Chisinau

Other countries have remarkable monuments or exceptional landscapes; the biggest attraction in Moldova is their unique living culture of folklore dances and songs. We were lucky enough to experience this together with our friends Daniela and Semion.

But first things first: Originally, we met the two in Greece and had a great time hiking in the Olympus mountains. They invited us warmly to visit them in Chişinău and so the idea was born to take the night train from Bucureşti to Moldova.

On Friday morning we arrive still a little sleepy. While Semion and Daniela need to work and study, we have some time to relax and write some blog entries. In the evening Semion gives us a quick tour through Chişinău. The cityscape is dominated by tall building blocks from Sowjet era, but the city center is lively and modern.

On Saturday, Semion and Daniela take us to the countryside. A friend working in Ireland is giving a farewell party at a family member's house before leaving back to Dublin. On the terrace we are invited to taste delicious Moldovian food and red wine and white wine and beer and again wine... You can imagine what happens next. :-D We learn perhaps the most important word "Noroc!" which means "Cheers!".
One of the hottest topics is the war in Ukraine. The village is only 30 km away from the border and someone tells us that they even could hear some rocket impacts in the past. We are also told that people are unhappy with the ignorance of the large Russian minority in Moldova, who refuse to learn a single word in the official language, Romanian, even though almost every Moldovan understands some Russian. More beer and wine lower my inhibition threshold and I let myself be persuaded to taste the comb of a cock. Finally, we go to the best viewpoint tower of the village. Of course, the typical circle dance is not to be missed on a good Moldovan family party.

For the next day, Semion and Daniela told us that "we are going to visit some monasteries with friends". Moldova is known for its beautiful monasteries all over the country and we are curious to see some of them. But the whole event is quite different and much better than what we expected: At 8:30 we are sitting in an old minibus with a children's folk group, some parents and our friends. The trip is organized by Semion's folk group leader who is also a teacher and the leader of the children's folk group. In fact, the first stop is a monastery. As it is Sunday morning the orthodox service is taking place. Women have to cover their hair when entering the monastery grounds and people worship the holy images. After about 30 minutes, everyone goes back to the bus and the tour continues. We are quite surprised when the first shots are passed around, not to the children, of course. The homemade walnut liqueur is very tasty. After another monastery we stop at the house of a folk group member. Everyone is allowed to go in the garden and eat as many grapes as he/she can. Inside, a huge table overflows with deliciously prepared food and wine. Now the children come into action: To the sound of a bluetooth box they sing and dance some traditional folklore songs. Everyone applauds. With full stomachs, we get back on the bus. We are curious to see what happens next and it does indeed get better. All of a sudden the bus stops in the middle of nowhere in a field. When we get off, we are greeted by a saxophonist, a singer and a keyboard player performing best Moldovan music, trying to be louder than the diesel generator for the huge loudspeakers. Before we know it, we are dancing the typical circle dance. On a large barbecue fresh pork meat is being prepared. Side dishes for the meal? No way! :-D Luckily we can avoid to eat the big meat portion, but before we get back on the bus I have to drink some shots in front of the saxophonist. Unbelievable! The tour goes on: Some monasteries, some performances by the children, some wine. After the last stop with a huge buffet in someone's garden, we roll home. The words here can only begin to describe how extraordinary this day was for us.

Monday morning we recover from the weekend.
Since Semion and Daniela both have to go back to work and study, we do some planning and research for the next weeks. We also stroll ourselves around the city center of Chişinău. In the afternoon, we visit the National History Museum together with Daniela and Semion. It is very interesting for us to learn that today's Moldova was united with Romania 100 years ago. Nowadays, there are still political currents trying to reunite the country with Romania.
In the evening, we prepare typical "Elsässer Flammkuchen" and have a great time together. Thank you very much for everything, Daniela and Semion! We are looking forward to welcoming you in Hamburg in the future!Read more