ronik24
Proud Earthling
Hi,
To the previous part of the series:
Interregional East '16-'18 - 24: Moldova, Bukovina, Čmelák, Sulzer (50 p.)
http://www.railroadforums.com/forum...-24-moldova-bukovina-Čmelák-sulzer-50-p.13221
The videos for this part:
August 3 2016
We arrived at Suceava, former border station of the Kingdom of Romania built 1892 - 1902.
More about the building (in Romanian): https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gara_Suceava
A local train from direction Paşcani approached. These terminate with electrification at Suceava Nord.
On to winter: pics from March 22 and 23 2018
The interior of the nice hall had been restored and is only viewable by the public through glass.
The village side of the station, we had booked nearby Hotel Residenz. It is not completely fresh anymore but offers the amenities you need and a pleasant staff.
A cab driver who had worked in Italy for years and built a house here drove us to the city. He told us about the difficult job situation in town.
On the way you cross Suceava River flowing into the nearby Siret, which is also joined by the Moldova. The Siret issues into the Danube at Galați.
In town, we drove uphill to reach the fortress: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suceava
Suceava had been the capital of the Principality of Moldavia from 1388 to 1565, the 14th century fortress served as seat for the regents. It only has been restored for visitors during recent years.
Here he is, our friend Ștefan III. cel Mare - Stephen the Great: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_III_of_Moldavia
Some chambers of the castle ruin had been livened up using props, here a replica of a typical tiled stove.
A Moldavian aurochs already known to us from the national flag of Moldova.
Next to the fortress, you can find the Bukovinian open-air village museum.
Some houses featured "multimedia events" like this wedding scene. For sound see:
A wooden church and bell tower.
The historical highlight of Suceava: Sfântul Ioan cel Nou monastery. The main church is part of the UNESCO world heritage site "Churches of Moldavia". One of the painted churches - Moldovița - was shown in my 2015 reports from the area.
Newer frescoes and buildings of the complex.
The main church St. George had been erected 1514 - 1522.
Sadly, money ran out during restoration in the 2000s. To the right, believers queued for the relics of Saint John the New.
Frescoes outside are also in worse shape than those at Moldovița.
A nun fetching water from a well.
The center of Suceava appears gray and ex-communist.
The former importance of the place can be gathered by the proximity of the next large 16th century church, Biserica Sfântul Dumitru. The bell tower had been additionally built 1560–1561 and still is the tallest building in town at 130 feet.
The frescoes had been freshly restored. I love these naive animal paintings - note the foot in the monster's mouth to the top right (this will get a more personal meaning in the next report part ;-) ).
Medieval inn Hanul Domnesc din Suceava - nowadays a museum - sadly was closed for restoration.
I googled the nearest cafe and found one: Café "Sakura" turned out to be surprisingly good - and if you feel lonely, you can join the panda... :0)
Back at Suceava station: local train R 5449 Bacău - Suceava Nord to the right, single-car-R 5571 from Botoşani hauled by diesel 82-0452 to the left.
And this single car would join us as through coach across the whole country to Timișoara!
80-0326 was busy switching.
Our overnight train IRN 1765 Iași - Timișoara arrived. The scene with parallel run of the engines on video:
The day before, we traveled here by the same train from Iași. Končar loco 46-1113 was standing on track 1. Passing Electroputere factory at Pașcani, I spotted engines wearing HŽ-logo and orange former JŽ-livery.
Our ex-DB sleeping car the next day to Timișoara, still in old CFR-colors.
A lovely wintery ride into the dusk towards Moldova River - but we do not want to move into that direction yet...
August 3 2016
So, back to summer!
IR 1832 towards Galaţi took me to Iași.
Where IRN 1765 departed from track 2C on March 22 2018.
On August 3 2016, I changed money at one of the 24/7 exchange places around the station - I arrived "directly" from Ukraine, after all - then walked to the nearby hotel. Iași is the ex-Stuttgart GT4 streetcar mekka, many second-hand units came directly from Stuttgart, others arriving via other German cities.
New Hotel Arnia in the background - I can recommend it to every visitor wishing to stay overnight near the station.
The closest international capital is Chișinău - and it cannot be reached by train in 3.5 hours despite a multiple times shorter distance than Stuttgart – Paris by TGV.
Station square.
Current Romanian ads also can be found on some units.
Good night - next time we are about to rise early for a morning excursion into the countryside in summer and winter.
To the previous part of the series:
Interregional East '16-'18 - 24: Moldova, Bukovina, Čmelák, Sulzer (50 p.)
http://www.railroadforums.com/forum...-24-moldova-bukovina-Čmelák-sulzer-50-p.13221
The videos for this part:
August 3 2016
We arrived at Suceava, former border station of the Kingdom of Romania built 1892 - 1902.
More about the building (in Romanian): https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gara_Suceava
A local train from direction Paşcani approached. These terminate with electrification at Suceava Nord.
On to winter: pics from March 22 and 23 2018
The interior of the nice hall had been restored and is only viewable by the public through glass.
The village side of the station, we had booked nearby Hotel Residenz. It is not completely fresh anymore but offers the amenities you need and a pleasant staff.
A cab driver who had worked in Italy for years and built a house here drove us to the city. He told us about the difficult job situation in town.
On the way you cross Suceava River flowing into the nearby Siret, which is also joined by the Moldova. The Siret issues into the Danube at Galați.
In town, we drove uphill to reach the fortress: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suceava
Suceava had been the capital of the Principality of Moldavia from 1388 to 1565, the 14th century fortress served as seat for the regents. It only has been restored for visitors during recent years.
Here he is, our friend Ștefan III. cel Mare - Stephen the Great: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_III_of_Moldavia
Some chambers of the castle ruin had been livened up using props, here a replica of a typical tiled stove.
A Moldavian aurochs already known to us from the national flag of Moldova.
Next to the fortress, you can find the Bukovinian open-air village museum.
Some houses featured "multimedia events" like this wedding scene. For sound see:
A wooden church and bell tower.
The historical highlight of Suceava: Sfântul Ioan cel Nou monastery. The main church is part of the UNESCO world heritage site "Churches of Moldavia". One of the painted churches - Moldovița - was shown in my 2015 reports from the area.
Newer frescoes and buildings of the complex.
The main church St. George had been erected 1514 - 1522.
Sadly, money ran out during restoration in the 2000s. To the right, believers queued for the relics of Saint John the New.
Frescoes outside are also in worse shape than those at Moldovița.
A nun fetching water from a well.
The center of Suceava appears gray and ex-communist.
The former importance of the place can be gathered by the proximity of the next large 16th century church, Biserica Sfântul Dumitru. The bell tower had been additionally built 1560–1561 and still is the tallest building in town at 130 feet.
The frescoes had been freshly restored. I love these naive animal paintings - note the foot in the monster's mouth to the top right (this will get a more personal meaning in the next report part ;-) ).
Medieval inn Hanul Domnesc din Suceava - nowadays a museum - sadly was closed for restoration.
I googled the nearest cafe and found one: Café "Sakura" turned out to be surprisingly good - and if you feel lonely, you can join the panda... :0)
Back at Suceava station: local train R 5449 Bacău - Suceava Nord to the right, single-car-R 5571 from Botoşani hauled by diesel 82-0452 to the left.
And this single car would join us as through coach across the whole country to Timișoara!
80-0326 was busy switching.
Our overnight train IRN 1765 Iași - Timișoara arrived. The scene with parallel run of the engines on video:
The day before, we traveled here by the same train from Iași. Končar loco 46-1113 was standing on track 1. Passing Electroputere factory at Pașcani, I spotted engines wearing HŽ-logo and orange former JŽ-livery.
Our ex-DB sleeping car the next day to Timișoara, still in old CFR-colors.
A lovely wintery ride into the dusk towards Moldova River - but we do not want to move into that direction yet...
August 3 2016
So, back to summer!
IR 1832 towards Galaţi took me to Iași.
Where IRN 1765 departed from track 2C on March 22 2018.
On August 3 2016, I changed money at one of the 24/7 exchange places around the station - I arrived "directly" from Ukraine, after all - then walked to the nearby hotel. Iași is the ex-Stuttgart GT4 streetcar mekka, many second-hand units came directly from Stuttgart, others arriving via other German cities.
New Hotel Arnia in the background - I can recommend it to every visitor wishing to stay overnight near the station.
The closest international capital is Chișinău - and it cannot be reached by train in 3.5 hours despite a multiple times shorter distance than Stuttgart – Paris by TGV.
Station square.
Current Romanian ads also can be found on some units.
Good night - next time we are about to rise early for a morning excursion into the countryside in summer and winter.