Post 43. Iaşi, Romania

My first stop in Romania was Iaşi (pronounced yash - in Romanian “ş” is pronounced “sh”. It is the second largest city in the country, a university city of 320,000 near the Moldovan border - so approximately the same size as Belfast.

It is the capital of the Romanian region of Moldavia. It was once the capital of Moldova for two centuries and was also the capital of Romania for two years during World War I. It has been called either the city of 100 churches or the city of the seven hills, but I am going to call it the 'Garden City'. On arrival in Iaşi, I was struck by how green the city was, with extensive parks, formal gardens and wooded areas. 

The Journey

There was one daily train scheduled from Chişinaǔ, but the departure time was very early and the journey was significantly longer than by road, so I opted for a bus. I thought it would be a coach but I was wrong. 

The small marshrutka (or minibus) was a big step up from the bus to Tiraspol the day before, very comfortable and only cost the equivalent of €15. The driver was also a normal professional one !!! There were only three passengers so I had a whole two seats to myself. 

It was a very scenic journey lasting 4 hours, with a double border and double customs check that took 40 minutes to get through. It highlighted what we now take for granted, as part of the EU.

The roads, for the most part, were excellent and well-maintained. The countryside was very scenic. Most farms were very small, the land seemed quite poor and was just used mostly for grazing, rather than food production. 

The Accommodation

I got a Bolt taxi to my accommodation, a gorgeous modern HomeExchange apartment owned by Ioana. It was in an old Soviet style building but the apartment had been freshly refurbished very recently. 

Everything looked and smelled brand new and seemed to be right out of an IKEA catalogue. 

It was just outside the city centre, on Sosueaua Arcu, with a bus and a tram stop just around the corner. The Bolt trip only took about 5 minutes and worked out at less than €3. 

The apartment was set in a quiet residential area. I wanted for nothing, with high speed Wi-fi, cable television, two large screen TVs, a coffee maker and a washing machine. 

I set out to put on the first load of laundry of the holiday. Ioana the owner sent very detailed instructions for everything by WhatsApp.

To See and Do

According to one of the tourist brochures Ioana left for me, Iaşi is regarded as being one of Romania’s most vibrant cities, “teeming with lots of university students, restaurants, bars and night spots”, based on my limited experience however, I would have to say that that's just a slight exaggeration!

The city is a mix of historical buildings, sitting side by side with Soviet-style concrete structures from the 60s and 70s.  The photo below kinda summarises what you can see on every street and square.

There was a previous period of construction  between both World Wars, with several in-fill Art Deco developments like this one. 

There were no walking tours available on the app that I normally use, Guru Walk and it was  then that I discovered the FreeTour  website, the difference being that this tour WAS actually free ... no tips were asked for at the end of the trip. Apparently it is run by a team of volunteers and organised by the Iași city authority. It started in front of a Soviet- built hotel called Hotel Unirea. 

The tour guide Paul recommended going to the panoramic restaurant on the top floor of the hotel for some spectacular views over the city and even as far as Moldova.

Paul was able to give lots of interesting facts about the city and there were plenty of opportunities to ask questions. He took us to places we would never have seen. I wish he had been just a little bit more entertaining though! This was his first tour and he was being closely monitored by a senior guide, so he was probably a bit nervous. 

Above is the city hall. 

Here is the long pedestrian route from the historic centre to the huge Palace of Culture (in the distance).  

All along the route there were book sellers, flower sellers and kiosks full of religious items.

It really was a very pleasant space to stroll, in the warm autumn sunshine. I smiled to myself when one of the Spanish Erasmus students asked the tour guide where she could buy a warm winter coat like his, as unlike me, she was feeling cold in Iași!

At the end of the route, just in front of the Palace, there was this huge bronze sculpture called the Capitoline Wolf (Lupa Capitolana), symbolising the Latin origins of the inhabitants. 

There might have been a bit too much emphasis in the tour on trying to visit as many of the city's 100 churches as it was possible to squeeze into two hours! The following photos are just a small sample of some  different Orthodox churches, with very detailed and ornate interiors. 

In contrast, the Catholic cathedral was just completed in the past 20 years and is similar in its circular design to Liverpool's Catholic Cathedral or Burt Chapel in Donegal. 

Iaşi is still a really important pilgrimage centre for the Orthodox religion. This was very much in evidence in the vicinity of the churches and cathedrals. 

I learnt that in the Orthodox church, when lighting candles, people always light two candles, one to pray for the living and one to pray for the dead. These are lit both inside the churches and outside in smaller buildings and even metal huts as in the photo below. The word VII on the left are the candles for the living and the ones on the right marked with a cross are for the dead.

I also discovered that in the Orthodox religion, basil is regarded as a holy plant and the faithful use it in the same way that Catholics use holy water. 

St. Basil is highly revered and there is also a special type of basil called holy basil. The air was filled with the smell of basil and all the sellers were doing a brisk trade. 

One of the things I loved best about Iaşi was the artwork on the trams. Every year the students in the Iaşi School of Art take on the repainting of one of the city's older trams in any style they choose, as an art project. The results are very colourful and I must have snapped a dozen of them as I walked around. 

Here are some of the best ones: 

The last one (below) is known as the coffee tram, where for the price of a ticket you get a black coffee on the tram. 

Talking of the coffee tram leads us nicely to mention some of the culinary delights of the city that I tried.

Food and Drink

Lunch on arrival was a chicken schnitzel on the local square around the corner from the apartment. It was nothing special but was tasty enough. The portion size was huge and I didn’t need to eat for the rest of the day. I noticed a significant price difference between Romania and Moldova of maybe 20%. 

On the second day, after the walking tour, I stopped for lunch in Bindu, a vegetarian restaurant that the tour guide pointed out as we passed. I sat outside as it was a nice and warm 27 degrees. 

I had a vegetable soup of the day with brown bread croutons, with a halloumi, red pepper and aubergine sandwich. Its prices were very high in comparison to Moldova with the soup, sandwich and a bottle of sparkling water costing €16.

I was hoping to go for dinner on the top floor of the panoramic restaurant of the old Soviet hotel. The tour guide said the views were spectacular over the city and that you could just turn up without booking. Well I did, and it was unfortunately full up, because of a big music event in the square below. 

I was lucky enough however to get a table on the square itself with a full view of the stage.

The food was fabulous but the music was pretty awful! I had Moroccan hummus with honey and sesame seeds to start, followed by chicken in sour cream and olives, served with mashed potatoes. 

It seems sour cream is a very popular local food item in Iași, as there were several variations of it on the menu. I had a glass of local Romanian red, which came chilled, just like in Chișinău. The bill came to €23. 

Overall Impression

Iași is an enjoyable city with beautiful parks, a nice botanical garden, and a city center well worth visiting. If you are into churches, you will never go wrong. 

I had never even heard about Iaşi before I started researching this trip. I just chose it as somewhere to stop, about halfway between Chisinău and Braşov. 

It doesn't get many tourists, but it is enchanting in its own way and most definitely well worth visiting for a weekend or one or two nights. There are even direct flights from Dublin.