Exploring Iasi

Getting to Iasi

I made the 20 min walk from Cassandra Pension to Targu Neamt’s Flozampet Bus Station.  It’s not a long walk but the surfaces of the sidewalks and roads were not smooth enough for a wheelie bag and that had slowed me down a little.

The bus to Iasi left 5 mins early on the 2h ride.  Arriving at Iasi around 1100, I hopped on the tram which dropped me off near the St Nicholas Guesthouse.  This appeared to be the residences for the church students and perhaps travelling priests.

I stored my bag and went out for a wander.

Sightseeing in Iasi

First up was the nearby Monastery of the Three Hierarchs.  The church was skinny and tall, similar in proportions to the Dragomirna one a few days ago.  I caught a glimpse of the interior only as a service was in session.  Similarly, it wasn’t a good time to visit the Metropolitan Cathedral.

I continued to the Palace of Culture which housed a few museums but I wasn’t interested enough to commit to a visit at that time.

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The mall next door looked like a good place to get some lunch and milk for tomorrow’s breakfast.  The mall turned out to be huge and from outside I hadn’t noticed that it stretched deep into the block and across the road and beyond.

Back at the Guesthouse

Knowing that the St Nicholas Guesthouse had a cafeteria with a menu of the day, I opted to return there to take lunch.  But I got tempted by the octopus and that made it a costly affair instead.  My whole meal became double the price of the set meal.

My room came ready soon after lunch at around 1400 instead of 1500.  With a good desk, I sat myself down to continue planning for my standby journey back to Kuala Lumpur.

Unfortunately, the internet was so bad that I couldn’t do much work.  I was pleased that I had done most of what I needed yesterday.  I spent about 3h trying to do a few things; time goes quickly when you are trying and retrying with bad internet.  But time also goes quickly (wasted) with good internet (watching cat videos etc).

Out sightseeing again

Late in the afternoon, I headed out again.  First up was the Golia Monastery.  Approaching the large site from the wrong angle, I had to walk around the entire perimeter wall before finding the gate.

There was a service in the church, so again, I took a quick look and left.

I returned to the centre of town and visited the Metropolitan Cathedral again.  This time I was able to have more time to appreciate the interior.

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Online again

Back at the hotel, I took my laptop down to the lobby where I was able to get online with decent stability and booked backup tickets from Istanbul to Kuala Lumpur on Thai Airways and Etihad through their respective hubs, plus a backup from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur on Malaysia Airlines.