Some info about Chisinau

So, I was doing a little research about Chisinau, Moldova and this is what I found:

Moldova

Rich with history and fertile soils that produce abundant vineyards, Moldova is an

unjustifiably forgotten tourist destination, as yet untouched by the budget airline brigade. In this land-locked eastern European country, you can wander round vast monasteries, sample the local wines, or trek through ancient forests.

Despite remaining one of the poorest countries in Europe, the people are friendly and welcoming, and the main centres, such as the capital Chisinau, have everything a visitor could need. Chisinau's cathedrals, monuments and museums survived severe WWII bombings to the city, including the house where Pushkin spent his days in exile penning some of his most famous works.

There are plenty of small restaurants and coffee shops. The service tends to be slow, but the cuisine is delicious, with a range of traditional national dishes and European food.
National specialities:
• Mititeyi (small grilled sausages with onion and pepper).
• Mamaliga (thick, sticky maize pie) which is served with brinza (feta cheese).
• Tocana (pork stew) should be tried with sweet-and-sour watermelons and apples.

National drinks:
There are more than 100 varieties of excellent wines produced in Moldova.
• White wines include Aligote, Riesling and Sauvignon.
• Moldovan Cabernet and Merlot are noteworthy reds.
• Doina or Nistru brandy is an ideal accompaniment with desserts.

Tipping: 5 to 10% will be gladly accepted.

In Chisinau, there is a good selection of theatres and concert halls, and an opera house. The Eminescu Music and Drama Theatre specialises in Romanian productions, as does the Youth Theatre Luceafarul (Poetic Star). All performances in the Chekhov Drama Theatre are exclusively in Russian (the building used to be the Chisinau Choral Synagogue). The Philharmonia Concert Hall houses Moldova’s Symphony Orchestra. It is also the base for the folklore Doina Choir, the internationally-renowned Zhok National Dance Ensemble and the Fluerash Orchestra of National Music. Russian and Romanian productions can be seen in the puppet theatre Licurici (Glow-worm). The country is famous for its tradition of folk arts and there are many lively musical groups (Tarafs), which play a variety of rare folk instruments including the tsambal (not unlike a dulcimer), cimpoi (bagpipe), fluier and nai.

Shopping:  buys are the handmade carpets and locally-produced wines and brandies. The main open-air market (tolchok) is on Calea Mosilor, about 10 minutes’ drive away from central Chisinau. Although crowded, it sells everything and is a good place for bargains. There are several craft centres where trades include woodcarving, enamel painting, embroidery, weaving, and the making of musical instruments.

So, we'll see how the reality matches the description.  More later.

Monday - a travel day

Sunday night at our huge hotel, there were only 10 guests, including us.  When we went for breakfast, expecting a breakfast buffet, the waitress said, just order what you want.  So we had poached eggs and a kind of sausage that tasted like polish sausage.  There was also a fruit compote made from sour cherries that was really delicious.  I never saw such a thing in the US.

We went around 11:30 to catch a train to Bucharest only to find that the train was going to be delayed.  We checked with the mini-bus and found that there was only one available seat, so we waited until just after 1pm for the train and rode second class in a compartment with four other people.  We arrived in Bucharest at just after 3pm and Florin was hungry for KFC.  So we ate spicy chicken wings at the KFC at the train station.  It was the worst meal I had since arriving in Eastern Europe.  After we ate, we went to a ticket agent to get sleeper car tickets for Wednesday night when we'll leave for Chisinau, Moldova, returning overnight Monday arriving Tuesday.

I'm back at my apartment, bare feet and shorts.  It's 73 degrees and sunny at 6pm.  It's nice to have a bit of solitude.  Tomorrow, I'll have my usual Bucharest routine and may or may not see Florin.  These bouts of activity followed by alone time suit me just fine.  Moldova will be intense people time.  I don't know yet where I'll be on my birthday but wherever it is, a celebration is in order.

Sinaia - Sunday afternoon 10/4

We arrived in Sinaia around 1pm and checked into our hotel.  Then we went on a four hour walking tour.  Some of the pictures are at http://picasaweb.google.com/nundabud/SinaiaRomania#

I may add a few more photos.  I have one of a poster saying Beware of Bears.  Sinaia is a city created around a royal palace and is a favorite place for Romanians and many tourists to visit.  To read the history of the Romanian Monarchy is quite interesting.  The first king, Carol I was a Hapsburg and his offspring populated palaces around Europe.   It is a city in the mountains and people use it year round; in the winter it is a popular ski spot.  We did a lot of uphill walking and passed various roadside merchants selling a wide range of products.  The embrodery is really beautiful.  One woman was very insistent that I should by an embroidered table cloth.  Her refrain "ten dollars" - it really was worth it but my decor doesn't lend itself to embroidered tablecloths.  The crochet work is also very beautiful.  We looked at the main palace and then did a small tour of a smaller palace built by some of the royal children who found the main palace too much.  We wandered up to a Romanian Orthodox monastery.  They don't allow pictures inside churches which is a pity because we've seen some magnificent churches.

After our palace tour, we walked back downtown and found a restaurant called Steak.  I found out that here steak can mean any kind of meat.  I had bean soup with smoked ham and chicken with red beans and a lot of garlic slices.  Florin had lamb chops, and a salad.  We drank a dry Romanian red wine.  Then we walked back to the hotel and have been in the lobby catching up on email and blogs.

This has been a marvelous weekend.  We will either take a train back to Bucharest tomorrow or a maxi taxi depending on whether there's a general strike or not.  Talk to you soon.

Brasov - Saturday afternoon 10/3 and Sunday morning 10/4

Brasov is a fascinating city.   I have uploaded some pictures and here is the link to see them:  http://picasaweb.google.com/nundabud/Brasov#

As we always do, we walked all over the place, stopping as needed for a meal or coffee.  I took a bunch of pictures.  My niece, Pam, had a list of pics I had to take.  In fact, I only got two of her requests:  the 15th century Black Church, a German Evangelical congregation - Die Schwarze Kirche.  We attended service there in German on Sunday morning.  The whole inside of the church has ancient Oriental rugs displayed on the walls.  They are from the days of the Turkish Empire.  I remembered enough German from high school - almost 50 years ago - to get the gist of the service and to recognize the gospel.  It was a very staid service without bells and whistles.  No dancing in the aisles there!  There was not communion at the service.  Afterwards we went to a coffee/pastry shop and had sinfully rich pastry and coffee before heading back to our hotel to pack and take a private car to Sinaia.  I really liked the feeling in Brasov, called by the Germans Kronstadt.  The whole city has a friendly, relaxed feeling to it.   Saturday is apparently wedding day because we saw several wedding parties.

A never-ending journey

I'm writing this from Brasov, in the Carpathian mountains in the Transylvania region of Romania.  Our train left Bucharest at 8:30 a.m. for a short journey of 166km (about 103 miles).  Would you believe that it took four and a half hours.  Yes, it did.  At times, it felt like we could run faster than that train.  Sometimes, because of construction, there were only one set of rails and we had to shunt off and sit and wait for the train or trains from the opposite direction to pass.  It's beautiful countryside to see.  At one point, an old woman was herding about 30 goats across a shallow river.  Often, herding goats is like herding cats.  It's also common to see horse-drawn carts carrying lumber or other goods alongside brand new cars speeding along the highway.

Middle of the Night

It's 2:30a.m. and I ought to be sleeping.  I'm a little wired, sandwiched in between a presentation that went well earlier and a train in a few hours to the mountain cities of Brasov and tomorrow to Sinaia.

10 people came to my presentation tonight, 4 men and 6 women.  We started with a translator but found that those attending were able to understand without it.  People were very interested in the topic and a few stayed around afterwards to talk.  A few were quite knowledgeable and very interested in religion.  A number of those attending left me their email addresses so we could have further conversation.  I am pleased.

I really have to try to get a few hours sleep.

a blurry Thursday

Thursday went by in a blur since all I did after my daily trip to the market and visit to the park was read to prepare for tonight's workshop.  The invitation went out by email to a large mailing list of all kinds of people: activists, members of LGBT groups, straight allies, etc.  Did I tell you the title of the workshop is "God, Sex, and Spirituality?"  We have no idea if it will draw 3 or 103 people.  So, it might be a small group discussion and it might be lecture with a lot of discussion or it might be a few folks sitting around drinking coffee and talking.  I'll let you know tomorrow.

I mentioned drinking must the other day as a fall favorite.  In addition to this unfermented grape juice, there are many things that are commonly drunk that we don't see a lot.   In the juice section there are pear nectar and peach nectar both of which I really like and there are varieties of Nestea I never saw at home, such as Red Tea flavored with pear.  I'm enjoying this very much.

As I was getting ready to come for this adventure, I thought about the things I would need most.  Reading material was on my list ahead of anything else.  I could do without underwear and socks before I could do without books!  I couldn't possibly pack the number of books I would need for seven week.  I needed theology and scripture and light reading to study from and prepare.  My solution was to splurge and buy an Amazon Kindle.  Look it up on Amazon if you don't know what it is.  It will hold up to 1500 books so I loaded it up and it has been an indispensable companion.

This has been a mish-mash of ideas on this Friday morning.  I'm going to eat, shower and head out for my walk and shopping.  For those who are having trouble commenting, the key is to have a Google or AOL/AIM or some other ID.  Each comment needs to be from one of those and there's a drop down box of choices at the end of the comment text box.  Thanks to those who've shared thoughts with me.  It's very nice to know I'm connected.