Moldova in a round-about sort of way

[RooFlyer]

This is the extent of the tunnels, in plan view. 1 metre here represents 750m in the mine.



An underground cinema for the 'Cricova story'





Didn't see much of the wine plant - got the usual explanation on how to make sparking. There are a LOT of bottles under fermentation



Their ENORMOUS museum collection (this might show 1/10 of it); they will hold private collectors wines for some crazy amount of Euros per year.



Still wandering underground; still no PPE.



They showed us their tasting rooms. This was ours:



This wasn't.



Nautical theme for the fossil shells ...



And a cozy (working) fireplace room

 

[RooFlyer]

Getting down to business. Only 4 wines to be tasted







All except the red were pretty meh, and the red was 25% merlot, so that just made it an easy drinking, drink now type of thing.

My Australian mate kept on yelling out "cheers everyone, cheers. Cheers!" with clanking of glasses whenever we invited to sip the wine.

Unfortunately, this was just a tourist type of wine tasting. Our host could tell me nothing about the wine except what was in the script about the various bouquets etc. I think the most expensive bottle was about five euros. But looking at the mine and underground operations was amazing.

Back to Chisenau about 5 pm. The traffic here is disastrous at peak hour





I got off well before my hotel to see some more of the town. I say again, it's a really nice place to walk around in and discover more places to eat and drink at.



Very close to my hotel I decided on something simple for dinner, just pizza and a beer at a table on the footpath. It’s still warm in the evening so it was a good way to go.

 

[RooFlyer]

Next day, next tour and - surprise! there are 4 pax in the car. I snagged the front seat, but regularly offered it to the others (2 American brothers) and a German, but they always declined. Sweet!

We are off to Transnistria ... No one tell the Dept Foreign Affairs

First stop, an itinerary addition by our guide (a multi-lingual, entrepreneurial chap) was a beautiful 17th-century wooden church. Interestingly, it has been dismantled and relocated several times and is now just put here more or less as a museum.








Driving on past Chisinau airport we see a blast from the past



Roadside stop and coffees and snacks courtesy of our guide



And back on the road again - still good quality highway lined by walnut trees



At the border of Transnistria, we got out of the car, went into a cabin, presented our passports which were thoroughly inspected, recorded and scanned, and given a little slip of paper that we were told not to lose as we had to submit it on exit. Russian soldiers with guns about, pretty benign looking, certainly not crack troops.

About to board a flight - next time, a bit about Transnitria.

 

[RooFlyer]

You should take a few minutes to read about Transnitria in the Wikipedia article. It accords with most of what I heard on the tour.

Transnistria - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

But just in brief up-front, I found Transnistria during my visit to be orderly, clean and no evidence of any immediate danger at all. Russian troops seen here & there.

It could be subject to possible violence in the conflict with Russia and Ukraine, but almost certainly there would be a couple of days notice of that. So day trips I think are quite okay and even then, you could get out of Dodge City in 20-30 mins if you had to.

Our guide told us the story that not long after the outbreak of the Ukraine war, the president of Ukraine told the president of Moldova that if she wanted Transnistria to be 'taken out' it would be his pleasure to do so

 

[RooFlyer]

We first stopped in the town of Bender, which is on the 'Moldovan' side of the Dniester River. A local worthy and a supermarket run by the Sherriff company where we went to exchange some money. Sherriff run the place like the mob - you don't compete else you'll get an offer you can't refuse.



Lots of cigarettes on view for sale, but they did have the ghastly pics on the packets.



Transnistrian roubles. Plastic - think a monopoly token. I got given this by the guide; I didn't change anything; lunch was included in the tour and you can't exchange T Roubles back to Moldovan Leis.



Sturgeons are farmed here for good caviar - these in the store by a cabinet of the stuff for sale.





Wheat silos



Like the rest of Moldova, very green and streets very pleasant.





A memorial to the 1991 war with (the rest of) Moldova.

 

[RooFlyer]

Transnistria doesn't have its own internet domain, so everything here is .md, and because no-one recognises them, except Russia, to export anything, they have to go under the Moldovan flag/paperwork. So the 'independent republic' story has a few cracks in it.

Then we visited the Tighina Fortress on the Dniester River. Originally a wooden fort from the 14th century built by Stephen the Great (of Moldova), it was seized by the Ottomans to defend against the Russian Empire on the other side of the river, then re-built in stone in the mid 1500s. Its been well restored and much of it is original. At last, some ancient history! The Romans never occupied Moldova - it was a 'client state' to the neighbouring Roman Romania.







It was a warm day - approaching 30 degrees, and there were a few on the beach along the river



Then we crossed the Dniester and entered Tiraspol, the capital. The name derives from 'place on the river'





And there was a lovely lady selling kvass - fermented dark bread drink, so we stopped for a cup; there were some Russian soldiers also there but they wouldn't agree to any pictures, unfortunately.



Local stadium - pretty good! - home of the soccer team FC Sheriff Tiraspol, who play in the Moldovan super-league and also in the UEFA Europa League.



Three flags - Tiraspol, Transnistria and Russia.

 

[kileskus]

Great trip report so far, bringing back some fond memories. Is this your first time in Moldova?

Thanks for showing us a bit of Gaugazia, definitely was a place I wanted to visit but didn't get to due to the location. Did you interact much with the locals or didn't get the chance? I'm curious if the linguistic situation is as bad as they say, with the majority of the younger generation no longer able to speak Gaugaz. Did you think the region was noticeably poorer than the rest of Moldova? The Moldovan government when I last looked into this years ago was definitely investing less in infrastructure in Gaugazia, a kind of 'you can't have your cake and eat it' situation.

Some light reading for those interested: there's a paper on how the Gaugaz and Crimean Tatars, both with somewhat similar culture and language, both Turkic minorities within post-Soviet countries, came to have such divergent attitudes towards Russia.

The kvas you have in the picture Ternovskiy is a local brew from Slobodzeya just down the road from Tiraspol. Obviously commercial kvas is different from homemade kvas but it's pretty cool that you can now say you've had Pridniestrovian kvas

FC Sheriff owned by former KGB officer Viktor Gushan who basically has a monopoly on the Pridniestrovian economy and is great influence over 'national' politics. The largest supermarket is also called Sheriff and if you go there you'll find a wide selection of Moldavian and Transnistrian alcohol, though the Kvint stores are a must visit if you want to try some divin.

 

[RooFlyer]

Did you interact much with the locals or didn't get the chance? I'm curious if the linguistic situation is as bad as they say, with the majority of the younger generation no longer able to speak Gaugaz. Did you think the region was noticeably poorer than the rest of Moldova? The Moldovan government when I last looked into this years ago was definitely investing less in infrastructure in Gaugazia, a kind of 'you can't have your cake and eat it' situation.

Didn't interact much with anyone, except shopkeepers and the museum lady, and the guide spoke to them in Russian. I thought it odd that, according to the guide the Russian writings in shops etc were Russian words, and not Cyrillic representations of Turkic words.

The main drag of Tiraspol looked very prosperous and dare I say vibrant, but away from the centre, I did get the impression that things looked a bit tatty. Hard to say. I think the Russians are investing heavily in Transnistria +/- through Sheriff !

 

[RooFlyer]

We did a walk-around of downtown Tiraspol

Lenin of course - but there wasn't as much Soviet iconography as I was expecting.



Memorial to the 1990-92 war with (the rest of) Moldova. It was ended by a cease-fire engineered by the Russians; hence the Russian troops still here are 'peacekeepers'.



WW2 - speaks volumes that the Moldovan civil war has a much larger memorial than WW2.



Memorial to those from Transnistria who died after going to help in the Chernobyl emergency



Turn around you have the Memorial of Glory square, with an eternal flame.



and a tank.



The Dniester River again, with beach-goers.



Then we come to this imposing chap - General Alexander Suvorov, in all his equestrian glory.



Wikipedia tells us that he was

a Russian general in service of the Russian Empire and the Habsburg monarchy. He was Count of Rymnik,[e] Graf of the Holy Roman Empire, Feldmarschall of the Holy Roman Empire, Prince of the Kingdom of Sardinia, Grand marshal of the Kingdom of Sardinia, Prince or Knyaz of the Russian Empire, Field marshal and the last Generalissimo of the Russian Empire. Suvorov is considered one of the greatest military commanders in Russian history and one of the great generals of the early modern period. He was awarded numerous medals, titles, and honors by Russia, as well as by other countries. Suvorov secured Russia's expanded borders and renewed military prestige and left a legacy of theories on warfare. He was the author of several military manuals, the most famous being The Science of Victory (or The Science of Winning; Russian: Наука побеждать), and was noted for several of his sayings. He never lost a single battle he commanded, and his military record is extensive; Suvorov won in a total of 63 battles without suffering a major defeat. He raised Russian military glory to a height to which it had never reached before or since.

Quite the CV. He founded the city of Tiraspol in 1792, after getting permission from Catherine the Great. Which explains this, facing opposite Suvorov's:



A little further on, we approached downtown and this - not a hotel (it would never survive) but apartments for a lucky few.

 

[RooFlyer]

Downtown Tiraspol was pretty, lively green, and pretty modern.



But then there was always the government buildings. This is City Council house with Lenin in front.



Lunch was included in the tour and we went to an 'old Soviet' style cafe 'October' - along the lines of, but not as good as, the official 'Old Soviet Cafe' in Saint Petersburg.





Lukewarm 'Tiraspol chicken', cold chips and rice. I think they nailed it.



After the late lunch, we headed out of town back towards Chisinau - we had a date with a winery!

We took a different route and were driving along and within 10m of the border with Ukraine for a short distance. Right there.





Transnitria is of course extremely strategic for Russia in terms of its war with Ukraine.

Crossing the border back to Moldova proper involved giving our passports with the paper entry slips to our guy, who went up to a cabin to get them processed and off we went. The guide asked, and we were allowed to keep our paper slips.The guide asked, and we were allowed to keep our paper slips.

Our winery today was the regal Castle Mimi winery. it should really be Château Mimi winery - there is no castle, but there is a château.

 

[RooFlyer]

Mimi Castle, or Castle Mimi winery has a unique place in Moldova's viticultural history. Have a read

Mimi Castle - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

It's been extensively restored over the last 20 years and now modernised with a reception centre, boutique accommodation and a function Centre. Very large volumes of wine ( I think the second largest annual production in Moldova) are produced today in a modern winery on the hill behind the chateau. The grounds front and back are magnificent



Formal tasting room



Cool A/V presentation.





The winery is very proud of the fact that in June this year, it was the site for a meeting of 45 European country leaders at the Second European Political Community Summit. The leaders came and went in a day, and the winery is certainly making the most of the fact that it was graced.



Each of the leaders, except that of Hungry, who refused, signed bottles of wine, which are on display together with an associated collection for each. They are the signed bottles standing up in front.



I think this is Emanuel Macron' bottle.



Looking back at the new reception centre and the six boutique accommodation places on the left, all of which have a magnificent view of the chateau.

 

[RooFlyer]

The tasting was another disappointment, although after the last one, I shouldn't have been too surprised - just commercial tastings, for tourists. We sat down in the restaurant/tasting room in front of some well presented glasses (6 each) and some delicious-looking accompaniments.




and waited and waited until someone eventually came and served the whites. Then we waited and waited; I sought out someone who said they would be with us when the reds had been served. After some more waiting I chased that down and eventually we got started.

All the wines were OK, some I thought good, but no more. The host was clueless except for his script about the bouquets etc.





The guy left us abruptly at the end, so I tried to ask back at reception if it was possible to do proper tastings with an informed host - but zero English amongst the two that were at the desk then.

Castle Mimi is a great location and I'd love to stay at their accommodation and hopefully an informed tasting could be arranged.

Drove back to Chisinau and the traffic started soon after this.



That evening I went to a recommended wine bar - Carpe Diem. It only has a Facebook page, so I couldn't check it out first. On arrival I found that it was mostly a shop front for Carpe Diem wines. I had three glasses with a nice cheese board.









Again, nice wines, but little complexity. The guy serving, who DID know quite a bit about Moldovan wines conceded that virtually the whole production was suited only for 1-5 year cellaring.

Walked back to hotel through the lively city centre (albeit small), and this sign summed things up for me

 

[Flashback]

The tasting was another disappointment, although after the last one, I shouldn't have been too surprised - just commercial tastings, for tourists. We sat down in the restaurant/tasting room in front of some well presented glasses (6 each) and some delicious-looking accompaniments.

View attachment 346283


and waited and waited until someone eventually came and served the whites. Then we waited and waited; I sought out someone who said they would be with us when the reds had been served. After some more waiting I chased that down and eventually we got started.

All the wines were OK, some I thought good, but no more. The host was clueless except for his script about the bouquets etc.

View attachment 346284

View attachment 346285

The guy left us abruptly at the end, so I tried to ask back at reception if it was possible to do proper tastings with an informed host - but zero English amongst the two that were at the desk then.

Castle Mimi is a great location and I'd love to stay at their accommodation and hopefully an informed tasting could be arranged.

Drove back to Chisinau and the traffic started soon after this.

View attachment 346286

That evening I went to a recommended wine bar - Carpe Diem. It only has a Facebook page, so I couldn't check it out first. On arrival I found that it was mostly a shop front for Carpe Diem wines. I had three glasses with a nice cheese board.

View attachment 346287

View attachment 346288

View attachment 346290

View attachment 346291

Again, nice wines, but little complexity. The guy serving, who DID know quite a bit about Moldovan wines conceded that virtually the whole production was suited only for 1-5 year cellaring.

Walked back to hotel through the lively city centre (albeit small), and this sign summed things up for me

View attachment 346293

I may or may not have a picture from a few weeks ago with me poking my head through the <3

 

[RooFlyer]

Up early the next morning for the ride to the airport and a flight to Istanbul.

This is the sign next to the departure immigration queue




Rats. I didn't find it.

Chisinau airport is a good size; very big duty free area, then a gate lounge area and a large restaurant/cafe upstairs. No lounge for TK and I didn't notice any other.





No airbridges; business boarded last in a comfy bus of our own.

I'm on Turkish again, A321 bound for Istanbul IST, a bit over an hour. Plenty of leg room and a PDB of a selection of juices/fruit drinks. 2A again.






Just before door close, out came some VIPs (with security detail) from their own private terminal area. Quite funny to see them walk through Business to the back of the bus . The security detail stayed on the ground and stayed there until we started moving away.




Menu for the flight, TK270 dep 9:50am. This time I was ready for them, and hadn't eaten beforehand.

 

[Mr H]

Chisinau airport is a good size; very big duty free area, then a gate lounge area and a large restaurant/cafe upstairs. No lounge for TK and I didn't notice any other.

There is a small business lounge - I accessed it using Priority Pass. Business Lounge - Main Terminal - KIV

You didn't miss much.

 

[RooFlyer]

My plane details from Flighty. Another relatively young bird.



Got to see the Danube delta in Romania this time, albeit looking into the sun. A vast area - like to visit it sometime. Moldova has a short frontage onto the Danube, which they use as a major export port. One our guides said they acquired it off Romania in a land swap.







About to land at IST - its a huge airport.



According to my watch, it was 0.98km walk from plane to baggage. Immigration was quick and easy.

 

[RooFlyer]

I had a full afternoon and overnight at Istanbul, so I got a multiple-entry visa originally, and booked at the airport Yotel.

The landside Yotel is at the far end of the terminal, near exit door 16 (or so). I had exited at about the middle of the airport, so more hundreds of m to walk.



As usual, I asked for a quiet room away from elevators - I got the latter, but one facing the concourse and a restaurant immediately below. There was some electric jackhammering somewhere on the concourse, so this was a 'no', so back to the check-in, when, after 10 mins of so, I finally got a new room.




Back up to my room, got my bags, back down again, then back up to another floor and a room so far from the elevators, it must have been in a different post-code. But was quiet.




The shower and toilet opened directly into the room, but you can curtain that area off. All basic, but functional.



I went off to go downtown on the metro. I was going to buy some fresh fruit here, but it turned out to be all soap!!



My experience in taking the metro to and from town is recounted here. Not recommended - takes long time, is difficult (very difficult with any bags) and is poorly signed. Long walks to the IST station and in between lines on the way.

The Yotel was OK. There is a restaurant next to check-in, plus the usual airport shops and stalls in the landside area. Ask for a room at the back; L2. It might be a long walk, though!!

 

[RooFlyer]

Another day, and the start of the long haul home. I got an Etihad Award in J using Aeroplan miles that I purchased with a large bonus; I worked it out at the time that I paid about 30%-40% of the cash value of the fare. Only problem was that I had an approx 10.5 hr transit in Abu Dhabi, with no desire to go into town (been there, done that). Although assured here that my Virgin Plat card would get me into the Etihad First Class lounge, I was frankly doubtful; I mean, VA has nothing to do with the ticket? We'll see?

The 6:15 departure from IST was the only drawback - hence the overnight at the airport. Once again easy through check-in and immigration, and I was directed to the IGA Lounge, whatever the hell that was. Going to be a come-down from the TK lounge.

1.2km after leaving the Yotel, I got to the lounge (that's the Yotel airside behind). IST has some ridiculous distances to be traversed.



The IGA lounge was pretty impressive, as ti turned out. Very large and pleasantly laid out; the entry way.












A negative was the surprisingly poor breakfast offerings - seemed to be a lot of salad and cold stuff, but not much hot, although there was an egg cooking station. But no matter - I was looking to breakfast on board EY. Flighty told me that the inbound was late and that my flight would also be late, but I was on another young aircraft.




It was 'only' a 600m walk to the gate this time - E1; the flight ended up being an hour late departing, corresponding to the arrival delay.

The EY A321 was well laid out, 2 rows of 2-2; I was in 2A and had a huge recline available.



PDB of various juices offered.

 

[RooFlyer]

The menu for breakfast, and a wine list. I resisted the latter









My choices - bircher muesli and brioche French toast, juice and a latte. Go ahead, judge me. (but just remember the bloody kilometres I walked all around IST airport!)





On descent into Abu Dhabi; I was last here in 2015.

 

[RooFlyer]

I had a 10+ hour transit at AUH. Normally in a case like this, I would go into the city for a look around, but decided against in this case as I had been here before, it was hot and my arthritic foot was hurting. I learned on AFF that my Velocity Platinum card would get me into Etihad's First Class Lounge. I was sceptical, as there was no connection between Virgin Australia and my ticket, but people were adamant, so I gave it a go. Not only was it immediately accepted, the nice guy on the lounge entry put my VA FF number into my (Aeroplan miles redemption) booking "so I will get the miles" .

A pretty nice First lounge - old, of course, and about to be superseded by the new Mid-Field terminal - whose most striking feature is the enormous dining area - all tables laid out with starched tablecloths etc. This is just a small part.





There are showers, a sleeper area, a children's play area and a number of comfy chairs and benches, with power points. At one stage, I ventured into the sleeper room. There are 3 recliners and three full recliners, the latter would make do for beds. The three 'beds' were occupied, two by the selfish. The one closest to me wasn't occupied, but they left there stuff there to reserve it. The guy in the middle just played video games on his tablet the entire time.



Anyway, soon after arrival it was time for lunch.




Crab Tian



Seafood assiete



Both were deliceous.

The 10 hours went surprisingly fast - I never thought it might. A few loops around the terminal (looking very small and old), some TR-ing, a bit of a lie-down after lunch, a bit of plane spotting. Here you can see 2 QF birds, at AUH for heavy maintenance, I think.