Chisinau - day 1

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When I woke up I determined to just 'wing it' for my path to Chisinau. I had two problems to solve. One was to be sure my phone had roaming and the other was to make a confirmation with the hotel. My trolley was falling apart. The repair 'took,' but the quality of the contraption was really not up to such constant use. A taxi took me to the proper place and I quickly sussed-out that a bus left for Chisinau in about an hour.

The road across the border was quite rough, which surprised me because I would have taken this to be a major border crossing between the two countries. But even on the map it shows as a secondary road. I knew I was in a foreign country by the cyrillic letters on the signs and the appearance of the Russian language from time to time around me. The nervousness of the trip played hell with my stomach and I lamented the fact there was no rest stop in the offing. After we entered the city limits of Chisinau a guy on the bus helped and suggested the place to get off and pointed out a taxi. I arrived at the hotel and was able to acquire a room in Chisinau's oldest such establishment. And one with a internet cafe in the lobby, to boot!

I wandered back to an EU Day promotional event in the center. that I noticed coming in I'm not sure exactly the point, except maybe to simply get people used to the idea and maybe just to do some business. I missed the live bands and was left with the question of what is even remotely interesting about watching a guy on stage spin records. I had something labeled as a "cone pizza," but it was nothing more than a pre-manufactured 'wrap' with some veggies and meat inside, though it was amde memorable by necessitating a visit to a portable WC in the park. It was not a pretty sight. Neither Romania nor Moldova have free public toliets. There is always someone nearby lurking, waiting to collect "Un Leu."

After buying a few small souvenirs from street vendors I made it back to the hotel. I finally hooked-up with a local net friend and after a comedy of errors finally made my way to the apartment that she and her boyfriend share. We chatted away for hours. I was the first American they had ever met in real life. I got back to the hotel as dawn broke.

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Comments

[Vali]

Re: free public toilets
John, The best idea is to use the restrooms in gas stations. The facilities are usually clean (sometimes they even spark!), properly equipped and always free of charge.

[JohnUSA]

when nature calls... nature calls...

[mariana]

there are free public toilets in Bucharest :)
"Neither Romania nor Moldova have free public toliets." not true, dear John :) there are many public toilets in Bucharest, you'll see them when you'll arrive here. As for the tax of "un leu", i think it's good even this way, instead of no public toilet, right? :) hope after the crisis more and more place in Ro to have them :) enjoy your tour :)

[JohnUSA]

you betcha
I was just making a comment. But free toilets, freely available to the general public are rather few.