Moldova

Trip dates: October 21 - 24, 2011

Day 1:

Flying from Paris to Chisinau (Moldova's capital), via Munich, Germany. Due to fog we miss our connection in Munich, and there is only one daily flight, so..... instead of sightseeing in Chisinau we are sightseeing in Munich.

Day 2:

We finally make it to Chisinau. We don't expect much of the city. One of the blogs I stumble upon during my research (London Cosmopolitan by Lily and Keenan) says "There is literally nothing to see or do in Chisinau - nothing". I suspect that this is not entirely true. I have never been to a place where there is nothing to see. It's true however that in some places one has to look harder.

The same blog also says that "the architecture is dreadful, hideous and uninspiring".  But on another site I see that the city's beautiful architecture earned it the nickname of "white stone flower" and that it is one of the greenest cities in Europe. I suspect that the truth is somewhere in between. I doubt that anyone has set out to build an ugly city, but wars and earthquakes had done their damage, and Moldova is not exactly rich.  We will see.

A sure sign that Moldova is not a huge tourist destination is that everyone I mention our trip to asks me: "Where is it?". Moldova (Bessarabia in old times) is a relatively small country, between Romania and Ukraine. It was part of the Russian Empire, later part of Romania, then one of the Soviet Republics. They gained their independence in 1991. Their language reflects their history, with "Moldovan language" being basically Romanian, and with most people being fluent in Russian.

Chisinau is Moldova's capital. It doesn't make a great first impression as there are plenty of run-down soviet-era apartment buildings. I grew up in a socialist country so I am used to this sight, but it seems Moldova is some 20 years behind some other post-socialist countries in beautification. On the other hand there is plenty of construction going on, so I suspect that if I were to return in 10 years the city would have quite a different look.  We do see some very modern buildings, like a shopping mall with a funny name, and some soviet-era monuments as well.

A shopping mall with a sense of humor, "Mall Dova", get it?

Ah, the good old times

We stay at the Best Western Plus Flowers Hotel, which is not fancy but is new and clean and the staff are nice. Their English is quite good, although we do have a couple of small misunderstandings. After a quick lunch we set out for sightseeing.

We walk to the center on the quite long boulevard Stefan cel Mare si Sfint, one of Chisinau's main roads. For a while there is not much to see, and the only thing which stands out is the incredibly high number of Orange stores. When I see the first one I am happy, as they are my French cell phone service provider, and their presence in this country means that I will probably have signal. But when I see them on every step it becomes creepy. Why on earth do they need so many Orange stores here? In one underpass, under a busy intersection, we count five (yes, five!) Orange stores. Plus one just outside the entrance to the underpass. Then, one just outside the exit of the underpass. I feel like Alice in Orange-land.

Orange - they are everywhere!

The only thing which competes with the number of Orange stores on this street is the number of money exchanges. Given the utter lack of foreign tourists (on this grey October day we seem to be the only ones), one has to wonder who's money are they exactly changing. 

As we get closer to the center the street does become prettier. We reach some nice-looking government buildings, in much better shape than the apartment buildings we saw earlier.

A nice looking government building

Fancy boutiques on Stefan Cel Mare

Behind the National Theater we check out "Chisinau's Monmartre". Well, that's what our guide calls it the next day, but frankly that designation is not-so-slightly ambitious. It's a little market, selling mostly junk. A couple of souvenir stalls, but mostly paintings of very low artistic and aesthetic level (terribly tacky actually). So we flee the market very quickly. 

The National Theater

Chisinau's Monmartre

Most old building seem to be in this area

While we don't buy anything on the market, we do attempt to buy a beautiful ceramic vase in a nearby souvenir shop (the only souvenir shop we see). It seems to have much higher quality souvenirs and quite a good selection. But the experience with the service is the same as we had a couple of months ago in Minsk, Belarus. It is too much trouble for the salesperson to wrap the vase. She seems almost relieved when we tell her that without wrapping we can't take it. No, capitalism definitely didn't reach this store yet.

We finally reach the heart of the city, which contains both Chisinau's best and worst. On one side of the boulevard is the huge ugly grey Government Building, where Moldova's cabinet meets. Right across the street is the city's most photogenic spot, the Holy Gates (locally known as the Arc de Triomphe), which was built in the 19th century to house a bell made of old Turkish cannons. There is no bell, but it is a very pretty sight, and, together with the the Cathedral and it's bell tower makes for a nice picture.

Government House

Holy Gates with Cathedral and Bell Tower in background

We decide we will visit the Cathedral on the way back and keep walking toward one of Chisinau's many parks, the park Stefan cel Mare. As we get closer to the park we pass about 20 parked cars of various wedding parties. As was the case in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine during our trip there last summer, tourist sites here tend to attract hordes of newlyweds with their entourages. In Russia I nicknamed this phenomenon the "invasion of the bridezillas", and I continue referring to it that way here. 

I wait patiently for my turn while two different wedding parties have their pictures taken with the statue of Stefan cel Mare, which stands at the entrance to the park. Stefan cel Mare stands for Stefan the Great (also known as Stefan cel Mare si Sfant which adds Holy to Great). Based on the number of things named for him I am pretty sure that he must have been someone important, so I Google him. If I can believe Wikipedia, he was Prince of  Moldavia in the 15th century who managed to defend Moldavia from various enemies, including the Ottomans.

Statue of Stefan cel Mare

We enter the park and it exceeds my expectations by about a 100 percent. It is truly beautiful. Even on this grey October day it's a pleasant place, not even the ever-present bridezillas and their noisy wedding parties destroy the experience.

Park of Stefan cel Mare

Park of Stefan cel Mare (with mandatory bride, groom and photographer)

We exit the park on the other side and walk to the impressive (if not terribly pretty) Parliament House. Across the street is the very modern and quite attractive looking Presidential Palace, with the Opera and Ballet Theater nearby.

Parliament House

Presidential Palace

One of the few remaining old buildings in the area

Opera and Ballet Theater

We walk back to the Cathedral and this time we visit the inside. Luckily I have a scarf, so I am able to cover my head. This seemed quite optional on our trip to Russia and Ukraine, as there were many tourists in all churches we visited. But here we are the only non-locals and I would not dare enter with a bare  head. Just as well because we find ourselves in the middle of a service. Literally in the middle. Apparently at a certain point of the service there is a small procession of priests walking around the church, I think blessing the people present. We don't have a chance to get out without disrupting everyone, so we just stand there waiting for them to pass. The old lady next to me keeps shoving her elbow into me quite viciously. I think she is trying to tell me something in a silent, nonverbal way. Finally I understand. I am standing in front of a statue and I am not supposed to. The priests are coming to bless it. Ooops. I move quickly. What a faux-pas. Anyway, the Cathedral is beautiful inside.

Cathedral and Bell Tower

Cathedral

Interior of the Cathedral

We pause in front of the Cathedral to watch a photo-shoot of a bride and groom. This one is more interesting than the countless others going on in this city today. They have two white doves. They hold them. Photographer snap snap. They kiss them. Photographer snap snap. Then, after a very careful explanation from the photographer they are supposed to let them go, at the exact same time, while looking after them with some sort of an idiotic longing look. This is too much for the young couple and they completely mess it up. Photographer is devastated, the rest of us, including the young couple, have a good laugh.

More bridezillas, this time with white doves!

A long walk back to the hotel. On the way we stop at the post office to send some quite ugly postcards we were able to find. Two people across the table are writing a letter in English. They are local and their level of English surprises me. In general the level of English surprises me in Chisinau. Perhaps because in some ways the city seems to be stuck in the past, I just don't expect to be running into English-speaking people all the time. But I do.

We were not impressed enough by the hotel restaurant to want to eat there twice in one day. So, for dinner, we stop at a restaurant called Giraffe, with fun African decoration (including two giant giraffes out front) and good food. The culinary experience in Chisinau is definitely better than the sight-seeing one. And did I mention that Moldova is famous for it's wine?

Day 3:

Another grey October day. Today we are taking a trip outside of the city. Sightseeing there should be much more interesting. We get picked up at the hotel by our guide, a very nice, knowledgeable lady with quite good English. Not a great driver though.

On the way out of city she points out the spot where Chisinau was originally founded. Not much is left there, but a plaque does commemorate the spot.  Chisinau's oldest surviving building, the Mazarache Church, stands nearby. It's hard to believe that the creek by which the town was founded used to be navigable, now it barely trickles.

Spot where Chisinau was originally founded

The Mazarache Church, with apartment building in background

Chisinau was founded on the banks of this stream

 We drive by the circus, then head out of town.

Circus

On the way we get quite an extensive history lesson from our guide. Her mind being somewhere in old Bessarabia, she gets frazzled when a police car drives up behind her, and she promptly runs a red light. We are not stopped for  long and as we drive away the guide explains that she has "settled" the issue for about one-eights of the fine. I don't really want to know.

We drive through some calm countryside, in October colors. Lots of pretty lakes. We pass a village where all gates are adorned with stone flowers. The stone comes from a big quarry in the village and is quarried, among others, by prisoners from a nearby high security prison.

October in full swing

Stone flowers on the columns by the gate

We arrive to our first stop, the archaeological site of Orheiul Vechi, one of Moldova's must-see sights. As we drive up we get a fantastic view of the limestone cliffs, it's caves and monastery and the beautiful valley of the river Raut. The view is simply breathtaking, and we linger here for a while, taking lots and lots of pictures. The weather is somber, so the pictures don't come out very well, but in reality the place is absolutely beautiful. And we finally see some other tourists. Down in the valley I count at least four tour buses, which all seem to carry Moldovan school children. Up here we are the only ones right now, in the company of a bunch of cows.

We get a good view of the entire valley, and the church and monastery across. They are standing on (and in) a tall limestone cliff riddled with caves. Some of them are natural and some of them are man-made, and our guide explains that digging more of these is now prohibited as they destabilize the cliffs. But there seems to be plenty of them already.

View of the valley

The Cave Monastery

The church

Caves in the side of the cliffs

Our vantage point, only cows keeping us company

Before we drive down to the valley, we pass the ruins of an old fort. There is not much to see here, so we don't stop.

Ruins of the fort

Down in the valley our first stop is at the Orheiul Vechi Exposition Center. It's an enjoyable little museum, exhibiting some of the local finds. My favorites are the 14th (?) century piggy-banks. I have never seen any before. The museum also has an impressive collection of axes, apparently donated by a private collector. According to our guide some of the exhibits are mislabeled, but otherwise the museum was worth the quick stop. And we saw the first foreign tourists, an older couple.

Piggy bank

Axes

We drive on to the other side of the valley, to the historic village of Butuceni. It's a beautiful village, obviously very old. Our guide explains that it is being preserved, so that modifications are not allowed. One of the interesting features is the large number of wells. While they are decorated in different styles, they all seem to follow the same general design, enclosed in little "houses" of their own.

Butuceni well

Another Butuceni well

We stop at the local folk museum, a typical old peasant house. We check out the "nice room" of the house first, which was used exclusively to receive guests. No matter how numerous the family became, they never lived in this room. Our guide also explains that the belt hanging on the wall was made by a girl, usually starting at around 9 years old. She would finish it by the time she was old enough for her first dance and would give it to the boy who captured her heart.

The folk museum

The "nice room" of the house

The belt made by a girl to express her love

The other room of the house was used for pretty much everything else. It was kitchen, bedroom, workroom, and who knows what else. I must admit the sleeping quarters on top of the fireplace do look quite cozy.

The room where they cooked....

...and ate....

...and slept....

...and worked

 There is also a "guest house" (or rather grandparents house) in the back, and the cellar which was basically their refrigerator.

Guest house

Inside of guest house

The fridge

Inside of the fridge

Chicken coop

 We walk up the steep hill behind the museum to get to the entrance of the Cave Monastery. To my daughter's delight we pass a couple of goats on the way.

Goat with monastery entrance in background

The monastery was dug into the cliff by 13th century Orthodox monks. The entrance used to be from the steep cliffs on the side of the river, but it collapsed during an earthquake. So the local villagers opened up an entrance from the side of the village, and built a bell-tower over it to signalize that the monastery was open again. In Soviet times it was abandoned, but in the 1990's a couple of monks returned.

I cover my head with a scarf and we enter through a dark and quite steep stairwell. It's quite an effort not to tumble down, but it is worth the risk. The inside of the cave, a little chapel, is beautiful, and the only thing outdoing it is the fantastic view from the "terrace" on the other side. Magnificent. Even the elderly monk with the long beard, who seems to be in charge, is a perfect picture of how one imagines a monk should look like. I wonder where did he learn English?

Entrance to the cave monastery

The interior of the cave

Interior of cave, with window cut into the side of the cliff

We stand on the "terrace", a narrow stone ledge, for a while, taking in the view. The only thing making this moment less perfect is the fact that the combination of steep cliff plus no railing plus an active 8-year old are making me quite tense. I am holding my daughter's hands so firmly that she starts to complain. Otherwise the place is perfect. There is even a white dove (a real one) sitting above the door to the cave. How symbolic.

Magnificent view from the monastery's "terrace"

From this ledge we can also see the original steps which used to lead into the monastery. And we can clearly make out the shells which make up the lime stone cliffs.

The remains of the original steps leading to the monastery, with the seashells clearly visible in the limestone

Once back inside, we check out the tiny cells in which the monks used to live. Someone is praying here so we don't linger for long. The comfort level of the place is obvious at first glance. Luckily the cave's constant temperature kept the monks from freezing to death.

The monks' cells

The monks' cells

We stop by a stone cross on the edge of the cliff. Our guide explains that a wish made while touching the symbol on the cross will come true. Everyone else around us must know the same thing as we have to wait for our turn. The view from here is so beautiful!

The cross which makes wishes come true

The view from the cross

We take the short walk on the top of the cliff to the nearby church. Like so many of its peers, during Soviet times it has fallen into disrepair. Now it has been beautifully restored. We have visited many Orthodox churches lately, traveling in a number of former Soviet republics. But we have never bothered hiring a guide before (we like our independence), so this is the first time when we receive explanation on the icons inside.

The church on the cliff

Interior of the church

Interior of the church

Our guide insists that she needs to show us something behind the church. She calls it Moldova's very own Stonehenge. The site of ancient worship, there is nothing left from it but a couple of boulders. She explains to us, with visible disdain, that the sign which used to mark the spot of the ancient site was removed by the monks, who turned the place into a parking lot. The reason being that the place was pagan. She is outraged over this and frankly so am I. I would have thought that the monks would have learned, from their own experience during the Soviets, that destroying historic gems just because they don't conform to one's own belief system is wrong.

Moldova's Stonehenge. Can you see it? Neither can I.

A steep walk back down to the village where we hop into the car and drive a couple of minutes to the ruins of an old Ottoman-era bath house. We can still see the remains of the old stone road which used to lead to it.

Ottoman-era bath house

Then we drive on to our next destination. On the way me manage to drive into a one way street in the opposite direction. Did I mention our guide wasn't the best driver? Luckily she is an excellent guide.

We pass an enormous man-made lake, some 10 km-s long, nicknamed the Chisinau Sea. It is a popular recreation area and must be lovely in the summer. But it is October now, cold and grey, so we don't stop.

We arrive to our next stop, the Cojusna Winery. Wineries are one of Moldova's biggest tourist attractions, so we feel we have to see at least one. Our choice would be one of the huge ones, Milestii Mici with it's 200 km of wine cellars, or Cricova which measures 120 km. They are basically underground cities possible to visit only on an electric train or in a car.

Neither of the big ones are open this weekend however, so we decide to visit Cojusna. It is not as impressive in size, only 1 km, but is famous for it's interesting tasting halls. We are greeted by a nice lady who explains everything there is to know about the winery (our guide translates). The place is interesting. The landscaping has seen better days, but the cellar itself seems to be in perfect shape, complete with it's own turret.

The roof of the cellar, with the turret

The cellar entrance, with a winery employee

The winery is more than 100 years old, and was established to produce wine with the French technology. Their current collection seems to go back to the 70's. As soon as we enter we can smell where we are. The scent of wine cellars is unmistakable. We pass corridors (roads with their own names) with many many dusty bottles. Very dusty bottles. We are not expecting to see anything fancy, so we are not prepared for what comes next.

Cojusna wine cellar

Cojusna wine cellar

My jaw drops for the first time when we enter the entrance hall leading to the tasting rooms. Did I just enter a different world? Am I still in the same cellar? Where is all the dust? This room would put to shame a little museum. It displays models of various winery tools and has a bench carved from old grape roots. Beautiful tapestries adorn the walls. Wow!

Bench made from old roots

One of the tapestries in the entrance hall

We enter one of the tasting rooms, the "European White Room", and my jaw drops even further. I would expect this in Versailles, but not here. And the size of the place! Some of the paint is peeling off the walls, so it's obvious that the place has seen better days, but still. Wow again!

European White Room

We are led into the second tasting room, the "Stone Room". Yes, wow again! My jaw is at the level of my knees at this point. Completely different from the first one, rugged, feels almost like a cave. Absolutely beautiful. Even the chairs are hand carved, all unique. This is where we do our wine tasting. Or, in the case of my husband and daughter, wine smelling. We are starving at this point, luckily the tasting comes with some bread, cheese, cold cuts and nuts. We throw ourselves at the food with embarrassing speed. They have a sequence of 7 wines to taste. They are good, even though I find the last two, the dessert wines, too sweet.

The Stone Room

Hand carved chairs in the Stone Room

The table in the Stone Room set for our tasting

Before we leave we sign the gigantic guest book. We are proudly told that there are presidents who have signed it, as did Julio Iglesias.

Back to the hotel. I am starting to feel bad that we don't have more time in Moldova. No, not for Chisinau, I had quite enough of the city. But the countryside has a lot to offer. I think Moldova is underrated, not advertised enough. Well, we will just have to come back.

Day 4:

Finally the sun comes out. Too bad we are flying back to Paris.