Romania > The castle of Soroca

Just before half past seven, we stand in front of the breakfast buffet door at our Soviet hotel. The door is still closed. Breakfast does not start until half past seven, and why would you open the door earlier? When the door opens, the lady laughs at us sitting outside. The breakfast buffet is just like the previous days. Everything is there, but the presentation is so-so. After breakfast, the security guard leads us one last time through the staff corridors to the parking lot. We pack the car and check the fluid levels. The guard here warns us not to get too close to the doghouse. A guard dog is chained there. He has kept a good watch over our car. We drive off the premises and plunge into the morning rush hour of Chisinau. Without too many problems, we follow the same route as two days ago to Orhei. From there, we continue north toward Soroca. Soroca was an important city in the Middle Ages. The castle of Soroca, near the Ukrainian border, has been restored in the old style. The castle consists of five identical watchtowers. In one of the towers, we can climb stairs to the top level. From here, we have a view of the river, the city, and the surroundings. Soroca is also the unofficial capital of the Roma. The Roma live in the mountains around the city, often in large, ostentatious houses. In the market in the center, everyone is shopping. No one seems to mind us. Tourists probably visit the market more often.

Romania - The defensive towers of Soroca Castle

We leave Soroca through the mountains. Roma houses are visible on both sides. It is still about a hundred kilometers to the border. The road passes through villages and mountains. Progress is slow. Just before leaving Moldova, we stop at a gas station. We give all our cash and have the tank filled. Around two o’clock, we arrive at the border between Moldova and Romania. We join the queue. Nothing happens. The line of cars behind us grows. After about twenty minutes, the gate opens. Four cars are allowed through, including us. The Moldovan customs mainly want to know if we have diesel, wine, or cigarettes. None of that. The car vignette is checked. It seems they cannot find the registration in the computer. Communication in broken German does not help much. Eventually, the officer sighs, stamps the passports, and we are allowed to pass.

Romania - The Roma market in Soroca

We will never know exactly what happened. On the other side, near the Costesti dam, we approach the Romanian border post. The same scene follows. Do we have drugs, marijuana, or cigarettes, and do we want to declare anything? The trunk is opened, and after a glance, the door is closed again. After a quick look inside the car, we may proceed. For the second time this holiday, we drive into Romania. We drive inland along the mountain roads. Dark clouds hang above the road. It looks like it has just rained heavily. A little further along, it turns out to be true. Entire mud flows run along the road. Fields are flooded. In the lower area near the river, villagers are digging a passage to get the excess water into the river as quickly as possible. There must have been a cloudburst. The raging water flows through the river. All the water must pass through the narrow openings of the bridge. Hopefully, it goes well. Passersby stop to take photos of this natural spectacle. We continue driving. We still have a long distance to cover. As we approach Botosani, a fire truck with sirens passes on its way to the floods. It is half past three, and we have not eaten at all. We stop at a guesthouse. While we eat borscht, a Ukrainian specialty, it begins raining outside again. From the lunch restaurant, we drive the last hundred kilometers to today’s hotel in Frumosu. In the surroundings are several old monasteries in the mountains, which we plan to visit tomorrow morning. The reception at the hotel is unmanned. A Romanian man asks in English if he can help. He calls the owner out of the kitchen. She shows the pool, the sauna, and our room—all through gestures, as she does not speak English. Everything looks fine. The Romanian man also helps us with ordering food. Since we recently ate, we want something small. We order Romanian mici, a type of minced meat roll. From their reaction, we understand that it is unusual to order this as a snack and without fries or salad. We leave it at that. The man who helped us earlier at reception asks if we know what we ordered, as it is a local dish. Well, not exactly, but it tastes great with a beer.