Since all of the RDU-Chisinau nonstops were booked, I had to fly American to JFK and then Lufthansa from JFK to Munich and from Munich to Chisinau.
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| Countryside near Chisinau |
I arrived in
Chisinau (pronounced "Kishinau" in Moldovan, and "Kishinev" in Russian) about noon. The Chisinau airport, while not very big, was very modern.
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| Chisinau International Airport |
After landing and going through immigration and customs (about 5 minutes total), I found a taxi driver, who (of course) didn't speak a word of English. Fortunately, I had anticipated this and printed a sheet with the name and the address of my hotel on it. I handed him the paper, and we were on our way. It was about a 15 minute drive from the airport to my hotel, which was in the middle of town. There was lots of new construction on the outskirts of town, but not so much in the center.
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| Coming into Chisinau |
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| Near central Chisinau |
My hotel was the City Park Hotel, which is only a couple of years old, and very nice. The room (which cost about $65) was big and modern. The hotel was on a pedestrian street a block away from one of the big parks in the center of town.
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| City Park Hotel |
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| My room at the City Park Hotel |
After unpacking, I set out for some exploring. Chisinau has a population of about 500,000 and between a 1940 earthquake and World War II, the city was pretty much destroyed. This means that there really isn't an "old town" and a lot of the city is semi-modern Soviet architecture.
At the center of the city are two large parks, near which are a number of government buildings, and Stefan cel Mare Ave., the main street in the city.
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| The red dot is my hotel |
From my hotel, I walked to Cathedral (Central Garden) Park, which contains the
Nativity Cathedral and the bell tower, which oddly is not on/in the cathedral. The cathedral dates from the 1830's and the bell tower was constructed in 1997, replacing an earlier tower.
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| Nativity Cathedral |
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| Bell Tower |
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| A playground in the park |
At one end of the park is the
Arcul de Triumf, which was built in the 1840's. It's a lot smaller than the one in Paris.
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| Arcul de Triumf |
From Catheral Park, I walked to Park Stefan Cel Mare, the other main park. On the way I passed the Ballet and Opera Theater and the Presidential Palace. The area around the theater had been set up for watching the European soccer championship. The Presidential Palace managed to look like a cheesy Las Vegas hotel.
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| Ballet and Opera Theater |
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| Presidential Palace (right) |
Park Stefan Cel Mare was very pleasant with lots of families out, even though it was a Tuesday. Here are a few shots from the park.
At one corner of the park was a statue of
Stefan cel Mare (Stephen III of Moldavia), who was the prince of the Principality of Moldavia (not Moldova) in the 1400s.
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| Statue of Stefan cel Mare |
After visiting the park, I walked down Stefan cel Mare Avenue, the main street in Chisinau.
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| View of Stefan cel Mare Avenue from Stefan cel Mare Park |
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| Souvenir stands on Stefan cel Mare Avenue |
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| Teatrul Mihai Eminescu |
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| Philharmonic Hall |
Eventually I got back to the hotel in the late afternoon. For dinner I went to one of several restaurants on the pedestrian street where the hotel was. Beer (about $2.00 for 1/2 liter) and food were cheap. You can click on the picture below to see what was on the menu.
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| I'm much happier than I look |
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| The restaurant at my hotel, which was across the street from where I actually ate. |
Wednesday, July 5: Day 2 in Chisinau
This morning I headed through Cathedral Park to Stefan cel Mare Avenue.
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| Coffee house in the park |
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| Bell tower in Central Garden Park with Government House in the background |
Across the street from Cathedral Park was Government House, which I presume contains administrative offices for the Moldovan government. There were a bunch of tents and other temporary houses in front of Government House. I assume that it was some sort of protest, but I couldn't understand enough Moldovan to understand what it was all about. BTW, the main language on the streets was Moldovan, which is written with Roman characters, but there was also some Russian signage.
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| Government House and protest structures |
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| More protest housing |
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| Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry |
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| Moldovan Parliament |
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| Biserica Schimbarea la Fata a Mântuitorului |
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| Another view of Parliament |
Eventually I arrived back at Stefan cel Mare Park, where I had been yesterday.
I then headed back out to Avenue 31 August, then to Stefan Cel Mare Avenue.
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| A movie theater |
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| Commercial street scene |
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| National Palace, which is actually a theater |
I made my obligatory stop at McDonalds, not to eat, but to see what was on the menu and how much it was. A Big Mac meal, including fries and a drink was about $3.50. However, I could have opted for a a Dublu Cheese Lavash, a Fish Lavash, or fried Camembert.
I continued down Stefan cel Mare Avenue. Most of the buildings are post World War II Soviet architecture, with a few restored 19th century buildings thrown in.
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| Unic Shopping Center (see below) |
I went into Unic, which claimed to be a shopping center, but was more like a large department store. It looked pretty Soviet, but there were some more up-to-date malls in other parts of town, including the beautifully named "MallDova".
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| Inside Unic |
In back of Unic was the beginning of a 3 block area that serves as the main market. This was the first place in Chisinau that I saw anyone my age. It was a combination of stores and street vendors.
When I was in Moscow in 1993, I went into a butcher shop that had several counters, but almost no meat. What they had was mostly fat and bone. I'm pleased to announce that conditions in Moldova (and hopefully Russia) are much better.
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| Plenty of meat available |
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| Plenty of vegetables available |
At lunchtime, one of the few restaurants I could find in the neighborhood was called the Smokehouse, specializing in American Barbecue, so I gave it a try.
I opted for the pulled pork sandwich with hush puppies. I can honestly say it was the best pulled pork and hush puppies I have ever had in Moldova.
I then headed back to the hotel for a nap, stopping for some souvenirs along the way.
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| Souvenir stands on Stefan cel Mare Avenue |
After dinner at a restaurant across the street from the hotel, I took another stroll to Cathedral Park.
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| City Park hotel at twilight |
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| Chisinau residents strolling on the street in front of the hotel. |
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| Coffee kiosk in the park |
All in all, Chisinau was very pleasant, if not exciting. Moldova is one of the poorer ex-Soviet republics, but Chisinau was fairly modern and much improved over what I saw in Russia in 1993 and in Ukraine in 2000. On the other hand, I didn't stray very far out of the center of the capital, so I can't speak for the countryside.
Next:
Days 3-5: Minsk, Belarus
