" MAFIA...YOU UNDERSTAND?"

Some Will say that Moldavia is probably one of the poorest countries in Europe, You just wouldn't say the same ıf you walk along the streets of Chisinau, the capital.
Well dressed people, flashy lights and plenty of BMW and Mercedes decorating its parking places.
As our friend says " - This country mafia, you understand?". Octav explains us that he belongs to S.İ.S, the secret police of Moldavia, and after sitting by his side ın a cheap restaurant he offered us his protection for only 30 Euros per day.
For us it's just hard enough not to laugh while he gives us his telephone number and ask us to give him a cal next day so he can protect us from the mafia outside.

Before reaching Moldavia, we payed our visit to the painted monasteries of the Romanian region of Bucovina. Four days waiting for a sunny day and a rented car are the best option to enjoy these unique and fully working monasterıes with its well respected moody nuns that take care of the place.

İn our minds we had just Odessa (Ukraine), because we knew that was the last stop before Istanbul where we where gonna be arriving by sea as old pirates used to do...
Leaving Romania and stopping overnight in Moldavia we follow our plan and we go across into Ukraine heading to Odessa, famous for the stairs in the movie called "battleship Potemkin".
Once in Odessa we manage to book our ferry that won't be leaving in five days.
This city use to be really important for the WW II, now is famous for its...

İf you ever come to Ukraine you will know what İ am talking about

100% ECOLOGIC

Some people say that it hasn't changed at all in the last century ... well they are not far from the truth when they describe Maramures!.

Located in the northern part of Romania, just in the border with Ukraine, Maramures has been our destination for the last few days after visiting the student city of Cluj-Napoca.

In this region, formed by a sum of small villages with names impossible to remember and pronounce, you can find traditional clothing , horse pulled carts, animal markets and curious graveyards with colourful painted crosses.

In the town of Sieu, no pension or anything like it to be found at this time of the year, so after asking some locals and not getting more than the expression in their faces of " who are you?" and " what the hell are you doing here when not even us leave the house because it is way to cold?", an old interesting couple took us in their home, offering a bed and traditional food... all just for a reasonable price of course.

We spent two days visiting many villages , enjoying their hospitality and the nice tradition to pick up hitchhikers.

Curiosity is a big thing in this people...some of them stop and ask where are you from, others just smile back when you say hello, and the most adventurous ones, invite you over their places for a hot milk or a shot of their home brewed "palinka" to warm you up!. They are just happy to tell you their stories in mixture of Romanian, french, German or even Spanish.

Feels really good to have "proper food" at least for two days. In the house of Gheorghe and Doca we happily enjoy part of their culture, a lot of palinka ( medicine, as Gheorghe calls it) and excellent food " 100% ecologic" as they laugh proudly letting us know that everything on the plate is home grown.

We learn that Gheorge has to buy a cow , so we decide to go with him to the animal market before catching our bus. Once in the market, the freezing cold, the mud everywhere, the wrinkled faces of the people and the noisy squealing pigs makes of it a memorable experience.

Our next stop is Suceva,in the Bucovina area, world known for their hand painted frescoes on their facades.

Definitely looking forward for it!!