Beautiful Romania

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By train and car to and from Iasi

So, now that you've read about our trip to Moldova, you may be wondering "How the heck did they get there & back?" Well, we traveled through some of the most beautiful countryside in the world, in my humble opinion. And, we traveled there in the most stress free way-by train.

Traveling by train in Romania is one of my most favorite travel activities. The lovely and varied scenery, the click clack of the rails, the gentle sway of the carriage, the unique churches and villages all combine together to weave an unforgettable experience. I was also blessed on this trip to have an interesting traveling companion, Christina Semon. As I've mentioned, Christina is a young Orthodox Christian missionary who has dedicated several years of her life to helping the poor, specifically by working with Floyd Frantz in the St. Dimitrie program for alcohol and drug addiction education and recovery. She also works with Ancuta Frantz in the Protection of the Theotokos Family Center which helps disadvantaged single mothers keep their babies. According to the UNICEF, over 9,000 children are abandoned in Romania each year and Ancuta's program is instrumental in preventing even more abandonments. Christina's loving service is of great benefit to both programs. You can see Christina's website at http://www.ocmc.org/missionaries/view_missionary.aspx?MissionaryId=7

We left Cluj at about noon. Christina had never traveled by train in Romania but I've experienced this joy a number of times. However, one should be aware of the challenges (including limited facilities and supplies) and arm one's self appropriately. Among locals, this particular train is known as Tranul Foame, or The Hunger Train, because it starts early in the morning in Timisoara and travels for more than 12 hours across a large part of the country to the end of the line in Iasi (pronounced Yash) near the border with Moldovia. Therefore, we packed a large bag of water, bread, cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers and of course CHOCOLATE (never leave home without it). We also laid in a good supply of hand sanitizer, baby wipes, toilet paper and soap. Sometimes these things aren't available and it's best to be prepared. We were lucky in that our 6 seat compartment was relatively clean and uncrowded-just an older man traveling the entire way and a woman who got off after about 2 hours.

The scenery we saw was just magnificent. I've included a few pictures here but they cannot do the countryside justice. Green hills, interesting villages with soaring church steeples, bucolic scenes of farms and animals, blue skys and fresh air through the ever-open windows. Just relax, enjoy the view, sway to the click clack of the rails and arrive unstressed if tired.

We were met by Floyd Frantz, who had traveled to Iasi several days before to meet with Father Julian, a local priest who is successfully partnering with Floyd to start several AA groups and offer educational programs to doctors, nurses, social workers, priests and other professionals. The news that alcoholism is a disease and that treatment and recovery are possible is common knowledge in the USA but virtually unknown here. Alcoholism and substance abuse are increasingly pervasive; reported cases have doubled in the past 4 years so Christina, Floyd and Fr. Julian are bringing much needed help to those devastated by this disease which affects not only individuals but families and the community. One of the reasons I'm such a supporter of Floyd and Ancuta, and now Christina and also Father Ioan in Moldovia is that their work addresses and solves one of the main underlying problems of poverty: alcoholism. Having had personal experience with the devasting effects of this disease, and knowing how people can be transformed through AA and achieving sobriety, I am compelled to assist them however I can.

We stayed at a local monastery. (Monasteries in Romania can have either nuns or monks). By the time we arrived, the gates had been closed for the night.
Thank goodness Christina is quite a good athlete, having played Division 1 softball in college. So, with a quick boost from Floyd, she easily climbed over the fence and got a nun to open the gate. Yes, we broke into the monastery! We were all laughing so hard any fatigue from the trip was quickly forgotten.

The nuns have wisely built a guest house for visitors and we had a nice room with shared bath down the hall, and HOT WATER. One appreciates the finer things in life, like hot water and indoor plumbing, when traveling in Eastern Europe. In fact, such travel can be life-changing because not only are you confronted with how most of the rest of the world lives, but you are challenged to ask yourself “how much do I really need?” and “how can I use my abundant blessings to help those who have so little?” It always brings me such a dose of gratitude to travel here, gratitude that I have the honor and privilege to help others, and gratitude for all the blessings God showers me with on a daily basis, if only I will take time to notice and appreciate them as well as share them. This is the “Secret Power” of giving: the more I help others, the more I am blessed myself.

After our trip to Moldova, we traveled back to Cluj with Floyd in his van, by a mountain route. The first night, we stayed near the Voronet monastery, which will be the subject of my next blog.

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