Chisinau, Moldova

I woke up today after 10:00 and laid in bed for another hour before getting up, showering, and dressing. I then researched Brasov on my iPhone and checked my emails while conversing with the male American Peace Corps volunteer; he recommended some place for me to visit today and I gratefully took them. Finally, close to 13:00, I left the hostel and walked to the National Museum of Fine Arts in Moldova. I reached the street the museum is on (i.e. “31 August 1989 Street”), but before locating the actual museum, I desperately had to use the W.C. after consuming so much water at the hostel; so I entered in to a Robert’s Coffee café, used their toilet, and then had an Americano and fried ice cream. After that treat, I walked to a nearby church (“Sf. Cuvioasa Teodora de la Sihla”) and entered inside to see its frescoed walls. Next, I located the National Museum of Fine Arts, which is located in a historic building that is currently undergoing extensive renovation, thus splitting the exhibition rooms in two. I walked inside the museum, bought my ticket, and looked around the first exhibition of contemporary art which is in two small rooms. Then, I exited the building, walked around the outside in a clockwise direction, before coming to the entrance of the permanent exhibition, which was displayed on two floors and contained many older paintings; the Moldovan paintings were pretty much entirely from the twentieth-century AD, but the other European paintings displayed in the museum went as far back as the sixteenth-century AD. After touring the museum and viewing all its paintings and sculptures, I walked to the adjacent pastry shop (as the Peace Corps volunteer had suggested I do) and had an Americano, a fruit tart (made with strawberries, blackberries, black currants, and red currants), and a chocolate mousse cake (with layers of mousse). After that treat, I walked around Chisinau for a while before returning to the hostel at 16:30. Back at the hostel, I updated the website some and typed out journal entries while I waited until 18:00 before getting a taxi to take me to the South Bus Station (I also met the male Peace Corps volunteer again and talked with him briefly). Then, at 18:15, the taxi came and I was driven off to the bus station. Once at the station, I paid the driver and bought my ticket to Brasov. I also bought some snacks for the ride (peanuts and candy bars). I then loaded up in to the bus and shortly after 19:00 we drove off, westward, toward Romania. After 21:00, we stopped for a restroom break next to the border checkpoint. We then loaded back up in to the bus and drove to the actual border checkpoint; on the Moldovan side, our passports were collected and eventually returned to us with our exit stamps. Next, we drove to the Romanian checkpoint where we all exited the vehicle and walked through Passport Control. Each remaining passenger made it through alright and we then loaded back up on to the bus. We made it through the border after 22:00 and were now driving through Romania. During the drive, I read a short history on classic comedy teams in America to help pass the time. I tried to get some sleep after 00:30, but I was sitting in the back of the bus, the seats didn’t recline, and the road was very bumpy. It was going to be a long night.