Moldova - September 2017

Chișinău

The Guinness

Would there be Guinness in Moldova?  I'd been asking myself that question for months.  I was so worried there may not be that I took an 'emergency can' with me - not a cheap option as it meant paying for hold baggage on the flight out.  I needn't have worried though.  The Dublin Pub had what was needed.  

Enna kindly picked out the next destination I have to visit - Prague.

It's the only Irish pub in the country and the only place serving Guinness that I could find.  It's a pleasant quiet pub well off the main thoroughfare but was well worth the hunt on this hot evening.  I explained what I was up to and Enna kindly picked out my next destination of Prague.  We also met Andree, the owner, who showed up around the pub and kindly gave me a bottle of Tullamore Dew whiskey, one of my favorites.  

We liked the place and wanted to prove to ourselves that we could find it again so went back the following evening for food and jolly edible it was too.  We had the local soup which included noodle and chicken followed by some excellent medallions of beef.  

Team make-up

By that I mean who traveled with me rather than what type of mascara did I wear.  This time Ian came with me again as it was one of the countries he wanted to visit as part of his challenge to try and ride a train in each European country.

Ian enjoying the rest in Călărași 

Sightseeing

When people ask me about my memories of my visit to Moldova it will probably be the people that top the list and not the sightseeing.  There are some elegant sights but maybe not more than to occupy a day or two.  No doubt there were a fair few we missed given our lack of any guidebook or leaflet.

Belfry of Nativity Cathedral, Chișinău

If you like markets then you'll be happy here.  I think the Chisinau market is the biggest I've ever seen.

Anyone for cabbage leaves?

Getting there and around

It's not an easy country to get to.  There is a cheap flight once a week from Stansted at very uncivilized times so instead we flew Lufthansa out of Birmingham via Frankfurt and Vienna and then via Munich on the way back.  On the plus side there is a trolleybus from Chisinau airport into the centre costing  just 10p.  In fact there are trolleybuses galore and we had a lot of fun riding them at 20 Lei a ride, paid in cash on-board.

And of course there was the train trip.  That's not easy when there are so few trains per day and many of them are long distance trains.  With the help of our friends at Hidden Europe we did manage to find a suitable couple of trains and went out to the town Călărași for the day.  The train back was the Moscow to Chisinau sleeper train full of couchettes and yes I did grab a quick snooze.

Food and Drink

Whereas sightseeing probably was a little disappointing, the food and drink turned out to be above expectations.  I wouldn't say we ate much traditional Moldovan food but what we did was lovely.

A selection of deserts and  some local cognac to wash it down.

Outside Chisinau

We chose to go to Călărași more because it was accessible by train rather than anything else.  After grabbing some breakfast and exploring the market we were trying to find the museum we had read about but without much luck.  We ended up outside the town hall and who should come up to Ian and offer assistance but the Mayor himself.  He broke the news that the museum was unfortunately closed for repairs but arranged for someone to meet us there.  That led to an excellent afternoon in the company of Marianna and Corina who gave up their time to explain the history of the town, the Jewish history and show us around and used their contacts to enable us to see places we wouldn't have otherwise found.  

A lovely day out in Călărași including a visit to the fire station and police museum.

The Accommodation

We hired an apartment on the main street, the aptly named Chisinau Central Apartment, again not that easy to find but worth the effort.  

Central Apartments in Chisinau

Quirky Moments

Having realised that I would not be able to take the bottle of whiskey home as we would not be allowed to take it trough airport security we were left with a choice - either drink it in two days and spend most of the holiday with a hangover or give it to a worthy course.  I chose the later.

I am a fan of the comedian, writer and philanthropist Tony Hawks.  In one of his books he is set a challenge by a friend to play each of the Moldovan football team at tennis.  If he looses he has to strip naked in the street and sing the Moldovan national anthem.  If he wins his friend has to do so.  After leaving Moldova Tony felt he wanted to put something back into the country so helped set up a centre for children with after became to Tony Hawks Care Centre in Chisinau.

The most inappropriate gift ever given to a children's centre - a bottle of whiskey.

Lasting Memories

I left with many pleasant memories of this small and rarely visited country.  A country where the people ate proud and trying hard to improve themselves but where maybe the politics is somewhat hard to overcome.  

Moldovian hero Stefan cel Mare 

A full collection of photos from the trip can be found at: Flick album