17.38 Settled in room #207 at hotel Continental in Iasi. We finally made it here. Last year's attempt died in its' cradle. This years attempt is, although the heat, a success. The room cost 415,000 lei per night. We will remain for two nights here. According to the TV- weather it is +30°C outside.

21.30 Just had a wonderful dinner. Christer had tournedos and I a local speciality, Tochitura moldoveneasca. Pork, garlic sausage, shredded sheep cheese, mamaliga (a maize flour mix) and a fried egg. As we sat there beggars appeared and wanted money. One of them offered to sell us a cigarette lighter.

View from Hotel Continental in Iasi.

21.50 Under our big carpet is a wooden floor. It shakes each time a tram pass by outside.

23.18 Wondering how to get into Moldavia by the day after tomorrow. Will it be by bus or train? Tomorrow we will check for places and prices on the train.

Tuesday 1st of July "La revedere Romania"

07.30 Just got out of bed and currently filling the bathtub. So much must be done today. The main object is to figure out how to get to the Far East or at least to Moldavia.

08.58 Back after breakfast. Today bread, butter, soft cheese, marmalade, tea and a bacon omelette. Christer opened our refrigerator and found that his bananas and my mineral water were a bit frozen. My yoghurt seems to have made it.

10.55 At the ticket office, this is IT!!. A guy is asleep on a sofa in a sitting position. He seems a bit worn out and has some body fluids hanging out of one of his nostrils.

11.41 We made it! We each got a ticket. It took some time but was worth it. Time to head into town and take some pictures.

Iasi.

12.28 A warm day has forced us to retire back to our room with beverages and postcards.

13.35 Back at yesterday’s diner Cornell´s Place, now for lunch, pasta, beer and coffee.

14.09 Tasty spaghetti with meat and leek, excellent beer and perfect coffee. Time to decide on something serious.

15.50 Back home for siesta, final planning and settle some things straight. Have we enough money? What expenses remain? Why is it so hot?

18.39 Time for dinner at Casa Bolta Rece from 1786. A cosy place for sure. We decided to sit at their inner courtyard, or at least on some chairs there.

20.01 The food was excellent. We have been to an Internetcafé and also bought some food for the trip. Next a bath, some packing, drink, go to sleep as soon as we can.

Wednesday 2nd of July "The longest day"

02.35 Sitting and wonder if it is damn early or dam late. Anyway in half an hour we will leave and at 04.13 the train will head for the east.

04.02 After a long walk here, during which we saw ladies standing on the side of the road and also saw some dogs, a long queue for passport showing at the station followed. But now we are in our sleeping compartment. We are tired and perspiring. Christer’s travel food was left behind in the room.

05.05 We are at the Moldavian border. Our passports have been collected and they asked us about destination, hotel, purpose of the travel and our occupation. I hope that we answered correctly. The station’s name is Ungheni.

05.21 The customs declaration form is filled in.. We have no weapons or drugs. On the declaration form it said ”Don’t lose this”. I really hope the guys in uniforms at the customs office will take good care of our declaration forms 'cause they took them. Now we are rolling on to something uplifting.

MOLDOVA

05.34 We are going backwards. It shakes and rumbles. We just saw a house that still have a sign with the old symbol of Soviet, the hammer and the cutter.

05.48 Still going backwards passing lots of wheels. Are those our future wheels? Moldavian railroads demand a different width on the wheels so it is time to change.

05.52 The wheels are being changed and the sun is coming up.

06.16 Passports back, stamped and ready. I have slept for a while and the changing continues.

06.36 We are rolling on again. Is everything ready? We keep going backwards. Hey wait a second, we are changing direction again.

08.30 I slept as good as one can in here and been up and have washed my face. Some time still remains of the trip.

08.46 Breakfast eaten. Just now, the river Byk can be seen from our window. There were wetlands and fields. Now more and more houses came into view.

09.29 The train stopped and refused to move on. We wanted to move on, so we got off. Now we are looking for the city centre. During our search we have seen a man with lots of fruits, think it was plums, in the trunk of his car. He was selling them not the car or the trunk but for sure the fruits.

10.09 At first we checked into room 328, it wasn't cleaned yet. Now we are in room 427 taken here by the cleaning women. The key we have is for room 328. Therefore I must go down and change it. Besides that, I must change money, pay for the room and become human. Most of the staff speak Russian, we don’t, so this will be interesting.

10.50 I went downstairs to book into the new room, got a booking confirmation but no key for some reason. I went back to our room, took some money, went down again, changed some money and paid for the room. As this was done, I finally got the right key. Next a shower and then, well let's see about that. The name of the hotel is, like the city, Chisinau. It costs 479 lei for one person for two nights.

14.40 It has been twelve hours since I got out of bed and it is time for lunch. We are sitting in the restaurant Gambrinus. Their dining area has a wall half covered with glass where you can see cars passing by outside.

14.49 The beer served in jars made of clay and white linen napkins just got here. This seems promising.

16.14 Food and beverage are just what we need, so we bought more in a store. Christer got money and candy as change. Next, time to gain power and figure out how hot it can be.

17.15 It seems to be around +34°C today, if we only can have some rain.

19.00 We've been and bought stuffs. For myself, a small chocolate bar, a small bag of crisps and two beer for 23.60 lei around US$1.60.

Our bathtub at Hotel Chisinau.

20.05 The rain we wished for is here. It is pouring down. We hope this will refresh the air.

20.30 Enjoying a cold, tasty and thirst quenching Vitanta each. A local beer well worth its' price of 6.70 lei, below US$0.50 cents.

21.40 Time to plan tomorrow. We need to see the town and get a ticket away from here. But now the main thing is to get some sleep.

Thursday 3rd of July "The day of searching"

08.30 Outside the sun is shining, the birds tweeting away and the cars. This thing about sleeping ain’t bad at all. Soon time to deal with today's problems. Outside just 25°C.

09.26 In the dining room for breakfast, sitting comfortably on cushioned chairs. A Russian-speaking lady has brought breakfast tickets. Tray on the way.

09.49 We got tea, bread and three eggs. Now we are back in the room to prepare for the walk around the city.

12.15 Just checked if any trains go to Ukraine. Now we will change to more of the local currency and return to the station. This time to buy those tickets. After that a walk round the town, take pictures and perhaps buy something.

Bulevardul Stefan cel Mare in Chisinau.

13.45 .There were problems in buying the tickets. We went to a ticket-window at the station. The lady there couldn’t sell us the kind of ticket we needed, but we think she mentioned something about a bank. Went outside to look but didn't find what we were looking for, but we found another ticket-window and got information on where to buy the tickets. We went back to inside a place we thought was being renovated. Inside was some kind of bank and also the window we are looking for, we got our tickets. Right now we are at Beer House and waiting for our lunch. I will have beer that's not filtered French fries and ribs. Christer has ordered filtered beer, rabbit with vegetables and mashed potatoes. I have a hunch that I will down it all with coffee.

14.00 First the beer got here. Soon spiced light and dark bread squares. Later more bread slices and the main course.

14.39 It all ended with coffee. Something I need after each meal. Most definitely after a tasty dinner like this. I also got a piece of chocolate with the coffee.

15.15 Sitting and resting inside Parcul Catedralei (The cathedral park). We walked here along Blvd Stefan cel Mare (Saint Stefan boulevard). The park is peaceful and calm, far from the hectic boulevard. On my left shoulder is a ladybug, black and yellow in colour.

16.30 Walked back down the boulevard went looking but still not found a single postcard. It seems none will be sent from this town.

19.30 Home after buying the things we need. Beer and wine for tonight, something to eat during tomorrow's trip and some Moldavian brandy to bring home.

Stefan cel Mare.

20.40 Our wine Cricova was opened with a 'pop' above the bathtub. Time to taste.

21.10 The wine is sweet, red and bubbly. Drinkable, YES. Delicious, Well..

Local beer in Chisinau.