Week 2 Day 7
Yesterday was definitely one of my favorite days so far.
Fortunately, I got up early enough and was ready in a timely manner, even though I had gone to bed pretty late the night before. I left the house shortly after 8:20, since we had to be at the American Councils building by 9:00, and was luckily on the same bus as Sara, so we got to walk there together.
We boarded the bus and had to wait around for a while since some people were running late (Melina ran onto the bus a few minutes late, and the bus driver had to stop to let Miette once we were already on our way). Unfortunately, Blakely and Amaya weren’t able to go on the excursion with us, so there were only 18 of us, plus Elliott and Marina (our local coordinator).
It was about an hour and half’s drive to Saharna, the first of the monasteries we would be visiting. It was located just along the Nister River, so we also got to drive alongside Transnistria (as my dad once semi-jokingly described it: the North Korea of Europe) for a while (YAY!!). We all begged Elliott to let us go visit it, but for *some reason*, he refused...
When we arrived at Saharna, we fist hiked up one of the surrounding mountains(? Cliffs? I’m not quite sure what to call them), where we had a great view of the monastery complex, the river, and Transnistria.
We spent probably half an hour up there, and then walked back down to go inside of the church and visit a waterfall nearby.
From the complex, we walked about 15-20 minutes to get to the waterfall, which involved crossing creeks by jumping from stone to stone (which got my shoes and pants wet and muddy), and avoiding the slick mud around those areas...I avoided slipping, but Miette wasn’t so lucky, and got mud all over her jeans.
After that we headed back to the bus and drove to a gas station. There, we ate lunch that Elliott and Marina had gotten to go from La Placinte (the restaurant Melina, Georgia, Sara and I had to ditch) that morning.
From there, we drove on about an hour or so to Tipova, which had a group of cave monastaries, and an even better view of Transnistria. This time, we had to hike down to get to the first few caves, where monks still live, and where an employee gave us a little historical background in Russian.
After spending some time at the current monastery, we walked through the forest to the old cave monasteries which are no longer in use, but at one of which Stephan cel Mare married one of his wives (he had three). We got to crawl through really narrow openings to get to larger caves that had really amazing views.
When it was time to leave the caves, Elliott took pictures of each of us crawling through the tiny openings, to determine who looked the most awkward. This was the winner:
We hiked back up to the church where we had started out, and spend a few minutes enjoying the view from the top of the cliffs.
From there, we headed home, which was about a two hour drive, and on the way, we stopped by a lavender field to take pictures.
Finally, as we drove home from there, we saw a lot of beautiful fields and scenery, but I eventually fell asleep during the ride.
We got back to the American Councils building at about 7:00, and from there we took the bus home, I had dinner, showered, finished up my homework, and got my stuff ready for school.
It was a long and exhausting day, but well worth it for all the amazing things that we saw!
Fortunately, I got up early enough and was ready in a timely manner, even though I had gone to bed pretty late the night before. I left the house shortly after 8:20, since we had to be at the American Councils building by 9:00, and was luckily on the same bus as Sara, so we got to walk there together.
We boarded the bus and had to wait around for a while since some people were running late (Melina ran onto the bus a few minutes late, and the bus driver had to stop to let Miette once we were already on our way). Unfortunately, Blakely and Amaya weren’t able to go on the excursion with us, so there were only 18 of us, plus Elliott and Marina (our local coordinator).
It was about an hour and half’s drive to Saharna, the first of the monasteries we would be visiting. It was located just along the Nister River, so we also got to drive alongside Transnistria (as my dad once semi-jokingly described it: the North Korea of Europe) for a while (YAY!!). We all begged Elliott to let us go visit it, but for *some reason*, he refused...
When we arrived at Saharna, we fist hiked up one of the surrounding mountains(? Cliffs? I’m not quite sure what to call them), where we had a great view of the monastery complex, the river, and Transnistria.
From left to right: Marina, Renee, me and Cameron at the lookout point.
(Credit to Elliott—I think?)
View of the monastery from our hike.
The monastery complex.
We spent probably half an hour up there, and then walked back down to go inside of the church and visit a waterfall nearby.
The church with the green roof.
The larger church building, that we did not get to go inside.
The view from behind the waterfall.
After that we headed back to the bus and drove to a gas station. There, we ate lunch that Elliott and Marina had gotten to go from La Placinte (the restaurant Melina, Georgia, Sara and I had to ditch) that morning.
From there, we drove on about an hour or so to Tipova, which had a group of cave monastaries, and an even better view of Transnistria. This time, we had to hike down to get to the first few caves, where monks still live, and where an employee gave us a little historical background in Russian.
Me sitting inside one of the windows of the old monks’ cells.
(Credit to Cameron)
Us at the lookout point with Transnistria in the background.
From left to right: Cameron, me, Sara and Maggie. Front: Georgia
(Credit to Melina—I think?)
After spending some time at the current monastery, we walked through the forest to the old cave monasteries which are no longer in use, but at one of which Stephan cel Mare married one of his wives (he had three). We got to crawl through really narrow openings to get to larger caves that had really amazing views.
Me standing in one of the cave openings, overlooking Transnistria.
(Credit to Cameron)
The view from inside one of the caves.
Transnistria.
Cameron.
(Credit to Elliott)
We hiked back up to the church where we had started out, and spend a few minutes enjoying the view from the top of the cliffs.
The church at Tipova.
View of the Nister River from the cliffs.
Panorama from outside the church, view of Transnistria.
From there, we headed home, which was about a two hour drive, and on the way, we stopped by a lavender field to take pictures.
Most of our group in th lavender field.
Left to right: Randy, Greg, Whitson, Devin, Melina, Alex, Emmy,
Willow, Elizabeth, Cameron, Georgia, Renee, Sara and me.
(Credit to Elliott)
Me in the lavender field.
(Credit to Randy)
Panorama of the lavender field and sunflower fields behind it.
Finally, as we drove home from there, we saw a lot of beautiful fields and scenery, but I eventually fell asleep during the ride.
Scenery on the ride home.
We got back to the American Councils building at about 7:00, and from there we took the bus home, I had dinner, showered, finished up my homework, and got my stuff ready for school.
It was a long and exhausting day, but well worth it for all the amazing things that we saw!
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