I had a fairly good night’s sleep last night. I only woke up twice during the night, but I did get up and out of bed around 7:30. I showered and prepared to go downstairs for breakfast earlier than I did yesterday. I hadn’t heard from Karen or Dave since leaving them in the elevator last night, but I figured they’d probably be downstairs from breakfast fairly early again, like yesterday. The dining room was quite full when I got downstairs. It was 8:30 but there was no sign of Karen or the Onufrichuks. So I sat down at a vacant table that had four plates of food set out. I thought if they came down in a bit, they would join me at that table. I ordered an omelet and enjoyed the rest of my breakfast with some hot tea. The coffee was just way too strong for me since I’m not a normal coffee drinker. I was the only person in the dining room eating alone, but I noticed that 80% of the other diners all spoke German. So I was feeling very comfortable when a lone German business man entered the room and sat down at the table with me. I previously knew it was a European custom to sit at any open seat, so I welcomed him as he ordered.
I had taken as much time as I could eating wondering if the others would be coming in for breakfast at anytime, but I saw no sign of them. So I excused myself from the table to my German guest and went back up to my room. The internet café was about to open in a few minutes so I gathered my laptop and things and headed down there to see if I could get connected. There was a good looking young man (Edgar) that spoke very good English as well, working there. He was most helpful and was able to get my laptop online through their network so I wouldn’t be limited to using one of the machines they had ready for travelers there. I made a phone call online to Mom, who was in her hotel in Oahu, Hawaii. We figured out that I was thirteen hours ahead of them and literally on the opposite side of the world from where they were. I did have to cut my call off early since it was coming through a little scratchy and broken on my end and I was having a hard time figuring out what she was trying to say. But it was good to hear her voice and she was very relieved to hear I was having a good time and was safe. I spent a total of about one hour in the computer café, loading some pictures and answering some emails before I went around the hallway to make an international phone call to the Astoria Hotel in Iaşi. The lady that answered the phone spoke good English and was able to find out the train times from Suceava to Iaşi for me. Luckily she told me there were several trains I could choose from, so all I had to do now was schedule with Petro to pick me up and drive me back to Suceava.
Once I had that bit of stress off my mind, I took my laptop back up to my room and pulled some things out of my backpack and went across the street to buy some things at the market while it was still early. On my way out of the hotel, I ran into Petru (the cab driver that I met when I was checking) and told him I was going to the market, but if he was going to be around in about 30 minutes, I would like to hire him for the day. He said to take my time and he would be waiting when I returned. So I made my way up the block to an ATM machine, and pulled out $200 Hryvna ($40 USD). I crossed the street into the market area and purchased some fruit, bottled water, another bottle of hair shampoo and a fresh loaf of bread that had just been delivered and was still a bit warm. I think I spent less than $30 Hryvna ($6 USD) for everything. I passed Petru again as I approached the entrance to the hotel. I told him I would be right back down after I dropped my things off in my room. I put my things into the refrigerator and plugged my laptop in so it could charge while I was out.
I met Petru back down in the parking lot, pulled out my map of the city, circled the places that I wanted to visit and asked him what he would charge me for my desired tour. When he replied back “$40 dollars”, I wasn’t sure if he was talking US or Hryvna, but either way, I thought it was a bargain. We hopped into his cab and decided we would go to Sadagura first before heading to Voloka & Cuciurul-Mare. Since Sadagura was to the North of the Prut River, we had to travel through the middle of town and had a chance to stop again at the University of Chernivtsi where I could get out and take some more pictures in the better light.
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