Chesinau -- Bacau (Romania)

Bike parade

Still 30km from Chesinau and hoping to get to mountainous Iasi before nightfall with a wee hangover did not bode well for this leg of my journey. Also, I wanted to meet Ilia for a coffee in Chesinau.
As time ran out to cycle to Iasi, where my friend Andrei and his family awaited my arrival, I decided the only way was to get a train. Met up with Ilia and his friend Sacha and saw a huge bike parade through the streets of Chesinau. Thanks to them, I was able to catch a train with my bike stowed in the upper bunk of the overnight train. As my flight from Bacau to Catania (Sicily) was in two days, I could not stay in Iasi but went straight to Bacau.
270km journey - by bike approx 13-14 hours total, by Express train, the journey time was nearly 8 hours! It involves passport control and customs control by Moldavian and Romanian officers. Also, it involves changing the axels on the train at the border, as the "eastern block" countries use a different gauge. This journey flew by as I had a very seasoned and addicted world traveller (Dave) from Manchester in my compartment.

"Happiness from within" - right on
Johnny

However, arriving in Bacau at 2am with a dead phone and no sleep was not cool. Instead of braving the streets of Bacau and it's roving "community dog" population, I stay in the train station until dawn.
Recharging my phone at a cafe, Johnny (Mario moustache in photo), who talks about his philosophy of inner happiness.

Rockstar treatment in Bacau airport

Can you guess what it is, yet?

Stefan (aka Alex), my host for Bacau, collects me and shows me about the city before bringing me to his house for a large breakfast. He has his own grassroots bike lobby group in Bacau, which encourages cycling and highlights the difficulties for cyclists on the streets of Bacau. Then I meet his friend (Andrei) with whom I will actually be staying tonight. I enjoy the food his mother sends home with him then later that night we prepare the bike for its plane ride the next day.
Then it's time to chill out in a park with some friends. Have some beers, sing some songs and chat until way past my bedtime.
We leave for the airport 60 minutes before the departure; not my usual style, but Andrei works as border patrol at the airport and I get rockstar treatment. Not only do I get lots of shocked looks from his colleagues at the airport, but everyone wants to know my story and tell me about their biking experience. I am last to board the plane and with a fond farewell to Andrei and Alex, I am on my way to Sicily.