Quote Originally Posted by Marcus View Post
Do old people in Romania speak Russian?
I don't think they do actually. In desperation, I tried Russian with the Vienna -> Bucharest train conductor, who I was totally unable to communicate with. I said "Может быть по-гусский вы понимаете?" He responded with emphasis, in English "Never!" Unfortunately he practically knew no other words in English so I was not sure what to make of the response. I also asked an older lady on the train, in Russian, if she could speak it. She just looked confused.
I don't think they speak Russian. When I studied Russian in school. one of the reasons to convince students to choose it, was "then you can speak with everyone in Eastern Europe". That is just not true.

Quote Originally Posted by Ann View Post
Hanna: Just curious, how much luggage are you taking on this trip? Do you feel that you've overpacked/underpacked?
I stuffed full a bag from Osprey, called "Soujourn". It's an 80 litre wheel/backpack combination bag. I also took a smaller day pack type rucksack from Osprey; The main bag is so heavy I could never put it on my back. That's about the right level of luggage, I think - but mine is very heavy because I bouight some Russian books (that I have not yet opened). And a laptop.



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Losing my wallet put me off a bit and I am worried about going to Ukraine now. I had not even left the EU before something like that happened. The absolutely worst case scenario would be ending up without passport or a penny somewhere in the middle of Ukraine. I am really trying to be low-key and careful, but what happened with the Romanian train and the wallet was discouraging. I was really keen to see Ukraine but nobody I knew wanted/could come. Perhaps I am being naive. Maybe I should just get on a train straight to Belarus, which seems safe.

I chatted with a girl in the taxi - in Russian. She did not seem to think it was a good idea to travel to Ukraine alone but because of my bad Russian, it was not possible to have an in-depth conversation.