Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

I parked myself in my seat and was ready for anything with my second class ticket. I am going to enjoy this trip. I will get to see the countryside as I ease into a different way of life. There are six seats in the cabin (or whatever they call it), and my bags are in two of them and have filled the overhead luggage racks. The other passengers arrived and we were off.

We left the station. It is amazing how nice this train really is. The outside looks like it could be pre-WWII, but inside is clean and relatively new - much better than I thought it would be. People have been looking at me ever since I landed in Europe. It could be the excessive luggage. I have one bag full of winter clothes to leave here. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Lugging it around has made me wonder. Another bag is full of books, stationary, and books for the seminars. One is computer equipment. There is only one overhead bag with my clothes and such. If I wasn’t a teacher I could probably travel much easier.

I have met so many friendly people here in Romania. These two are Ukranian, but they live in Bucharest. They are heading home to visit family today. We talked for most of the trip north. He is an engineer and works with the kneeling buses across Russia and Eastern Europe. She travels with her husband and helps with the business. They were very informative about Romania and its customs. They helped me get all the luggage off the train in Suceava and put me in a taxi to Gura Humorului before they left for their own trip. Once again, Romanians have been wonderful.

Boby, the taxi driver from Sucrava does not speak English. I really need to learn the language – life would be so much easier. I explain that I want to go to the police station. He gets a funny look in his eye and calls a friend who does speak English. After I explain that I do not have the address for Cristina, he understands.

We took the scenic route. It was breath-taking. Driving up and down big hills. (I would call them mountains, but I have been corrected several times that they are not mountains.) Back and forth as the road snakes its way up and down the hills, around trees and houses. There is a stretch where I feel at home. Construction slows us down for a few miles. We are completely stopped at one point.

There are not very many cars out on the roads. It is as if I have dropped into a history book. We passed more horse and wagons than cars on the way. It is a twenty minute drive during which we passed seventeen horses, I counted. It is raining, but I can’t resist opening the window to smell the fresh air.