Greeted by the morning sunshine (and a wallet), we were anxious to hit the road enroute to the famous painted monasteries of Bucovina to our north.



Our first visit was to nearby Targu Neamt (German Market) with its statue of Ion Creanga, house of Veronica Micle, and 14th century citadel. Creanga is considered one of Romania's greatest writers. A poet, Micle lived in Targu Neamt for 39 years and was the lover of Mihai Eminescu, considered Romania's greatest writer and poet (who incidentally, couldn't afford to marry her after her husband's death). The citadel (Cetatea Neamtului) is perched on the hillside overlooking the city and is considered one of Moldova's finest fortress ruins (if a ruin can be called that).




The next stop was the Neamt Monastery, the oldest monastery in Moldova. It is the largest male monastery with 70 monks and several seminar students (we caught more than one inspecting the motorcycle from every angle!). The monastery resembles a fortress with its high walls and one remaining tower. A large pavilion outside the monastery houses the blessed water which can be bottled and taken home.




Leaving the grounds, we met a friendly Austrian couple with their Toyota 4X4. They had inquired from several tourists who had the motorcycle with the US license plate and were waiting to talk with us. We exchanged our Romanian adventures, and found out that they had developed a love affair with the mountains and back-country roads of Romania. They were spending lots of weekends off-roading with their vehicle through the Romanian countryside, and were even leading 4x4 tours. In fact, they had organized a yearly 4x4 rally in the Carpathian mountains, drawing drivers from Austria and Germany for the event. If interested, check out their nice web site--www.superkarpata.com.



With good asphalt and beautiful weather, we headed north to Suceava. The highlight of our travel was the German motorcycle touring group we followed with their BMWs and Hondas (and even a scooter). It was a pleasure to see other riders!



At a first glance, Suceava could be overlooked with its apartment blocs and strange smell emitting from its factories. (On a sidenote, the apartment balcony windows are old train windows!) In the 1980s, the factory supposedly put out 20 tons of cellulose and fiber waste a day which caused respiratory and nervous disorders known as the Suceava Syndrome. Fortunately, filters have been installed to reduce the levels of pollution.




Its beautiful churches and lively center made us decide to stop for lunch on the terrace of Latino. For the brief time we spent eating at the restaurant, we both thought we were in San Francisco--the waiters were sharply dressed and pressed, wearing name tags (an oddity for Romania), displaying a high level of professionalism and conversing in at least two languages. We were impressed with the level of customer service while enjoying salads, pizza and pasta at our best restaurant dining experience in Romania (so far)! – BGR & HSR