Trek to Albania

7:30 a.m.    leave Camping Darst, Brasov, Romania for Brasov train station.

9:00 a.m.    train leaves from Brasov train station.

11:00 a.m.  train arrives in Bucaresti (Bucharest) train station.

2:00 p.m.    walk to Carrefour in Bucharest, Romania and grocery shop for several travel day meals and snack on free samples 🙂

6:00 p.m.    eat dinner with teammates.

9:00 p.m.    run around Bucharest train station looking for water and snacks to use up Romanian currency (lei/ron).

10:00 p.m.  overnight train leaves from Bucharest to Belgrade, Serbia.  we meet two Serbian medical students.

10:15 p.m.  train conductor requests train tickets and we realize we’ve lost    

the master ticket and only have reservations                                                                                                                      Brasov, Romania

10:20 p.m.  train conductor tells us we are on the wrong train car. we adamantly insist he is mistaken.  we don’t move.

10:45 p.m.  master ticket is found and the train conductor stops harassing us.

11:00 p.m.  tried to sleep in a scrunched up position leaning on Monica, who was sleeping in Aubrey’s lap.

5:00 a.m.    border control wakes me up.

6:00 a.m.    wake up again, maybe to use the restroom.

7:00 a.m.    eat breakfast on train.

9:30 a.m.   arrive in Belgrade, Serbia.

9:45 a.m.   with our new Serbian medical student friends, we negotiate overnight train tickets for our teams to Skopje, Macedonia.

10:00 a.m. meet English-speaking Serbian students in ticket line.  students obtain maps and share highlights of Belgrade.

11:00 a.m. eat lunch and prepare for a day in Belgrade, capital of Serbia. 

12:30 p.m. walk to Kalemegdan and Old Town Fortress.  enjoy the main streets of Belgrade and historical military fortress.

4:45 p.m.   walk to Cathedral Sv. Sava, largest Orthodox Christian church.

5:30 p.m.   return at train station for dinner and shift of guarding backpacks in the station.

10:00 p.m. board train from Belgrade, Serbia to Skopje, Macedonia.

11:30 p.m. attempt to sleep across the entire train bench, while getting interrupted by boarding passengers’ knock on the locked door.

Monday, September 28, 2009                                                                                   Prisca at Kalemegdan

5:30 a.m.    wake up to border control

8:30 a.m.    arrive in Skopje, Macedonia.  Austin wakes our train car up to deboard after the train stops. eat breakast.

9:30 a.m.   talk to travel agent about Skopje, Macedonia.

9:40 a.m.   realize we can’t take money out with ATM card. 

10:00 a.m. make arrangements for overnight bus to Tirana, Albania, payment made in USD.  exchange emergency currency for food. 

10:30 a.m. look for grocery store to buy food for team. ask several people.  get misdirections several times. finally find tinex.

12:15 p.m. lunch time with team at train station and shift to watch backpacks.

2:00 p.m.   wander into Old Town Bazaar

3:30 p.m.   visit Mother Theresa’s museum.  Mother Theresa was born and spent her childhood in Skopje, Macedonia.

5:30 p.m.  eat dinner with team at train station.

6:30 p.m.  take backpacks 3 blocks to meet bus to Tirana, Albania.

7:00 p.m.  leave on private bus to Tirana, Albania.  bus driver makes sudden stops which jolt us and cause us to pray harder.

8:00 p.m.  attempt to sleep bus.

11:30 p.m. border control.                                                                                                                                Mother Theresa Museum

Tuesday, September 29, 2009