport in Chisinau, my parents and I are met by our driver for the next few days: Boris, one essential part of a family business run primarily by a Moldovan woman, named Marisha. Although I had never heard of Marisha before, my parents seems sold on her, and her successful little tourism business happily led my parents and I on walking tours of Chisinau and Orheiul Veche. Boris served as our driver for the whole bit, and our lovely and knowledgeable guide, Elena, made my parents feel very comfortable and well-attended.

After our time with Marisha's tours had concluded, we made our way to my work site. My parents seemed thrilled to see the town in which I work and live, as well as to meet so many of the people with whom I interact, daily. The highlights of our time in my town were the piaţa, the city hall (with a special sit-down with the mayor), visits to my school and an NGO in town, and of course my former host family. I made sure to give them a thorough tour of the town, despite its hills and stray dogs, as it is part of a culture that is completely new to them. The only person I regrettably was not able to introduce to them was the priest with whom I am acquainted. Next time...

Following our time in my town, we made the slightly troublesome journey to Suceava, Romania. I had been to Suceava the previous winter, but I was excited to see the area and its famous, painted monasteries without all the snow. Thanks to that brilliant aforementioned planning, our entire stay in Suceava was in the Dragomirna monastery. This is an old, walled convent in perfect condition, entirely populated by kind, warm-hearted nun who gladly conversed with us and welcomed us into their home. We would find out later that staying at this monastery is really only possible due to a woman (Monika) who personally knows many of the nuns and happens to run tourism services out of her High Class Hostel in Suceava. While the church at the monastery was absent any external paint, we got our fill from Monika's driving tour of the painted monasteries, including those at Humor, Voroneţ, Moldoviţa, and Suceviţa. Each of these featured some special characteristic, all of which Monika was more than qualified to explain. The only monastery in the area that we passed up, but which fully deserves a future visit, is that at which Ştefan cel Mare's mother was a nun (featured in a common bit of history for the area), and where that same great leader is buried -- Putna monastery.

We spent a fulfilling two days in Suceava, which is more than we will stay in any other stop on the trip, from there on. Even still, two days was far too few to explore all that we wanted before making our way to our next destination -- Braşov. And while we were anxious to see the so-called home of Vlad "Ţepeş" Drăculea (better known to those in the west as Dracula, or Vlad III the Impaler), we were also sad to have to leave the beautiful scenery and friendly people of Suceava.

Then again, having not seen any real mountains for over a year, I was more than ready to board that train and make our way into the Carpathians. We left Braşov, today, so check back later for the synopsis in a day or two.