I usually do not enjoy tour guides, but the rural part of Romania I wanted to visit seemed to necessitate a guide unless I wanted to rent and drive a car. So, I did some research and found a guide named Ciprian (pronounced Chiprian) Slemcho. If anyone is heading to Romania, I recommend him highly.
Chernivtsi is about a 90 minute drive from Suceava (pron Sue-cha-va), Romania, and that is inclusive of about a 30 minute wait at the border. Chernivtsi is exactly 24 miles from the Romanian border so I thought it was ridiculous for me to come all this way and not experience Romania. Plus, I REALLY wanted to see the Romanian Orthodox painted monasteries in Bucovina, which were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993, and I felt that since I am living in the northern part of a historic region (Bucovina) that is now divided between 2 countries, I should get to know the southern part of Bucovina as well. Everything else in Romania was going to be gravy.
The day started when Chip came to pick me up in Chernivtsi. As someone who also does guided tours of Chernivtsi, he was able to offer some good suggestions. On the way out of town, he told me about the village of Voloca a few minutes drive outside of Chernivtsi, which I had heard about bc there are supposed to be some very nice homes there and I thought it might be a good place to spend a few hours one day if I could figure out how to get there and back. Ciprian told us that most of the people living there are Romanian. We also passed Spider, which he described as Chernivtsi’s whore house. OK. He told us about the malls, Ecutor and Maydan, and Metro, a European supermarket. He also said we had to try Greek, a restaurant in Chernivtsi that has good pancakes (pancakes are a desert here) and something called jharksee which sounds like meat and veggies cooked in a pot, similar to what is frequently served in Istanbul. We also drove through some pretty forest in southern Ukraine on our way to the border.
We passed through the area around Sterce and then arrived at the border with Romania.
On the ride, conversation turned, as it frequently does with people around here, to Jews in America. “Is it true that 70% of your US Congress is made of Jews?” I’ve noticed 3 topics that people in this part of the world want to discuss with me: American obesity, Jews in America, and former President Bush. I have heard crooked politicians described as “Bushies” and have heard him totally trashed here. People in this part of the world really, really do not like him.
I’ve been giving some thought to the fascination with Jews in America. I think it must be based in the fact that Jews were so discriminated against in this area. I was told that when things have gone badly here, historically, it was always blamed on Jews. And, the Jews who survived the War left this area for Israel and the US. So when some people here hear that Jews are doing well in America, I think there is a fascination there.
By the way (as landlady Lliliana often says), President Obama is not immune to criticism either. This past Wednesday I told my students more about their research paper assignment. I told them they could pick any topic in US History that interested them, as long as it fell between 1776 and 2010. One student I spoke with afterwards asked me if he could do his paper on President Obama. I said sure, that he was indeed a very interesting man with a fascinating political career thus far and that there were many topics he could select in relation to the president. His response? I want my topic to be “Obama As a Liar.” Hmm…I must have given him the international, “tell me more” look. He said that Obama promised to end the war and remove troops from Afghanistan and now he is sending more. Ah.
So the conversation about Jews in America reached a natural breaking point when we approached the border. I had heard some horror stories about bribes, etc. and so I was looking forward to getting this over with. Because we had no alcohol, we tried to go through the fast, green “diplomatic” line but had some trouble getting it bc there was work being done. So, we tried to squeeze through some cars to get there faster.
I took this photo from outside my window.At the border stop, which adds an extra 30-45 minutes even if when you are in your own car and are going through the "diplomatic" line. I had been warned to expect to pay unofficial border fees ("gifts" to the Ukrainian border guards, if you will), which we did (50 UAH). I had also been warned that crossing might be difficult. Well, I have heard all this business about Ukrainian customs people, police, border guards, etc. We have been treated, knock on wood, with nothing but striaght up legitimate treatment (excepting the standard unofficial fee). They found out I am American and, at least at the border, didn't ever bother with us.
Evidently cigarette prices in Ukraine are half what they are in Romania and so some people make a living as cigarette smugglers. Cigarette smuggling is evidently a huge problem at this border crossing bc Chernivtsi is the place to buy bc of the Kalina Market, the market I went to a few weeks ago. I was informed that there is a significant mafia presence in the market.
Speaking of law and order, last week a Ukrainian policeman came to the flat in plain clothes and didn't speak any English, but of course had his badge. I had no idea why there was a policeman in my apartment. I called Andriy, who assured him everything was fine, and the policeman left. On Tuesday, there is a knock at the door. I am expecting 2 boxes to be delivered that were sent from Norton Publishing to the US Embassy for me via the diplomatic pouch. My trip companion opens the doors with the chain still on it to see who it is and sees not 1, not 2, but 3 uniformed police officers. I am quietly working away in another room and have no idea what is gong on. So after 60 seconds or so I yelled something and received the response, "Uh, Court, there are 3 policemen here." WHAT?
They asked for both our passports, and wanted to know where I was working. I tried calling several people but my phone had just run out of credits (mobile phones here work differently...no contract, so you continue to put credits on the phone as you need them) and so I couldn't use my phone. I used the landline to get Lilliana who completlely told these guys off. This one young police officer hung up the phone laughing and grinning in an embarrased way and they gave us big smiles and immediately left.
Evidently one of the niehgbors saw us, became suspicious, and called the police. Mykola and Lilliana have assured me the university will handle all this and everything will be OK. So far it has been...At the border, we went through 3 different stations. Before we approached the first one, I gave Chip 50 hyrvnias for the unofficial border crossing fees for the Ukrainian border guards, if you know what I mean. They didn’t give us any trouble though, just doing their job. The second one checked our car…nothing to report or claim. At the last one, Chip went into the station with our passports and then came back and said that they wanted to see us bc we are American. Uh oh. We walked in, the Romanian guards looked at us, and said OK. That’s it?
Easy breezy, no problem. And, while Chip was still doing something inside one of the guards came over to us and said, “So, you live in America. What are you doing here?” Evidently Americans are not common in these parts. Imagine that. He spoke beautiful English, something I have come to realize is fairly common here in Romania, and I told him so. He said that he had lived in the US for 4 years, in Florida and in Oregon. We enjoyed a 10 minute chat with this guy and he seemed to enjoy it as well. Nicest border guard ever. Chip came back and started the car and we left.
Yay! We are in Romania! Awesome.
I hadn’t been in Romania for 60 seconds when we had to pull over to talk with local police, who were set up on the side of the road. We had to show passports and the paperwork that indicated we had crossed legitimately. When Ciprian returned to the car I asked why we had to do that when we had just gone through the border. He said that a woman and her 5 year old son were point blank shot in the head recently in that village and they were still looking for the killer (s) but that these efforts are in vain. This woman and her 5 year old son were shot, likely by the Ukrainain mafia, while the woman’s husband/boy’s father and other child/brother were in Suceava. Thus, they will not be caught. It is amazing how quickly one can get accustomed to a culture where gun violence is so uncommon. People are shot daily in the communities in which we live in the US, but you hear about it over here and it seems shocking and unusual.
They were built about the same time (1890-1912ish) during an era when the land in this part of Romania and in Chernivtsi was part of Austria-Hungary, so it makes perfect sense. Ciprian responded that Chernivtsi was prettier, though, and had done a better job of preserving their buildings. Chernivtsi was, after all, the capital of the Bucovina region that the area I was in in Romania was administratively and culturally part of up to the 19teens (as Americans we tend to think of borders and territory as static… not here!). As the capital of the Bucovina region of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Chernivtsi was known as Little Vienna. The land around Chernivtsi and in Sueava has changed hands many times in the past 100 years. Ciprian commented, as we were looking at buildings constructed during the days of the empire, that the Austrians were much better to this place than the Germans or Russians. This made me curious about WWII battles in the area, and indeed yes, there was a battle between the 2 rivers, the Dnipro and Siret rivers.
When we drove into the first town, I looked around and became so excited that I recognized the alphabet. Since the mid 19th century, a Latin-based alphabet has been used here. It is similar to Italian and so I am able to recognize and understand words better. This also means that I have been able to read product descriptions far more easier here than in Ukraine. Before I leave here, I will buy balsamic vinegar and tomato sauce that I like. Oil and vinegar is always put on the table here alongside salt and pepper, and at the time of writing, I’ve had tomato based pasta sauce here and know I like it. It is essentially the same kind of tomato-based pasta sauce we use in the US, whereas Ukraine’s sauces are very different.
One of the good aspects of having a local guide and being on a personal tour is that you can get an insider’s perspective. Ciprian, who is about my age, said that during the days of Nicholas Ceaucescu (pron Chow-ches-koo, who is frequently discussed around here even though he was executed during the revolution in 1989), Ciprian’s father worked as a butcher, like his father before him, bc he didn’t want to join the communist party. Ciprian told me stories about getting up at 3AM on his own as a 6 year old to go stand in line by himself for 6 hours to wait for milk. He summarized the situation, saying that back then people had money but had nothing to buy. Now, people have things to buy but no money. This made me think of my travels in central Europe…Slovakia and the Czech Republic, and how enlightening that 2005 trip was for me as I tried to gain an understanding of life under communism, good and bad, from the people who lived it.
Among the many questions I asked Chip on our drive from Chernivtsi to northern Romania was one about Romanian cuisine. When we have traditional Ukrainian, it seems to me that it is often Bucovina regional cuisine (the region that includes Chernivtsi and northern Romania), so I thought the two might be similar. He said yes, in some ways, they are similar, but that Romanian food has less fat. Beautiful. I have found that if one wants to eat out, finding food that is even remotely healthy in Ukraine is a struggle. Ciprian mentioned that salads in Romania tend to be lettuce based, whereas salads in Ukraine tend to be mayonnaise or sour cream based. I discovered this a few days ago when I ordered Exotic Salad at Reflection on National Women’s Day. The menu listed shrimp, avocado, curry, grapes, tomatoes, and a few other ingredients. The salad was really, really good, but the salad had a mayonnaise base and no lettuce. Sort of like eating chicken salad with no lettuce, or fruit salad with a creamy, fruit-dip base. Good, but not really healthy.
Speaking of Ukraine, Ciprian later made a comment to me that I hope to always remember. My response to something he said was, “I’m flexible.” He said, “Nobody who is not flexible would ever come to Ukraine, believe me.” This made me laugh and introduced a perspective I found interesting, coming from this young Romanian.
We stopped in Radowitz to get some money out of an ATM. I thought the cathedral there was nice.
When we walked into the first monastery, Sucevita, I was shocked. I had no idea what to expect, as I had trouble getting images of these places on the internet with my connection, and I don’t know that I could have really prepared myself for just how beautiful and vibrant these monasteries are anyway. It is incredible that this paint has remained in such great condition for over 400 years. No wonder UNESCO placed these puppies on their world heritage list. They truly were beautiful.
Each of these monasteries is divided into sections (porch, post-narthex, narthex, and altar). Sucevita was built between 1582 and 1601 and is the largest of the Bucovina monasteries. Just above in the photo is the Ladder of Virtues fresco depicting the 30 steps into paradise. There is also a fresco of the geneological tree of Jesse (whose descendants include King David, and eventually Mary (from the royal House of David), and of course Jesus).
Before we left I was standing in the entrance to the monastery (these places are constructed like fortresses, so there is always an entry corridor through the wall to get inside). We were checking out the crosses and icons when I heard a nun who thankfully knew how to say “be careful” in English directed those words to me. I looked behind my right shoulder and there was a horse with a wagon behind him coming in through the corridor and the horse didn’t seem too pleased about the tight squeeze. Horses drawing wagons are common sights around northern Romania, as this is the common method of transportation in the rural north.
Before we left I was standing in the entrance to the monastery (these places are constructed like fortresses, so there is always an entry corridor through the wall to get inside). We were checking out the crosses and icons when I heard a nun who thankfully knew how to say “be careful” in English directed those words to me. I looked behind my right shoulder and there was a horse with a wagon behind him coming in through the corridor and the horse didn’t seem too pleased about the tight squeeze. Horses drawing wagons are common sights around northern Romania, as this is the common method of transportation in the rural north.
I followed Ciprian’s usual MO (standing outside and talking about the monasteries first) even though it was freezing cold, snowing, and very windy outside. I later realized that it didn’t matter, bc the monasteries aren’t heated inside. He is highly knowledgeable and thus I appreciated these structures and the artwork in them so much more bc of his explanations. Plus, I loved the fact that he went to seminary for 5 years and knows the nuns at the painted monasteries. He obviously decided against the priesthood, but received quite an education in religious history that he now uses to enlighten tourists such as myself.
We were supposed to visit 4 monasteries today, but the delay at the border, an unexpected breakfast stop, the fact that we took a liking to the Turkish chef at the breakfast stop, my shopping, snowy weather and a slow lunch put us behind, so we will do the other 2 when we return to Suceava. Still, I picked up on a pattern. There are 3 sections to these monasteries. The middle section has a calendar. It begins with the first day of the liturgical year, September 1st, and is continued with a different painted square for each day of the year. August 15th, the day of Mary’s assumption, always features an image of her ascending into heaven.
During the tour, Ciprian mentioned a Romanian saying to us, “If you can’t pray, ask someone to pray for you.” Simple, but a nice thought. Then we drove through the Palmo Pass, which was really beautiful. Snowy, tree lined hills surrounded us as we drove. We had great views at the top. Ciprian explained to us that the roads on the Palmo Pass used to be notoriously bad. Then, Prince Charles came to visit several years ago, and the roads were repaved. Prince Charles’ has family in this area. He supports an orphanage close by that teaches the children practical skills so they can earn a living, and he also owns several homes in the area.
When we arrived at Moldovita, the second monastery, it was initially closed bc a water pipe had burst. No worries, bc Cipiran knows the nuns. As the nuns got the keys, he showed us the well, and pulled up the bucket with fresh water in it. He started drinking it. I asked if it was safe and he said it was some of the world’s cleanest water. So, I drank the very cold water. It probably wasn’t the smartest decision I have ever made, but more than 24 hours later, I am writing this and feel fine.
While they were getting the key to the main structure, Ciprian went inside to talk with the nuns. We were standing outside, and after a few minutes he invited us to go in to where he had been talking with the nuns, so we did. Seeing that I was cold, the nuns embraced me and took me to their furnace to warm my hands. They showed me where to sit so my back was to the furnace so I could warm up. One of the nuns kept interrupting her reading to talk with us and she seemed so excited. It sounded to me like she was talking 100 miles an hour. I love how people speak to you in their language, even when they know I am an American who doesn’t speak Romanian. The 2 nuns we met had such giving, gentle spirits and I loved getting some insight into how they were spending their day…putting coal into the furnace, reading, cleaning some brass candle holders, etc. When we left, Ciprian told us that we were lucky to have seen them and talked with them, bc in the summer when the tourists flood the monasteries the nuns are too busy to talk and plus, the outside world is seen as a temptation and so interaction doesn’t occur much. I asked if the nuns ever leave and Ciprian said that twice a year, they are allowed to go see their families, and occasionally on a weekend they are allowed to leave.
Here are some photos of Moldovita Monastery(1537):
More than one of the exterior frescos featured the Siege of Costantinople (1453). You can see this depicted in the bottom blue part of the exterior fresco above.
I asked our guide if the monasteries had always had nuns and if monks had ever lived in the monasteries. He said monks lived in them until the revolution, and now nuns live in them. I never quite understood why.
I really loved the frescoes outside the Moldovita Monastery, especially the images depicting the annunciation. There were 5/6 images of this…the angel Gabriel informing Mary that she will bear the Christ child, Mary’s confusion, etc. and finally, Mary with her cousin Elizabeth. I also liked the images of the philosophers…philosophia…lovers of learning. Inside, I picked up on the alphabet imagery, found August 15th, and tried to find my birthday. We couldn’t see August 26th bc it was covered up by a structure with 2 tombs from the 1600s, placed there after my birthday image was painted on the wall several decades earlier in the 1500s, of course. They didn’t know I would be coming to visit in 2010, so I’ll forgive them.
In the middle of the day I realized that I had seen lots of street dogs and cats, a black pig being carried on the side of the street by a couple, chickens freely running around the streets in some of the villages, and at least 20 horse, buggy, and wagon combinations. Horse and buggy is a very common mode of transport in northern Romania. It was recently outlawed to be in compliance with EU road standards. When I mentioned that I had read that to Ciprian, he responded, “Yes, you are correct, but who cares? “ This is, as he told me, how things are done here.
After Moldovita we drove to Voronet Monastery to have a very late lunch in a new pensione, Perla Bucovina, overlooking this beautiful valley. It was snowing fairly heavily at this point. We had a great meal, starting with garlic soup with chicken in it, which is served with a small red pepper that one is supposed to bite into, then follow with some soup to neutralize the kick. Then I had polenta with mushrooms, which was terrific.
Over lunch we discussed the next steps on our Romanian holiday with Ciprian (get it?) I had initially planned to go to Bucovina and then to travel to Maramures (pron Mara-moor-resh) where it is even more rural and traditional. People wear traditional clothes, many don’t have electricity, horse and buggies are the only way to go, etc. I had found this agrotourism pensionse and was looked forward to having George, the man who owns the pensione, serve as our guide on Saturday. Then, I realized that it would take at least 6 hours to drive there. Woah. I thought the two places were much closer. So, we considered a few other options: go to Moldova for 2 days, go to Bucharest, or go to the medieval towns in Translyvania.
Ciprian dropped us off at Pensione Giardina, where we met Mircae, a very nice man who speaks excellent English. I liked him immediately. I discussed our travel options with him as well to get another opinion, then had a bit of time to read my Lonely Planet and troll the internet to make the decision. We had been assured several times by more than one person that Suceava was very safe to walk around at night, so we walked to dinner around 10:20. We went to Latino, a place recommended by Lonely Planet and by Ciprian and Mircae. It turned out to be great, and I enjoyed the first pizza I’ve had since being here that was cooked like pizzas in the US, served with the first tomato sauce I’ve had that tastes remotely like tomato sauce in the US. I also had parmesean cheese for the first time since January. Great place to which I would return. They only had 25 pizzas to choose from and just as many pastas. Ha! One day I will blog about the extensive nature of the menus here…
So, we decided to go to the 3 medieval towns in Transylvania. Perhaps we could visit Maramures and/or Bucharest on another trip.
I ended my day yesterday with a 2 AM my time Skype call (thank goodness for free wi-fi at the pensione) to Charles Schwab, who put the kibash on my account when I tried to use it in Romania. Evidently this red flags your account immediately. Everything should be fine now. Thanks to my Mom, who alerted me to the fact that the bank was calling her as our emergency contact in the US, and to Charles Schwab, for looking out for me and for fixing it quickly.
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3 comments:
I hold my breathe sometimes reading about your adventures. Handling the challenges seem second nature to you. Tell that guardian angel sitting on your shoulder to make that snow disappear. God bless and I love you bunches.
You're sweet. I just know that if it is my time to go then that's it, so I try not to stress but also make the most of my time here!
The snow is melting! Love YOU bunches and can't wait to see you...less than 2 weeks!
I'm fascinated, amazed and impressed as usual! Can't stop laughing about the horse and buggy at the "Wa Wa"! Please be careful but continue to be flexible and enjoy your time there!!!
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