6:08 pm

We've enjoyed a slow, meandering, no-schedule-to-keep day in Chisinau, Moldova. So nice - one of my favorite days of the trip so far. There's nothing like just wandering through the town making little discoveries here and there.

So far, I have to say I really like the feel here in Moldova. The people are very friendly, there's quite a few English speakers. They pick us out of the crowd immediately with a friendly "Hallo!". It's pretty cool - as a foreigner here from Canada you almost feel like a celebrity. We get a lot of interesting looks walking through the city, the six of us with backpacks, but mostly smiles and looks that seem to say, "I'm impressed". We are a family that like to blend rather than stand out, so the kids are still getting used to making a scene everywhere we go :-).

Funny story. Last night we arrived by train at around 11:30pm. Looking at a map, it appeared like our hotel was within 10 minutes walk from the train station, so we opted to hike there vs. taking a cab or bus. 30 minutes later in the darkened streets of Chisinau, I have to admit I'm kinda lost, and everybody's really tired. A gas station jockey assures me (in sign language) that I'm on the right path, so we keep going. 10 minutes later I'm still lost. You have to remember that streets signs haven't been discovered here yet, so streets aren't marked and I'm really making educated guesses about where the hotel may be. Exasperated, I approach a troop of young guys to ask directions. They inform me that the Turist hotel is 5 km's away (later we discover they meant 500 meters). They are friendly and offer to hail a taxi, which doesn't want to take us for some reason (maybe because there's six of us). Next they enthusiastically offer to drive us to the hotel. We hum and ha, are they trustworthy, we're tired, a ride would be nice...finally, we accept. So it's cramming six backpacks, six of us, and the two fella's into their five seater car!! I honestly didn't think we'd fit. "Is this legal?" I ask as we drive away. "Nope, but it's okay" they respond. 2 minutes later we're there. As we stand outside the hotel, they just talk up a storm (in broken, but understandable English). They're so happy they met us, and just general friendly banter ensues. I offer them some cash for the ride, they refuse and say just helping us was worth it, etc. etc. We take a picture together before retiring, they're final parting word to us with smiles from ear to ear: "hello" (they meant goodbye). The picture on this blog shows these two great guys.

We're just enjoying a park right now in the center of the city. Very beautiful with statues, fountains, park benches everywhere, and flowers. Sara's somewhere around snapping photos, Jordyn and Luke are reading. We've seen no less than five freshly married couples in wedding dresses and tuxedos. You can feel the love in the air!

I have secured (I hope as the gal didn't speak a lick of English) bus tickets to Brasov, Romania. We leave at 11:00pm tonight and arrive 7am tomorrow morning. This will be our first overnight bus ride (and last hopefully!). I have no idea what kind of bus it will be, probably what's called out here a maxi-taxi.