20 miles and some of the best scenery later, we are destroyed. Jane is already asleep. I'm exhausted. However looking forward to more of the same tomorrow.
Thursday, 31 July 2014
High tatras mountains day one
Bought a 1:25000 map of the area, some walking macs (it was supposed to rain), and headed to the bubble lift up the mountain.
Bratislava
Bratislava was great, but so much was stuffed in.
Day one... Arrived, wandered around looking at churches (jane loves this).
Day two... Went down the Danube by boat to Devin where stands ruins of what used to be the biggest castle in Europe. Now the biggest ruins probably. Was great for the views down the river and across the surrounding area, right into Austria.... Would be a great place for a castle.
Day three... I carried on sightseeing with more churches, communist era buildings, monuments etc... Jane rested her knee.....for our next stop is to THE HIGH TATRAS MOUNTAINS.
Picture is of the 'blue church' in Bratislava. Looks like a church for smurfs. Inside is the same, but Mass was on, so I couldn't take photos.
Sunday, 27 July 2014
Vienna
Vienna! City of music, science, and culture! And expense!
It was truly beautiful and awe inspiring, but it was the first city we have hit that has London prices.
We have a daily spend budget of £50 for food and entry costs, and frugally we managed £300 in two days.
Highlights:
Four cellists playing outside the national library. Stopped for one moment, stayed 30 mins.
The National library... Second in importance only to the Library of Congress in Washington. Used to be the Hapsburg's personal library.
Watching a FREE live ballet performance on a big screen outside the Rathaus.
The gardens at Schonn palace, the Hapsburg's old 'house'.
We are now 1 hour away in Bratislava, Slovakia. It's cheap....really cheap. 2 glasses of wine, 2 double vodkas... £3. It's basically churches, cafés, and cobbled streets.
It was truly beautiful and awe inspiring, but it was the first city we have hit that has London prices.
We have a daily spend budget of £50 for food and entry costs, and frugally we managed £300 in two days.
Highlights:
Four cellists playing outside the national library. Stopped for one moment, stayed 30 mins.
The National library... Second in importance only to the Library of Congress in Washington. Used to be the Hapsburg's personal library.
Watching a FREE live ballet performance on a big screen outside the Rathaus.
The gardens at Schonn palace, the Hapsburg's old 'house'.
We are now 1 hour away in Bratislava, Slovakia. It's cheap....really cheap. 2 glasses of wine, 2 double vodkas... £3. It's basically churches, cafés, and cobbled streets.
Friday, 25 July 2014
Budapest 2,3 and 4
We're on the train to Vienna and the last few days have been everything I hoped from Budapest. It's a beautiful city with a lot of history, intrigue and class. We're sad to be leaving and exhausted after the last few days.
Before we left Chris bought a wristband that measures his steps and his sleep each day and as a result we are walking everywhere. No public transport AT ALL. Around 30,000 steps yesterday!
Here is a quick overview of what we have been up to;
Monday
*Took Chris running (I woke him up early for that which he loved)
*Visited the Central Market of Budapest - sells fresh fruit, veg, meat, cheeses, pastries
*Saw the Great Synagogue, the beautiful St Stephens Basilica and the Parliament Building
*Went to our first Ruin pub! They are bars on derelict sites... When enough profit has been made for restoration, a proper bar will open.
Tuesday
*Chris 'encouraged' me to go to the Hungarian National Museum which surprisingly was one of my favourite museums ever
*Pouring with rain, we resigned and went to one of the famous coffee houses called 'The Book Cafe'. Based in the back of a book shop it is a large hall almost with frescos all over the ceiling serving great coffee and cake and live music
Wednesday
*Went to the Citadel and the Liberty Monument on the top of St Gellert's Hill
*Walked to and around Margaret's Island. This is a 2.5km Long Island found in the middle of the Pest and home to various ruins, baths and zoos.
*Walked to City park in the Far East of the city and went to relax at the Szechenyi baths. Bigger than the Gellert baths, these baths have four swimming pools, a dozen thermal baths and at least ten sauna's and steam rooms.
My highlights
*the train journey to Budapest from Brasov - scenery was lovely
*Our guided tour around the Parliament building and seeing the Crown Jewels
*The Gellert Baths - smaller than the Szechenyi but cleaner and more quirky
*The food (especially the Hunkariam Bistro..incredible)
*Live music
*The views
*The history museum
Basically Budapest = awesome
Jane
Before we left Chris bought a wristband that measures his steps and his sleep each day and as a result we are walking everywhere. No public transport AT ALL. Around 30,000 steps yesterday!
Here is a quick overview of what we have been up to;
Monday
*Took Chris running (I woke him up early for that which he loved)
*Visited the Central Market of Budapest - sells fresh fruit, veg, meat, cheeses, pastries
*Saw the Great Synagogue, the beautiful St Stephens Basilica and the Parliament Building
*Went to our first Ruin pub! They are bars on derelict sites... When enough profit has been made for restoration, a proper bar will open.
Tuesday
*Chris 'encouraged' me to go to the Hungarian National Museum which surprisingly was one of my favourite museums ever
*Pouring with rain, we resigned and went to one of the famous coffee houses called 'The Book Cafe'. Based in the back of a book shop it is a large hall almost with frescos all over the ceiling serving great coffee and cake and live music
Wednesday
*Went to the Citadel and the Liberty Monument on the top of St Gellert's Hill
*Walked to and around Margaret's Island. This is a 2.5km Long Island found in the middle of the Pest and home to various ruins, baths and zoos.
*Walked to City park in the Far East of the city and went to relax at the Szechenyi baths. Bigger than the Gellert baths, these baths have four swimming pools, a dozen thermal baths and at least ten sauna's and steam rooms.
My highlights
*the train journey to Budapest from Brasov - scenery was lovely
*Our guided tour around the Parliament building and seeing the Crown Jewels
*The Gellert Baths - smaller than the Szechenyi but cleaner and more quirky
*The food (especially the Hunkariam Bistro..incredible)
*Live music
*The views
*The history museum
Basically Budapest = awesome
Jane
Tuesday, 22 July 2014
Budapest - day one
It's the beginning of day four in Budapest and I can't figure out how we will possibly fit everything else in in the next 24 hours!
We have been walking lots and we have seen so much. On first impressions this city seems to me a mixture of Paris and London in architecture and style (with a little bit of Turkey).
Very simply the city of is formed from three cities that finally unified in the late 19th Century. Buda to the West of the Danube, Pest to the East and Obuda to the North.
Day 1
Arrived on the overnight train and jumped straight into a taxi to our hotel.
Straight onto a two hour free walking tour that took us through the basics of the city which include a little of inner Pest, highlights of the buildings on both sides of the river, over chain Bridge and up Castle Hill.
Highlights
- There is a horse statue on Castle Hill that is completely black all over apart from his bronze balls. That is because each year the students from the university hear sneak up in the middle of the night and polish them for luck....tradition!
-Matthias Church, on Castle Hill is one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen
-Panoramic views of the city. The banks of the river are lined with gorgeous buildings
-Statues...EVERYWHERE
-Walking past the Royal Palace on Castle Hill and saw the changing of the guards
-Apparently Buda used to be where all the rich Magyar lived (Hungarians is apparently not correct) and Pest not so much.
After the walking tour we went for a wander to the other end of Castle Hill, past more statues, fountains and the Hungarian National Gallery and onwards to the Gellert Baths located on the Buda side of the river also. Buda is known as the city of baths as all around the city you have natural thermal baths that locals and tourists visit in vast numbers.
Gellert is one of the most famous and had inside and outside baths that at its hottest was 40 Degrees centigrade and the coolest 26. I loved our bath visit. Chris loved our bath visit. Sauna, steam, plunge pool, hot bath, hotter bath...hotter bath. Amazing.
Sleep, dinner, more sleeps. Done.
What a great start to Budapest...
Jane
We have been walking lots and we have seen so much. On first impressions this city seems to me a mixture of Paris and London in architecture and style (with a little bit of Turkey).
Very simply the city of is formed from three cities that finally unified in the late 19th Century. Buda to the West of the Danube, Pest to the East and Obuda to the North.
Day 1
Arrived on the overnight train and jumped straight into a taxi to our hotel.
Straight onto a two hour free walking tour that took us through the basics of the city which include a little of inner Pest, highlights of the buildings on both sides of the river, over chain Bridge and up Castle Hill.
Highlights
- There is a horse statue on Castle Hill that is completely black all over apart from his bronze balls. That is because each year the students from the university hear sneak up in the middle of the night and polish them for luck....tradition!
-Matthias Church, on Castle Hill is one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen
-Panoramic views of the city. The banks of the river are lined with gorgeous buildings
-Statues...EVERYWHERE
-Walking past the Royal Palace on Castle Hill and saw the changing of the guards
-Apparently Buda used to be where all the rich Magyar lived (Hungarians is apparently not correct) and Pest not so much.
After the walking tour we went for a wander to the other end of Castle Hill, past more statues, fountains and the Hungarian National Gallery and onwards to the Gellert Baths located on the Buda side of the river also. Buda is known as the city of baths as all around the city you have natural thermal baths that locals and tourists visit in vast numbers.
Gellert is one of the most famous and had inside and outside baths that at its hottest was 40 Degrees centigrade and the coolest 26. I loved our bath visit. Chris loved our bath visit. Sauna, steam, plunge pool, hot bath, hotter bath...hotter bath. Amazing.
Sleep, dinner, more sleeps. Done.
What a great start to Budapest...
Jane
Brasov to Budapest
Our second and unfortunately last sleeper train was from Brasov to Budapest. While our first train to Moldova had been sheets on two bench seats in our own compartment, this was something else entirely.
We had our sofa (which doubled as a bed), my top bunk bed, a sink, hanging space, and then a massive window making up most of the outside wall.
Around 9 we went to the dining carriage where we got a table and drank a bottle of wine, and then retired at 11 for a good nights sleep. We arrived in Hungary at 9 feeling ready to take on this exciting new city.
At £70 a person, it's neither a cheap hotel room nor an inexpensive train trip, but as both it's a bargain, and I'm going to miss it.
We had our sofa (which doubled as a bed), my top bunk bed, a sink, hanging space, and then a massive window making up most of the outside wall.
Around 9 we went to the dining carriage where we got a table and drank a bottle of wine, and then retired at 11 for a good nights sleep. We arrived in Hungary at 9 feeling ready to take on this exciting new city.
At £70 a person, it's neither a cheap hotel room nor an inexpensive train trip, but as both it's a bargain, and I'm going to miss it.
Saturday, 19 July 2014
Brasov
Brasov is the Romanian equivalent to York; it's pretty, full of castles, got a tourist thing going, and countryside on its doorstop.
We've been mainly chilling out in coffee shops here, dipping out of the rain, but when we have moved off a sofa it's been picturesque.
Brasov is a walled city, with a couple highlights to see. The Black church, the black and white towers, the main square... And then the magnificent mount Tampa. It took an hour to climb, but the view was incredible.
Possibly 4 days was too much. We planned on heading to the surrounding cities, but the two to three hour bus trips and rain eventually put us off. It's too easy to be relaxed here.
And I think it's going to get crazy in Budapest.
Chris
We've been mainly chilling out in coffee shops here, dipping out of the rain, but when we have moved off a sofa it's been picturesque.
Brasov is a walled city, with a couple highlights to see. The Black church, the black and white towers, the main square... And then the magnificent mount Tampa. It took an hour to climb, but the view was incredible.
Possibly 4 days was too much. We planned on heading to the surrounding cities, but the two to three hour bus trips and rain eventually put us off. It's too easy to be relaxed here.
And I think it's going to get crazy in Budapest.
Chris
Countdown to Budapest x
We're sitting in a coffee shop in Brasov waiting for our sleeper train to Budapest and I am so excited! I have wanted to go to Budapest for ages and ages and have a fairly long list of what I would like to do including Thermal baths, the much talked about 'Ruin pubs', visiting the Budapest Opera House, walking up Castle Hill, going on a cruise on the Danube and the House of Terror. Just EVERYTHING...
Chris is excited for the Mai Mano House of photography and the various design markets ( I think) and the Ruin pubs.
Oh and to try all of the amazing food that Budapest has to offer...apparently it's all about goulash and Paprika so we'll see what tasty little delicacies we can find.
I also thought I thought I'd run through a few of the classics from this holiday so far:
1 - Chris: (walking in Moldova) Oh look that horse is pregnant....You can see the baby kicking!
Me: No I think it's old and is twitching to get the horsefly off its stomach...
2 - Chris: (Moldovan countryside, middle of the night, pitch black) Jane what was that? What was that noise?
Me: Silence
Chris: Seriously what was that, are you ok?
Me: I just got out of bed to go to the bathroom and head-butted a chair, it hurts...I can't see anything...
4 days later I still have a purple nose...Oops
Over the last few days we have had enforced chill out as Chris had food/alcohol poisoning, combined with visiting everything that Brasov has to offer. Walked up Mount Tampa, seen an Organ concert at the Black Church, the main square, the various Bastions that surround the city and the the white and the Black Tower. It's also turns out that Romanian's here don't think I'm bonkers for running. They do it here too.
Oh and there is chewing gum on the floor everywhere. I also think it is possible that the Romanian's taught footballers how to spit.
Jane
Chris is excited for the Mai Mano House of photography and the various design markets ( I think) and the Ruin pubs.
Oh and to try all of the amazing food that Budapest has to offer...apparently it's all about goulash and Paprika so we'll see what tasty little delicacies we can find.
I also thought I thought I'd run through a few of the classics from this holiday so far:
1 - Chris: (walking in Moldova) Oh look that horse is pregnant....You can see the baby kicking!
Me: No I think it's old and is twitching to get the horsefly off its stomach...
2 - Chris: (Moldovan countryside, middle of the night, pitch black) Jane what was that? What was that noise?
Me: Silence
Chris: Seriously what was that, are you ok?
Me: I just got out of bed to go to the bathroom and head-butted a chair, it hurts...I can't see anything...
4 days later I still have a purple nose...Oops
Over the last few days we have had enforced chill out as Chris had food/alcohol poisoning, combined with visiting everything that Brasov has to offer. Walked up Mount Tampa, seen an Organ concert at the Black Church, the main square, the various Bastions that surround the city and the the white and the Black Tower. It's also turns out that Romanian's here don't think I'm bonkers for running. They do it here too.
Oh and there is chewing gum on the floor everywhere. I also think it is possible that the Romanian's taught footballers how to spit.
Jane
Lessons from Romania and Moldova
Dropping some serious knowledge, in no particular order...
Jane is afraid of geese. More so than of bears, which is crazy. Bears kill. And climb trees.
Overnight trains sometimes need to be booked 24hrs in advance.
When ordering a steak, the price in Romania is per 100g. A sneaky waiter will not ask how much you want and hit you with 400g and a shock when you get the bill.
It rains a lot in central Romania.
Romanians like their pastries in the morning.
Wherever you go, real coffee is £2 to £3 a cup.
The new kindle paperwhite is amazing.
Always do the free city tour when you first arrive.
Brasov is pronounced brash-off.
Brasov's Black church in Romania has the biggest organ in Europe, with nearly 4000 pipes, and sounds amazing when someone plays Dracula music on it.
Getting upgraded to a suite is sweet.
Pants and socks take 36 hours to line dry at room temperature.
When in the Moldovan countryside, do not take shortcuts away from the path. There are spiders and geese.
Bucharest isn't that great. It's noisy and stifling. Chisinau is open, fresh, calm, and pretty. Moldova is 1/5th the price of Romania, but the food and drink are both better.
There is a reason why Vlad the Impaler (Dracula), has that moniker. If interested, please investigate on Wikipedia.
Fake Vampire teeth at Bran castle would have been the best fancy dress placement ever.
The Moldovan countryside is dark at night. (Case in point, Jane's nose is now bruised black from a misplaced chair that got in her way in the night).
By train it's 12 hours from Bucharest to Chisinau and 12 hours from Brasov to Budapest.
If someone offers you a taste of homemade fruit brandy, and you make the 'yum' sound, you will be forced to try ALL types of their homemade fruit brandy. This may be more than a dozen.
H&M and Pull&Bear seem to have the fancy clothing sector sewn up in Romania.
A small f-stop, a focus lock, and a semi uniform background can make a good photo.
A 'taste' of homemade brandy is a double shot.
Chisinau beer is Moldovan. Ciuc and Ursus beers are Romanian.
In Moldova, Romanian is the national language, but those who speak it are considered the working class. Some people will insist on speaking Russian and refuse to speak Romanian even though they know it... They are considered d*cks.
Everyone 'drives' in Romania. Walking isn't an option that people will consider telling you about if it's more than 10 minutes.
Romanian prices are in RON and LEI. They are the same thing.
Washing clothes with soap doesn't work.
Monks who spend their lives living in caves are grouchy.
Always check the bottle of wine presented is the one you ordered... Grape, vineyard and vintage.
There's more access to free wifi in Romania and Moldova than in London.
I am carrying two giant bags of fresh walnuts around because they were a gift. I have so far not eaten any. This annoys Jane.
Churches in Moldova are colourful while churches in Romania are plain. This is due to one being orthodox and the other reformist.
Vintage wine must be older than 7 years...dust is a bonus.
Romanian for "thanks" is "merci".
Cakes, sweets, and ice creams are a big deal here. Chocolate not so much.
The best ever name for a Chinese restaurant is 'PANDAMANIUM'. Giant plastic pandas added bonus.
The car brand Dacia is huge in Romania. Nowhere else...just here.
Jane is afraid of geese. More so than of bears, which is crazy. Bears kill. And climb trees.
Overnight trains sometimes need to be booked 24hrs in advance.
When ordering a steak, the price in Romania is per 100g. A sneaky waiter will not ask how much you want and hit you with 400g and a shock when you get the bill.
It rains a lot in central Romania.
Romanians like their pastries in the morning.
Wherever you go, real coffee is £2 to £3 a cup.
The new kindle paperwhite is amazing.
Always do the free city tour when you first arrive.
Brasov is pronounced brash-off.
Brasov's Black church in Romania has the biggest organ in Europe, with nearly 4000 pipes, and sounds amazing when someone plays Dracula music on it.
Getting upgraded to a suite is sweet.
Pants and socks take 36 hours to line dry at room temperature.
When in the Moldovan countryside, do not take shortcuts away from the path. There are spiders and geese.
Bucharest isn't that great. It's noisy and stifling. Chisinau is open, fresh, calm, and pretty. Moldova is 1/5th the price of Romania, but the food and drink are both better.
There is a reason why Vlad the Impaler (Dracula), has that moniker. If interested, please investigate on Wikipedia.
Fake Vampire teeth at Bran castle would have been the best fancy dress placement ever.
The Moldovan countryside is dark at night. (Case in point, Jane's nose is now bruised black from a misplaced chair that got in her way in the night).
By train it's 12 hours from Bucharest to Chisinau and 12 hours from Brasov to Budapest.
If someone offers you a taste of homemade fruit brandy, and you make the 'yum' sound, you will be forced to try ALL types of their homemade fruit brandy. This may be more than a dozen.
H&M and Pull&Bear seem to have the fancy clothing sector sewn up in Romania.
A small f-stop, a focus lock, and a semi uniform background can make a good photo.
A 'taste' of homemade brandy is a double shot.
Chisinau beer is Moldovan. Ciuc and Ursus beers are Romanian.
In Moldova, Romanian is the national language, but those who speak it are considered the working class. Some people will insist on speaking Russian and refuse to speak Romanian even though they know it... They are considered d*cks.
Everyone 'drives' in Romania. Walking isn't an option that people will consider telling you about if it's more than 10 minutes.
Romanian prices are in RON and LEI. They are the same thing.
Washing clothes with soap doesn't work.
Monks who spend their lives living in caves are grouchy.
Always check the bottle of wine presented is the one you ordered... Grape, vineyard and vintage.
There's more access to free wifi in Romania and Moldova than in London.
I am carrying two giant bags of fresh walnuts around because they were a gift. I have so far not eaten any. This annoys Jane.
Churches in Moldova are colourful while churches in Romania are plain. This is due to one being orthodox and the other reformist.
Vintage wine must be older than 7 years...dust is a bonus.
Romanian for "thanks" is "merci".
Cakes, sweets, and ice creams are a big deal here. Chocolate not so much.
The best ever name for a Chinese restaurant is 'PANDAMANIUM'. Giant plastic pandas added bonus.
The car brand Dacia is huge in Romania. Nowhere else...just here.
Wednesday, 16 July 2014
36 hours of little sleep, long bus trips, and a stomach bug
We left the countryside on the only bus of the day... A six am transit van filled somehow with 18 seats and 6 standing. 2hrs 30 later we arrived back in Chisinau, where we bought our bus tickets to Brasov (Romania), our next stop. At some point in the day prior to our 8pm departure, I contracted a stomach bug! Yay.
10 nerve wrecking hours on a coach with no toilet later, we arrived in Brasov and headed to our hotel. Being 7am and not 2pm, our room was not ready, but like that TV Christmas special, there was one room available... And so we got our free upgrade to the suite and the ginormous bed in which I now lie.
Happy.
10 nerve wrecking hours on a coach with no toilet later, we arrived in Brasov and headed to our hotel. Being 7am and not 2pm, our room was not ready, but like that TV Christmas special, there was one room available... And so we got our free upgrade to the suite and the ginormous bed in which I now lie.
Happy.
Tuesday, 15 July 2014
Thoughts from Jane
The last few days have flown by with Bucharest, the Romanian Capital, Chisinau, the Moldovan Capital, endless sights and then a beautiful Moldovan countryside village stay last night!
We've met some lovely people, and some interesting people, watched the World Cup, eaten AMAZING food, tried to speak Romanian and drunk some national beers and wines.
Chris has run through most of what we have done so far but here are some of the highlights for me so far:
Romania
-For me Bucharest was a city of two halves. In one sense the traffic, noise, fifth and the few natives happy to rip you off where they can, was exhausting. In another, on the second day we went to Parcul Herastrau in the North which has a large beautiful lake, hammocks in bars and doggy parks. We visited the Village Museum, a collection of 100+ houses from the last two Centuries built in different areas of Romania and this was lovely.
-Food- Same- Some good and some really challenging. We are determined to try as much native food as possible wherever we go. We tried Sarmale (spiced pork wrapped in grape-leaves), eggplants stuffed with mincemeat, spinach and beef stew, Romanian stew AND we went to one of the best restaurants we have ever been to about 20m from our hotel.
However I left Romania still wanting to try Branza ( sour cheese), Mamaliga (like polenta), Covrigi (oven baked pretzels served from ATM like windows all around town), Tuica (plum brandy) and Ciorba ( sour soup)!
Moldova
-fields and fields of sunflowers all over the Moldovan countryside (very picturesque)
-Cricova wine cellars - this is like nothing I have ever seen before. It is 120 km of limestone tunnels dating back to he 15th Century. 60km of the tunnels are covered in huge barrels of wine. They make red wine, white wine and fizzy wines here and we had a great tour that walked us through the production of each of the above. One of the best parts was seeing Cricova's wine collection. Housed in a wine-glass shaped room they have collections that belong to Merkel, John Kerry and Putin. Apparently Merkel was gifted hers after a visit to Moldova and Kerry bought his. To keep one bottle in the collection per month it costs £2 so quite expensive as Kerry especially had quite a bit of wine there...! There is also a collection that belonged to Gerring, that the Russians confiscated at the end of the war and somehow ended up in Cricova...
-Food-The food in Moldova has been fantastic. Tried Branza ( in volumes), Mamalega, Covrigi on the night train, and tried so many brandy's in the cellar of the countryside house where we stayed!
So check on all of the food ambitions except Ciorba. We also tried Moldovan street food including a Moldovan pie (like a dry omelette calzone) and fish that you eat the whole of...
In summary Moldova has been great and really enjoyed it and can't wait for next stop -Brasov.
Jane
We've met some lovely people, and some interesting people, watched the World Cup, eaten AMAZING food, tried to speak Romanian and drunk some national beers and wines.
Chris has run through most of what we have done so far but here are some of the highlights for me so far:
Romania
-For me Bucharest was a city of two halves. In one sense the traffic, noise, fifth and the few natives happy to rip you off where they can, was exhausting. In another, on the second day we went to Parcul Herastrau in the North which has a large beautiful lake, hammocks in bars and doggy parks. We visited the Village Museum, a collection of 100+ houses from the last two Centuries built in different areas of Romania and this was lovely.
-Food- Same- Some good and some really challenging. We are determined to try as much native food as possible wherever we go. We tried Sarmale (spiced pork wrapped in grape-leaves), eggplants stuffed with mincemeat, spinach and beef stew, Romanian stew AND we went to one of the best restaurants we have ever been to about 20m from our hotel.
However I left Romania still wanting to try Branza ( sour cheese), Mamaliga (like polenta), Covrigi (oven baked pretzels served from ATM like windows all around town), Tuica (plum brandy) and Ciorba ( sour soup)!
Moldova
-fields and fields of sunflowers all over the Moldovan countryside (very picturesque)
-Cricova wine cellars - this is like nothing I have ever seen before. It is 120 km of limestone tunnels dating back to he 15th Century. 60km of the tunnels are covered in huge barrels of wine. They make red wine, white wine and fizzy wines here and we had a great tour that walked us through the production of each of the above. One of the best parts was seeing Cricova's wine collection. Housed in a wine-glass shaped room they have collections that belong to Merkel, John Kerry and Putin. Apparently Merkel was gifted hers after a visit to Moldova and Kerry bought his. To keep one bottle in the collection per month it costs £2 so quite expensive as Kerry especially had quite a bit of wine there...! There is also a collection that belonged to Gerring, that the Russians confiscated at the end of the war and somehow ended up in Cricova...
-Food-The food in Moldova has been fantastic. Tried Branza ( in volumes), Mamalega, Covrigi on the night train, and tried so many brandy's in the cellar of the countryside house where we stayed!
So check on all of the food ambitions except Ciorba. We also tried Moldovan street food including a Moldovan pie (like a dry omelette calzone) and fish that you eat the whole of...
In summary Moldova has been great and really enjoyed it and can't wait for next stop -Brasov.
Jane
The Moldavian countryside
Am sat back in Chisinau awaiting a bus this evening to Brasov in Romania.
Our trip to the countryside, while a short two days, was great. Day one we joined the group of uni students in their minibus and headed to Orheiul Vechi for a set of cave monasteries and beautiful little churches. We then carried on by taxi to Lalova to our countryside retreat.
We had home cooked food, a little dog (poofer, meaning 'fluffy'), a million tweeting birds, and a calm river for the next day... Nothing to do but read and walk.
We set off on day two to another nearby monastery, got horrendously lost and ended up walking through undergrowth and fields for 3hrs. Despite my sunburn I thought it was fun, but that wasn't the universal opinion. Overall, the area was serene and amazingly calming.... I miss it already.
Chris
Our trip to the countryside, while a short two days, was great. Day one we joined the group of uni students in their minibus and headed to Orheiul Vechi for a set of cave monasteries and beautiful little churches. We then carried on by taxi to Lalova to our countryside retreat.
We had home cooked food, a little dog (poofer, meaning 'fluffy'), a million tweeting birds, and a calm river for the next day... Nothing to do but read and walk.
We set off on day two to another nearby monastery, got horrendously lost and ended up walking through undergrowth and fields for 3hrs. Despite my sunburn I thought it was fun, but that wasn't the universal opinion. Overall, the area was serene and amazingly calming.... I miss it already.
Chris
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