There isn't very good signage at the station and I had about five minutes to get on the train. Panic time. I ended up going to the train and asked the conductor if I could buy tickets on board and he said yes.
I got on the train and sat down. Turns out I was in the wrong spot, going to Yesh or something (I think the guy was saying 'yes') the conductor didn't speak any English which posed a bit of a problem. First the ticket, going to the wrong place, was 174 Lei, and I only had 110. And I tried to tell him I wanted to go to Suceava (pronounced Su-cha-va I finally learned) and he wasn't getting it. A lady who was sitting nearby came and translated for me and he took me to a different conductor who spoke English. You sit in cars based on where you are going. I got a second class ticket for 70 (I think they cut me a deal) and grabbed a seat by the window. First crisis handeled.
The train was incredibly nice. Comfortable, roomy seats, very clean, best train I've ever been on. It was foggy and boring outside so I fell asleep for a few hours. When I woke up I sat around and looked out the window the whole time. There weren't huge mountians but mostly grassy flat land with hills in the back. A lot of farmers with herds of animals around. I enjoyed it.
I think I got off at the wrong train station but it was still in Suceava, just not the one I inteded. It ended up being fine. I decided to buy my ticket first, which posed another language barrier problem but one of the woman working there spoke English so I was good, may have even got a student discount.
I had to take the 2 bus into town, and I asked a guy where I should get off. He was very helpful and pointed out when I had to leave.
The first thing I saw was a McDonald's and then the city's major square. It's a much bigger and more modern city than I expected. There are about 100,000 people living there now. Not much of it any of my relatives would recognize. Most of the buildings are probably from the last 50 years or so, many with heavy Communist influence, not the cute tiny poor village I imagined.
There were tons of tourism places but they were all closed on Sunday, so I decided to look for a hotel where I could get a map. I tried to Hotel Continental first, but they didn't have one. Next I went to the Hotel Gloria and there was a middle aged lady there who looked through tons of pamphlets to try to get me one, and she ended up getting me a small one and pointed some things out to me. She was really great.
I wanted to go to the Princely Court first, but somehow ended up in the Monastery. It was good, nice frescoed walls, and the Romanians love their religion. Their churches are small and dark, I like it.
I made my way down to the Court, which took my along the side of roads along a woody area. At one point an old man in front of me grabbed a fallen tree branch and turned it into a walking stick. Awesome.
After the sort of worry some walk, I came to the Court. It's a ruined castle from the 14th century. It was about 50 cents to get in, some of the best money I've spent. Unlike many other castles or ruins, they do it right here. They have a while line designating where they built on replacement parts and have every room labeled in four different langnuages. Best yet, you can wander anywhere you want along the ruins, there are no guards anywhere. So I went in every room and climbed up the stairs and around on top of it and called ma as I looked out at Seceava. I imagined someone I was related to working in the castle, kinda crazy.
I went into the Village Museum next door for 50 cents. It has houses from all over the area moved there. It was interesting to think that people related to me could have lived in these tiny two-room houses, if they could even afford that (I somehow picture my ancestors as really really poor).
From there I went back into town and in Central Park there was a brass band playing in a gazebo so I sat and listened for a little. The park was full with old people in their suits and hats just sitting on the benches. Seceava is interesting because there people from every age. I was particularly surprised by the number of small children and old people. Maybe because it was Sunday but everyone seemed to be wandering around without a care, very relaxing.
I went and got a loaf of bread and sat in the square. I heard something going on and it ended up being that Seceava was in the championship handball game and they set a tv at the end of the square so people could watch. It was packed. I'd never seen handball before, or people watching it, but I stood (all the seats were taken) and watched most of it.
At halftime I went and got a slice of cake, really good. I walked around a little and went back to watch the end of the game. They lost 25-20, the crowd was pretty disapointed. Even though I'd never seen handball before, even I was a little sad at the end.
I walked up into the more residential part and over by the university area and the football stadium. It was a nice walk. There just aren't many old parts to the city other than the churches.
I went back to the center and ate at Chagall Cafe, in a buildings from the 1850s. The downstairs looked like it too. The menu was all in Romanian and I asked the waitress if there were things without meat, and the only thing was the pizzas, so I had a four cheese. It was good, I just wasn't all the hungry.
I got up to leave and the sun was setting. The sun sets so much nicer over in Europe. The moon even came out, they have that in Suceava. Crazy. I took the bus back to the station, getting there an hour and a half early.
I went through the little town around the station and ended up watching some guys play soccer in a lighted enclosed park. There were kids out playing at night in parks, some kicking balls around the street, it was just a very interesting environment. It seemed like everyone just liked to hang out and be outside, I liked that culture a lot.
I got a bottle of water, called ma and used up the last of my money on my phone (that went fast) and got on the train.
I had a reserved seat this time and it wasn't nearly as nice. I shared a table with two people facing me, so I couldn't really stretch out. Their seats are still a lot better than in American (they had places where you can lean your head) and I slept rather uncomfortably most the ride.
