Vylock, Ukraine - Budapest, Hungary - Bucharest, Romania - Falticeni, Romania - Escape from Romania

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Falticeni, Romania

This is the portion of my journey from Bucharest to Falticeni in September 2003. We had seen some of the sites in Bucharest before we made the journey to Falticeni. This documents my travel there and portions of Herbert's (my father), Jay (my brother) and Idon (my relative from Israel ). I traveled separately to Falticeni by train while the others went by car the next day. This is probably more detail than you need. However, I hope the information is useful to others that may wish to make the journey.

On Saturday 9 - 2003, I stopped by a travel agency to check on trains to Falticeni from Bucharest . My brother wanted to stay another day in Bucharest , basically because there did not seem to be a great deal of night life in Falticeni. I did not blame him. The travel agent was very helpful and provided me information that the train leaves at 9:08 p.m. that night with one train switch and arrives in Falticeni at 5:03 a.m. Sunday. However, I had to go to the train station to purchase the ticket.

After eating at Casa Doina ( 4 Kiseleff Avenue, District 1, Bucharest phone # 40 21 222 67 17), my brother, father and Aniella (a young lady we met with her father, who was our driver, on our trip five years earlier) went to the Sofitel Hotel http://www.sofitel.com/sofitel/fichehotel/gb/sof/1714/fiche_hotel.shtml where I picked up my overnight luggage and also purchased a time magazine at the shopping mall next door. The four of us took a cab to the train station. At the train station Aniella checked two of the ticket windows, finding the second was the correct window. She helped me purchase a “first class” ticket on the Romanian train system. http://www.cfr.ro/default_engleza.htm (It may have been first class fifty years ago.) The cost was between $13.00 and $15.00. Aniella was an immense help. It would have been near impossible for me to purchase a ticket without her help as I do not speak Romanian and they did not speak English. Before going to the plat form, my father an I went to the men's room also know as the water closet. It was one floor down and cost about 10 cents each to enter to use the restroom. We met at the entrance to the platform area. They charged about 10 cents each for Jay, my father and Aniella to enter. I had a ticket, so I did not have to pay any more. The platforms are numbered. After checking at one, Aniella said my train was at the number 10 platform. Other than by asking, the ticket nor any sign provided the information. The ticket provided that I was to be on train car 13 seat 61 class 1. We found train car 13. Aniella and I went on board and found the seat. (link for drawing) There was an elderly lady sitting in seat 66 in the fairly dark cab which had 6 seats, three facing each other. There is a long corridor on the side of the train which the compartments open into. There is a door which shuts the compartment off from the corridor. At my request, Aniella talked to the old lady sitting in the compartment asking where she was going. She did not speak English. The lady responded that she was going to Brasov , which is a few stops before mine. Aniella explained that I was traveling to Falticeni. We said goodbye and Aniella got off the train and I waived by to my father and brother who were standing on the dock beside the train. I actually sat in the middle seat which was seat number 63 as there was no one there at the time and the lady at the ticket booth said there was only one other person in the cab. A beggar came by sliding on his rear along the floor of the corridor. Before we left, an old gentleman, in a suit, sat across from me in the corner which was seat 62. He also did not speak English.

Finally, we were off. Up to this point, the cab had been dimly (and I mean dimly) lit with a small bulb in the ceiling of the cab. Once we started moving, the gentleman stood up and turned on the overhead light by a switch above the door. (Now running, it appears that the electricity is flowing.) I pulled out a map and the old lady and gentleman helped me find the area of the transfer station. It was between Pascanni and Falticeni. The train stopped after a while to let another train pass. In a little while the train checker came by. She also spoke no English. Then another beggar came by, this time standing, and opened the sliding door to our compartment. He left before the gentleman could give him any money. At around 10:00 , we stopped for another train to pass. At 10:26 , we made our first stop at another station for about 4 minutes. The start from this station was rapid and we moved fast and bumpy for a while. After this stop, the woman went to sleep while the man read and while I read the Time magazine or wrote this journal about this trip or the one to Vylok Ukraine . At 10:50 we stopped at another station for a couple of minutes and moved on.

About 11:00 , the gentleman left the compartment and went to the left. I went out shortly and followed. Yes, I was right. He went to the water closet (restroom). When he came out, yes you guessed it, I went in. I had quite a bit of water at dinner. Noise from under the train came straight up from the commode. My guess is that it was a quick disposal system. One thing I noticed is that they did have tissue. However, I suggest you bring your own “soft“ American style tissue for use. Yes, it appeared to be a unique water closet.

By the way, did I say the cab was warm? Well it was. Air flow was non existent. There was a window in the cab but I did not want to risk disturbing the old lady. The man quit reading and I offered to quit if he wanted the light out. He motioned to me to continue reading.

At 11:20 , we stopped at Bazau for about 5 minutes. We picked up two more passengers in out cab, a woman and her four year old daughter. She spoke English. Her husband also boarded with another man and their two dogs which had just been in a competition and went to a nearby cab. They are going to Suceava, just like the older gentleman. It is about 25 minutes further north of Falticeni by car. I slid over to seat 61 which is across for the gentleman and against the window. The 4 year old took the center seat number 63 next to me and her mother took seat 65 next to her. The woman and I had a good conversation for about 15 minutes and she told me of a number of sites to see around Falticeni. I wish I had the time to see them. I put up the magazine. When I did, the gentleman motioned to me to turn off the light. It was easier for me to reach it and I turned it, back to the extremely dim light.

The next stop was at 11:48 at Ramnicu Sarat for a few minutes. At 11:56 , the others were all asleep.

The next stop was 12:15 at Fosasni for a couple of minutes.

The next stop was 12:40 at Nara Sesti for a few of minutes.

The next stop was 1:00 for a couple of minutes. I did not see the name.

The next stop was 1:39 at Bacu . The old lady left. I took a restroom break. By the way, the water to the sink works by a foot pedal which I discovered by accident. The stop at Bacu lasted about 7 minutes. The mother tilted what had been the old lady's chair and spread out between it and her chair.

The next stop was 2:12 at Roman for a few minutes.

The next stop was 2:42 at Pascani for a few minutes.

The next stop was 3:05 at Dolhasca where I got off the train. The gentleman and the mother made sure I new this was the stop for me to get off the train. One thing I have found is that the people in Romania have been extremely helpful. The train that I got off was longer than the platform. I ended up walking along the gravel on the side of the tracks for a good distance to the platform.

Quite a few people were up an active at this stop. A number of coffee shops were open. About 4 or 5. There was a reader board on the wall with trains and their arrival and departure times. While waiting, I took a seat on one of the benches and played solitaire. A man watched me play. He must have been pretty bored.

Finally, my train arrived at 4:10 a.m. I boarded the train and it left at 4:16 a.m.

The next stop was 4:24 for a minute.

The next stop was 4:30 for a minute. There were 13 of us on this train car that sat 68 people. This was much different than the train I had been on earlier. There was no “first class” or separate cabins. The seats were orange and hard plastic. The car was well lit. The isle was down the center and there were two seats on either side of the isle.

The next stop was 4:37 at Va Dorin for a minute.

The next stop was 4:44 at a building where I did not see a name for three minutes.

My ticket was checked at 4:50 a.m.

The train arrived at its last destination at the end of the tracks, Falticeni at 5:00 a.m.

Not having a map or seeing directions, I followed the flow of people off the train and up a steep hill. All passengers got off the train at this stop. I figured that the flow of folks was likely to take me through the center of town. After we reached the top of the hill and made our way into the center of town I was able to communicate to a lady that I was looking for a hotel. She motioned me to follow her and when she was to head in a different direction she pointed me down a street and pointed to the left. I tried the first left and that wasn't it. I continued down the street she pointed me down. I heard a party going on and two men standing outside a set of doors to what looked like a restaurant. I asked them if they knew where the hotel was and they said there. This was approximately 5:20 a.m. The party still going strong was from a wedding the night before.

This was the only hotel in Faltenci in 1998 when we came through for a day. On that trip, we were going to stay overnight but decided not to after being able to check out much or what we wanted to that day. Yes, I knew what I was in for as we had checked out the hotel in 1998 and it was still the same. Marianna checked me in. The cost was 500,000 L or $15.00, in advance. They gave me a room key, a real key, to room 308. (I wonder how many decades it has been used?) They also gave me the TV control at the front desk. Obviously they do not leave them in the room. After checking in, I walked up three flights of stairs. (An elevator, you have got to be kidding.) I then walked down the hall to the end which took me to the door of my room.

There was already traffic outside in the streets by the hotel which I could hear from the room. There were two beds in the room, each having a thin mattress. The pillows appeared to be lumpy foam and the covers were different. Surprisingly though, they were comfortable or was it that I hadn't slept in almost 24 hours. There was a 13” TV which when I moved it towards me to see it, the cable line pulled out of it. I placed it back and viola, I had cable TV. There were more English channels available in Falticeni that I received at the hotel in Bucharest or Budapest . The TV helped drown out the street noise and I finally fell asleep.

I ended up waking up at 8:30 a.m. , took a shower which was an interesting task. The shower base sits about 5 inches above the floor and is approximately 2 ½ feet by 2 ½ feet. It has a drain in the shower and there is also a drain in the bathroom floor next to the shower in case in water get out of the shower (ha! ha!). The shower head is the hand held kind and is connected to a flexible hose and is somehow connected into the sink faucet. This one has seen a lot of wear. The holder on the wall fell out when I put the shower head in it. It was a process of getting wet, putting down the shower head, soap, pick up the shower head and rinse, shampoo, pick up the shower head and rinse. By the way, thee is no shower curtain nor did there ever appear to have been one. Now you know why there are two drains.

The commode also leaked from the bottom. Apparently the wax seal had deteriorated. I later switched to room 207.

I was out by 9:25 a.m. It was nice to have at least two hours sleep as this was going to be a long day with a lot to be done. The front desk clerk was as helpful as she could be but could not help with what I was looking for and did not have a street map of Falticeni. There was a map of the surrounding province on the wall in front of the desk. I could not find one in 1998 either. You would think that a city of over 28,000 (28,899 in March 2002) would have a street map. Not Falticeni!

Well I'm off. I walked out the door which opens onto Str Nicole Beldiceanu and turned left. A short distance I found the police station on the opposite side of the street. I asked about a map and they took me in the back and showed me an old street map on the wall. (Oh well.) I got an officer to call Aniella on the phone and she helped convey why I was in Falticeni and for what I was looking. They were very kind and very helpful. In particular, Dragunea Ilie was extremely helpful. He assisted me in finding the “newer” Jewish Cemetery (the one I visited in 1998 and has burial from approximately 1900 forward) and the President of the approximately five family Jewish community in Falticeni.

Unlike her predecessor, Marmor Bernard (current # 024521159 in Bacu), who I met in 1998 and who went out of his way to go to his office and show us the burial records, show us the synagogue twice that day, and take us to the “new” cemetery, she would not even talk to us and said from the other end of her driveway to come back to her store tomorrow.

Her name is Tonya Grunwald . She lives on Str 1 May NR . The fence in front of her house is painted green. I strongly recommend against contacting her there.

The rest of the morning and early afternoon, I worked at mapping out key streets and areas of the city so that I would have for a future point of reference of finding both Jewish Cemeteries and the Synagogue. (click for map)

In the process, I came across Roman, a 35 year old man, and his cousin, Michael, at Michael's house as I was trying to figure out the street names at the intersection of Michael's house. They asked if I needed help and I explained what I was doing and why I was in Falticeni. They told me they knew where the older cemetery was and offered to take me there, which they did later that day, even though, it was Roman's 35 th birthday. Yes, they both spoke English very well. During the conversation, I asked if they knew where I could hire an interpreter for the next day. Roman (Romeo 0744581994) said he could interpret and I took him up on it.

Both Michael and Roman took me to the older Jewish cemetery which is located on Str. Victoriei (used to be called Nutu Elman Street ). The burials in this cemetery are apparently from the 1700 and 1800's. There is no apparent caretaker for this cemetery. It is only about one street over from the synagogue. If you know where to look, you can see the newer cemetery in the distance. A number of the tombstones are face down and the face on a number have deteriorated. It is a large cemetery.

Roman and Michael then showed me one of the two newer hotels. It was called Iristar (click here). There we stoppeded to have cokes in the outside dining area.

My brother, father and cousin finally arrived via car around 4:30 p.m. Between the drive up and back the following was the best route and the approximate time it took. The roads were pretty bad coming out of Bucharest . They were doing a lot of work on various sections and provided little to no warning of the work. Further out the roads are pretty good, although two lane. You have to be careful not to speed as each town seemed to have the police out.

The first part of their route from the airport to E85 was roundabout. You would be better off using a more direct route for that portion. Their route was as follows:

We had prearranged to meet at the synagogue. From there I took them by the new hotel to consider. It is called Iristar and is at the very edge of town on the road that you would drive in from coming from Bacu or Bucharest . The address is 51 Doi Graniceri Street . The phone number is 02 30 - 544357. (click for brochure) We checked in there. I was told it had been built about 2 years ago. The rooms cost about $15.00 each, per day, the same as the other hotel. I ended up shifting to this hotel as well for the last night's stay. All in all, I think this was the right move.

A few comments about the hotel. They speak and understand English! They have a restaurant which is good. They have inside and outside dining. We ate dinner there that night outside. Avoid the rooms at the front left side of the hotel where they are immediately off the stairway. Noise from the restaurant and from people coming up the stairs to their rooms is funneled into the rooms and will likely keep you up unless you are a seriously sound sleeper and noise doesn't disturb you. The pillows appeared to be feather and they do not have non-allergenic pillows. The cover is a canvas type and is scratchy although it looks new and nice. I did not use it and found that my brother and father also did not. The rooms have air conditioning and a decent shower. If you stay here, I strongly suggest you have a car as it is too far for a convenient walk to downtown. They also had mosquitoes, which is the only place I encountered them on my trip. Of course that did not take to long to remedy.

There is a third hotel at the edge of downtown on the opposite side of Falticeni. I was later told it had been open about 4 months but I did not have the time to check it out before we left. If I go back to Falticeni, I will probably check it out before I make a decision on where to stay. It is a convenient walk from the downtown.

or ( http://www.rootsweb.com/~romwgw/suceava/ ) which is about a 30 minute drive away. Apparently Suceava is like a county seat for the region in which Faltenci is located. We did not have time top make this trip but Roman offered to continue to help us and check on some things for us. We then went across the street (actually plaza as you cannot drive on this portion) at Str. Republic # 14 to the library and obtained a copy of a tourist map (link) of Falticeni from a previous tourist brochure for the region that they allowed us to copy, but not keep.

We then had breakfast at a restaurant that is located across from the main plaza and clock downtown. It is called Snack Bar and is down the side of the building across from the main square with the large clock that does not look like a clock. The address was Republicii str Nr 215 . It also happened to be the same place we had lunch in 1998. It is located on the interior side of the building and is not readily visible. Our next task was to visit Tonya Grunwald at her Pharmacy (Farmaceutica Tonic)) which is on the same side of the street as city hall at Str. Republic #9 phone # 0722570963. There are two reasons you want to stop and visit her. She has the key to the Synagogue and if you want to see it you will have to get her to show it to you. This is apparently the obligation or benefit of being President of the Jewish Community in Falticeni. It is a synagogue that is worth seeing, although it is in need of restoration. There are different biblical scenes painted on the walls in the sanctuary. Expect to make a donation to the synagogue and or gratuity for her taking time to show it to you. The other reason is that she has the books for the Jewish cemetery. She allowed us to view the books there in her pharmacy. The books are written in Romanian. We did not find what we were looking for in them. My great grandfather and great grandmother's information. However, as they died in the late 1800's I am not sure they would be located in these books. If you have the English date of death, you should come prepared with the corresponding Hebrew date of death. Over half the records that show the grave location (row and number) only show the Hebrew date of death.

From my visit in 1998, I recall a third book solely in Hebrew. I think it was of the older cemetery located on str Victoriei . She told the interpreter, Roman, that there was no other book, only the two we were looking at. I am trying to verify if a third book exists or did exist thorough a third source. You should expect to provide Mrs. Grunwald a gratuity for the opportunity to view the books.

The Great Synagogue of Falticeni is located on Str ANA IPATESCU NR. 149 . Urban renewal in the 70's cut the street in half. In the late 19 th century there were 13 Synagogues in town, with the Great Synagogue of Falticeni being the most important. ( Cite Source page 97). It is the only synagogue left. You will need to make sure you are on the right part of the street to find the synagogue. It is located right near a large church. The synagogue grounds are enclosed by a fence.

We then went to the newer Jewish cemetery which is located at the end of Brosteni at Str. Brosteni # 76 . Nina is the lady that is the caretaker (click for picture) Her mother is Domnica and is likely the one that will collect the money for admission. They both attempted to be very helpful. There is a small fee for each person that enters. On the way out, I strongly encourage a visitor to provide more than they charge as they do take care of the cemetery. The place that you enter at is through a building. It is likely where they used to hold the body, before burial or serve as a extremely small funeral home. It now appears to be used for the caretaker's house or annex. (Although it appeared as if they had the house next door to the cemetery.)

The cemetery is an extremely large cemetery. A good portion of it is used for crops. You should be very careful where you step. My brother, Jay, stepped right in the middle of a large cow paddy. (You know what I mean.) The graves for this cemetery are recorded in the books held by the President of the Falticeni Jewish Community. The older tombstones are deteriorating. Some are gone are completely unreadable.

We left Falticeni and about ten minuets out stopped at a restaurant called Canay Istanbul Restaurant. Jay, Idon , dad, Roman and myself had lunch. It is from here that I kept track of the time back to Bucharest .

© October 2003 Philip M. Goldstein

I have included the following web sites as a courtesy and have no affiliation with any of them. My goal is to help anyone traveling the same research path I took and save them weeks of time. Use at your own risk and as you see fit.

Eurorail pass for Romania

http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/passes/romanian_railpass.htm

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/rotoc.html

http://www.romania.org/

http://www.roembus.org/

Information from folks that put out tourist books:

http://www.inyourpocket.com/romania/en/

http://www.inyourpocket.com/romania/bucharest/en/

Information on Jewish Bucharest :

http://www.inyourpocket.com/romania/bucharest/en/category?cid=2754&cp=1

Other information on Jews and Romania or Falticeni (not related but good info):

http://www.geocities.com/horowitzassociation/Horowitz-Romania.htm

Jewish History of Romania http://www.jewishpeople.net/romania.html

Map of Romania http://www.rotravel.com/romania/explore.jpg

Phone codes in Romania http://www.infocities.ro/codes.html

Municipalities in Romania http://www.baiamarecity.ro/fmr/fmr_f.htm

News article on vandalism at Falticeni Synagogue.

http://www.divers.ro/english/diversno9.htm

Currency converter http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi

http://www.stevenmorse.org/

Form to search by month and year of arrival at Ellis Island .

http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/EIDB/ellisjw.html?LNMDM=&FNMDM=&CNMDM=&TOWNDM=&REPEAT26=true&referrer=httpwww.jewishgen.orgdatabasesEIDBellisjw.html&mode=running&firstkind=close&FNM=&kind=close&LNM=&companionkind=close&CNM=&townkind=close&town=&SHP=&prtkind=close&PRT=&SYR=1921&EYR=1921&DAY=&MONTH=March&SAGE=&EAGE=&offset=1&MRTL=&BSYR=1899&BEYR=1899&pagesize=2000&CGD=&fail=0

Information on the port of Hamburg

http://www.hamburg.de/fhh/behoerden/staatsarchiv/link_to_your_roots/english/

MAPS

http://www.multimap.com/index/RO1.htm

http://www.multimap.com/wi/browse.cgi?client=public&X=2927500&Y=5985000&width=500&height=300&gride=&gridn=&srec=0&coordsys=mercator&db=&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=&advanced=&local=&localinfosel=&kw=&inmap=&table=&ovtype=&zm=0&scale=50000&up.x=187&up.y=4

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