Moldova in a round-about sort of way

[RooFlyer]

Moldavia has almost no tourism and is not classically beautiful. English is not widely spoken.

Wine and history. Does it for me

 

[RooFlyer]

Rest of the day spent wandering around, assisted by the excellent Metro here. 4pm found me at Hammam Cağaloğlu for a wonderful 'cleansing' experience.

Home | Cağaloğlu Hamamı

1741 yılında inşa edilen Cağaloğlu Hamamı, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu döneminde uzun bir süre sonra yapılan en son hamamdır.

cagalogluhamami.com.tr

Checking out this morning and going IST-KIV (that's Chisinau, not Kiev!!).

Wrap-up thoughts.
Mercure Istanbul Sirkeci was a good choice. About A$220/night booked direct. Its very close to the Sirkeci tramway station, the Spice Bazaar and easy walk to the Galata bridge. Hagia Sophia area a bit of a hike up-hill, or 2 stops on the tram. Taksim Square via the tram and funicular. A pretty small hotel, was totally quiet for me and excellent people on the desk, every shift. The attached restaurant isn't owned by the hotel, so pay separately (and no booze).

Istanbul still lots of fun; I only wish the tourist-area restaurants could overcome their over-riding habit of trying to over-charge. And of course lots of smoking all over and traffic is bad.

Hammam is a must if you come here and going before opening at the major monuments highly recommended. The place is heaving.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Wine and history. Does it for me

What about the beautiful rocks?

 

[RooFlyer]

What about the beautiful rocks?

Well, that too, but I'm not sure if Moldova has any.

Yellow taxi to IST airport deparing at 9:30 was pretty quick: 45 mins and 800 TL fixed price (A$45) - $33 in 2020. Driver was a star. Three phones mounted on his dash, and he was texting one one, Facebooking on another, and carrying out conversations on his 'hands free' all the time, while doing 120kmph when he could.

Ive been to ISA before, and knew it was huge.



But TKWIA - door 5, TK business and status elites.



X-ray of all bags on entry, then sit-down to check-in (that USA flights extra security only)



One dumb thing about ISA is the entrance to the J lounge. Its 2/3 the way back towards the end of the terminal you passed to go in door 5. . Did I say this airport is big?





Lounge dragon at the base of the escalator, then scan BP to get in through gates. This has to be one of the better J lounges out there. better than DOH I think. About 4 or 6 cooking stations serving up yummy local creations





Plus a large buffet (this is 1/4 of it)



And I found the sweets area

 

[RooFlyer]

Only major negative is the booze, which is parked on discrete carts in a couple of corners.



There's soccer merch, TV area (???), library quiet zone and some rest areas, I didn't visit (not sleepers - just settees with curtains able to be drawn).








Time to head off to the gate - it was the furthest it could possibly be ... 850m according to my Apple watch. Not many travellators.



Its a B737-800, ( edited) flight time a fraction over an hour.



PDB of a variety of juices, and menu handed out





A generous 1GB of wi-fi for J pax. I forgot to mention, QR's is a pretty hopeless 1 hour of free wi-fi in J, and pretty weak and spotty at that.



Given that I'd had a few snacks in the lounge, I was only going to ask for the marinated artichokes off the menu, but then the FA came round and ... its everything on the menu, not a selection! For a 1 hour flight.

 

[RooFlyer]

You do have to hand it to TK - a fantastic business product, even for regional.

Hauling out of IST, over the Black Sea coast



and the Bulgarian coast - look like some nice 'sea' side towns and beaches



Then over the Danube, in Romania. The huge Danube delta is on the other side. Hope to see it on the return flight.



Over Moldova. approaching Chisinau and the vineyards appear.





The flightpath from Flighty.

 

[Pushka]

Would you rate TK for a long flight - eg Bali to London via IST, in J?

 

[Mr H]

Would you rate TK for a long flight - eg Bali to London via IST, in J?

I flew DEL-IST in 2019 and the cabin crew tried to make us shut all the windows - told us it was airline policy. They got really snarky with me when I tried to resist. And another time some years earlier (2011) I flew BKK-IST without my bags and the cabin crew sealed off one of the J lavatories to use as a crew and pilots smoking room.

 

[drron]

For a moment I thought TK had a specially built 380.

Its a B383-800, flight time a fraction over an hour.

 

[RooFlyer]

Would you rate TK for a long flight - eg Bali to London via IST, in J?

i’ve only ever done a couple of short hauls on TK and I’d like to try long haul, and I'm especially looking forward to them flying out of Australia before too long. that said, for me with a long haul, the bed and seat would be an important thing to check.

 

[RooFlyer]

So, we arrived at Chisinau Airport (KIV). No airbridges (just like HBA ) so bussed in - again, a single bus for J pax only. First into immigration, no visa required, breezed through, bags took a while, no worries. Got some cash from the ATM, and then the moment I was dreading - getting a taxi to the hotel. Hotel had offered a car at 50 euro, no thanks. Got some advice from @Flashback on taxis and read up - should be 15 to 20 euros. Then -not a taxi in sight! Nothing. Number of swarthy guys muttering 'taxi, taxi' and I managed to haggle one of them down to 15 euros, which I though was worth putting my life into his hands.

I'm really in Moldova - country #95



I booked the Hotel Gregory, one of the fancier places, abt $150/night incl breakfast. Could have gone a lot, lot cheaper, but I always like a better place on first visit, in case of issues.



Its just like their web site shows, and my past experience with former Soviet republics would be like. Over-elaborate furnishings, chandeliers, heavy drapes, acres of marble.







A full mini-bar and a, er... snack tray...



Headed out for my orientation walk. First impressions are that Chisinau is a small city, pretty orderly - cars obey traffic lights, give way to zebra crossings, park in parking spaces ...) no litter; the city centre is well maintained with well kept footpaths.



National history museum





Local hero, St Stephen

 

[Mr H]

Glad you arrived safely. Local specialities I remember were Bucuria chocolates with sour fruit centres, and medovik layered honey cake. And heading east there were plastintsy - pastry wrapped around various savoury and sweet fillings. I managed a kilo of them in one sitting

 

[RooFlyer]

Glad you arrived safely. Local specialities I remember were Bucuria chocolates with sour fruit centres, and medovik layered honey cake. And heading east there were plastintsy - pastry wrapped around various savoury and sweet fillings. I managed a kilo of them in one sitting

Surely you meant to include mamaliga - cornmeal mush side dish


Quickly learned one interesting thing. The locals speak both Russian and 'Moldovan' (actually Romanian) but not necessarily both. So if you want to be polite and say a few words in local lingo, its a 50/50 chance that you pick the right one. Its not an age thing, just a bilingual country; fortunately everyone you are likely to meet as a tourist will understand a little English.

The hotel reception guy chooses Romanian; one wine bar last night was Romanian, the other Russian; the restaurant wait-staff were Russian native speakers as far as I could tell.

I went to a wine bar that Lonely Planet recommended, Invino Entoeca but while it was open, they were about to have a function, so that was no-go.





Along one central street, a row of pics and commentary in Russian and Moldovan in support of Ukraine.





Wine bar #2 , Sala de degustare, close to my Hotel



Owner was a Russian/English speaker ("I can understand some Moldovan, but can't speak it"). Also has a great-looking food menu, but it was deserted at 6pm so nit very inviting. Will have to go back when a bt more atmosphere.



A nice, dry local Riesling from Vinum vineyard

 

[Mr H]

Surely you meant to include mamaliga - cornmeal mush side dish

I don’t remember having mamaliga but I may have done.

In terms of language, pretty much every Moldavian can speak Russian even though some prefer to speak Romanian. They seemed to welcome tourists making an effort to speak in Russian (presumably as long as the tourists weren’t actually Russian). I only got grief once for trying Russian - with a city guide in Kishinev who spoke Russian perfectly well but who wanted to make a political point.

 

[RooFlyer]

Dinner the first night was 'Gastrobar', a recommendation of Lonely Planet, and a good one. A hip-ish place (not usually my style, but give it a go), in a uni/embassy part of town not too far from the hotel. Rocked up without a reservation at 6:30 and was given a table that was reserved for 8pm. OK, here, the staff are Russian speakers.







I had 2 glasses of the viorica (dry white) from Timbrus Purcari estate, which was recommended by the wine bar, and it was excellent.



The roast beef on baguette, deliceous.



Great restaurant, so I made a booking for the following night.

 

[RooFlyer]

A bit about Moldova. I read up on the history a couple of times and am still confused. Its one of those places that has been contested forever, but until recent times was never an independent state - always part of somewhere else, mainly either Romania or Russia, with the Ottomans having it in their empire for some hundreds of years. The ancient history I won't attempt, but here are some dates from the BBC:

14th-15th Centuries - Principality of Moldova stretches roughly between Carpathian mountains and Dniester river.
16th-early 19th Century - Moldovan territory disputed by several powers with the Ottoman Empire and Russia as the main rivals.
1812 - Treaty of Bucharest grants Russia control of eastern Moldova or Bessarabia, the area between the River Prut and the west bank of the Dniester. The Ottoman Empire gains control of western Moldova.
1878 - Ottomans recognise independence of Romanian state including western Moldova.
1918 - Following the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, Bessarabia declares independence. Its parliament calls for union with Romania.
1920 - Treaty of Paris recognises union of Bessarabia with Romania. The Bolsheviks do not.
1924 - Moldovan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic established east of the Dniester River within Ukraine.
1940 - Russia annexes Bessarabia from Romania, and combines it with most of the Moldovan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic to form Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic.
1941-1945 - Romania re-establishes control after its ally naz_ Germany invades the Soviet Union until the end of World War Two, when the Soviet Union regains control.
Late 1980s - Resurgence of Moldovan nationalism in the wake of the Gorbachev reforms in the Soviet Union.
1991 - Moldova declares independence. It joins the Commonwealth of Independent States, the successor to the Soviet Union.
Up to 700 people are killed in fighting between Moldovan and Transnistrian forces following the breakaway region's unilateral declaration of independence.
1992 - Ceasefire signed and enforced by Russian troops already stationed in the breakaway region.
2006 - Transnistria referendum overwhelmingly backs independence from Moldova and a plan eventually to become part of Russia.
2014 - Moldova signs association agreement with the European Union, prompting Russia to impose import restrictions on the country's agricultural produce.
2016 - Pro-Russian candidate Igor Dodon wins first direct presidential election in 16 years.
2020 - Pro-European opposition candidate Maia Sandu is elected Moldova's first women president, defeating the incumbent pro-Russian president Igor Dodon.


I'll have more to say about Transnistria later, and there is another another 'autonomous region' to the south-west, Gagauzia, with Ottoman (Turkish) roots, but another pro-Russian mob. So confusing!

Moldova is poor today, with little industry, only agriculture and of course is in an unenviable situation with the Ukranian war and pro-Russian territories on each side of it.

I had Saturday free, and spend most of the day walking around Chisinau (pop about 800,000) and loved it. It was a warm, sunny day; music on most street corners (mainly folk music, I think), some opera being practiced in a park (with accompanying music), heaps of nice looking restaurants, and heaps of people going about shipping and relaxing in parks. As I said before, its clean, orderly and the people are friendly enough. Most buildings in the city centre are 3-5 stories and elegant-looking; some soviet blocks and only a few glass towers.

These pics going down the main drag will give you some idea.









Opera (I assume) practice in the park with some lovely music. I bought a baguette and a juice at a hole-in-the-wall and enjoyed lunch with a show.











Of course there are some soviet-era horrors, but the vibe of the place is out-going and classy.

 

[RooFlyer]

Walk continued. Some gorgeous parks. I forgot to mention that just about all the streets I've been on have a row or sometimes 2 rows of mature trees either side, very pretty and shady.



The main church, the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ's Nativity, Moldovan Orthodox, built in the 1830s. And its bell tower





The city's 'Triumphal Arch' , built in the 1840s commemorate the Russian Empire defeating the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War of the late 1820s.



There was a marathon on today (one for you @Bundy Bear ?)





And along the railing of the National Museum, images from the Ukanian war

 

[RooFlyer]

I visited the National Museum. Won't go into much detail, as it won't mean much, but a good museum with most labels also in English. The ancient history of Moldova (ie bronze and iron ages) quite extensive.



Clay figure from 4-5,000 BC



Bronze cauldron, 1500 BC





Through to modern times - WW1, WW2, Soviet era





Independence



In front of the museum, a copy of the 'Capitoline Wolf', donated by Italy in the early 20th Century (donated a copy to a number of countries in the region)

 

[RooFlyer]

Still wandering: The National Library





Hello, what's this?



Its what I've found is typical just wondering around these inner-city streets. Cafe/restaurant with a huge selection of light meals, snacks, juices, quiches, coffees and on and on, on a lovely deck in the warm afternoon. Who can resist? Not me!



After resting my dicky arthritic foot for an hour or so, I headed back out to Gastrobar, this time with a table outside and starting with a glass of fetaesca alba



Half of the menu



Mussels to start - delicious



and their take on duck l'orange (with cranberries). Not a fan of the l'orange, but the duck was very nice. Waiter, who seemed to remember my tip from last night, insisted I try a (non-free) 'special wine', which was nice, but I couldn't understand what it was

 

[RooFlyer]

10 min stroll back to my hotel, I pop into a supermarket for a few things, and took a few pics

Meats. Most of this is pork, at between A$10.70 (MDL125) to A$13.40 (MDL156) per kg.





LOTsa booze







The whiskey drinkers here may be able to compare prices. MDL100 = A$8.60; remember Moldova is much poorer than Oz, with MUCH lower rates of income.



Some nightlife. Its got a bit of a Brunswick in Melbourne vibe about it - not as intense, and more spread out, but same feeling, I think.



I'd call these typical inner city houses, where they are stand-alone dwellings. Another thing to notice is how they have narrowed the footpaths by creating nature strips.