Chisinau Hramul si La Revedere

 

Well the final stop on our All Modova Week, was the capital city Chisinau.  You can see a picture of the Hotel Cosmos where we spent our nights.  It's the tall white building in picture two.  The timing couldn't be more perfect for being in Chisinau.  It was it's Hramul Day.  That's the specific holiday for the city itself.  Ad Multi Ani Chisinau!  The whole boulevard of Stefan cel Mare was closed off to traffic and it was one giant street fair.  There were dancers and singers and vendors.  Phyllis was admiring some of the intricate crochet work.  And then the word carver gave her a big Moldovan welcome.  Some other sites that were close to our hotel was the new shopping mall Atrium.  It's the giant white building with wings.  Inside the mall was this modernistic purple ear canal.  Just down the street was a second hand market.  The official one is called the Locomotive Second Hand Market.  But just before it is something known as the Russian Piata (market) where individuals just lay out what they have to offer like a flea market.  Well our final dinner was at a very nice place called the Café Jiraffe.  It featured itself as a "fusion restaurant".   Well that's about the wrap up of the All Moldova Week.  It was very nice to share my Moldovan experience with family.  I bid them La Revedere. 

Family Wedding in Susleni

 

 

On Saturday night during our All Moldova Week, we went to a family wedding in Susleni.  Susleni is a village down the road about a half hour from Piatra.  The groom was the nephew of my Moldovan host, Ilie Leca.  The groom was also an Ilie Leca.  Susleni his home town.  We arrived about 7 in the evening and would not be heading home until about 6 the next morning.  The bride and groom greeted guests as they arrived.  Most people will present some fresh flowers to the bride as they arrive, and perhaps a present as well.  The guests are offered an initial welcome drink of champagne or cognac to toast the wedding couple.  Next step is to the feasting.  Our tables are overflowing with Moldovan favorites and more champagne and cognac.  All attention to the head table as toasts are made and money gifts are collected from each table of guests.  Guests usually give about $100-$200 (US) per couple.  Now the bride is loosing her veil and being donned with the scarf of the housewife.  The best man and woman begin wrapping the couple in a warm blanket.  Many more relatives do the same.  This is to symbolize their new family status and that they will have to face coming winters together.  Of course there is a fabulous wedding cake.  You can see Phyllis watching just over the bride's shoulder, and Zach watching just over the groom's head.  Of course, there was a lot of music and dancing at this event.  Unfortunately, I was so wrapped up in enjoying it,  there are no pictures to share of that. 

Old Orhei

Bell Tower of the Cave Monastery

New Monastery on Old Orhei Ridge

Orhei Vechi, or Old Orhei is where we headed next.  This is perhaps the most spectacular archeological site in Moldova.  It seems people as far back as prehistory decided this was a good place to settle.  We visited the small exhibit museum to see the items discovered here from various ages and people.  One of the important things here to see is a monastery carved into the side of the river canyon.  You see Zach in the first picture, looking into the individual cells of the monks inside the cave monastery.  Further down the ridge is a new monastery that has pleasant gardens and grounds to visit.  As we sat down on a rock for lunch we could look back at the new and old monasteries along the spine of the ridge.  The next shot is a traditional Moldovan village house that is a museum in itself.  We stayed overnight in this lovely area in the village of Trebujeni.  It's just over the hill from Orhei Vechi.   Zach was enjoying a walk around town when he ran into a duck convoy.  The white statues are a memorial to the soldiers of World War II and their names are listed on the red, yellow, and blue sign (Moldovan tri-color).  There's the village church.  And some local graffitti which reads "Moldovan, thus Romanian."  This is one of the political themes among some Moldovans who would like Moldova to be part of Romania.  We took a little stroll along the Raut River which runs just aside of the town.  I'm keeping in touch with my other Peace Corps volunteers via my cell phone.  The final picture is on the top of Old Orhei Ridge looking out at a vast rolling valley.  

Cricova The Subterranean City

 

Just a half hour drive north of the capital, Chisinau, is the village of Cricova.  Circova is a widely known wine label here in Moldova.  It was built inside the tunnels of a spent lime stone mine.  It is about 65 meters below the surface and just the perfect temperature year round for the fermentation of wines.  We took the tour of the " subterranean city".  We took this handsome tram train down into the wine cellars.  All the streets are named after various types of wine.  There are small and large barrels.  The wine in the large barrels is kept for about 4 years before it is bottled,  the smaller barrels less time.  These are oak barrels that give a tannin flavor to the wine.  Oh by the way, this is the world's largest underground wine cellar.  Our Moldovan guide explained how sparkling wines and champagnes (woops, excuse my French) are made.  The racks of bottles are slowly changed over many days so that the sediment of the wine finally collects into the neck of the bottle.  Yes, bottle by bottle.  Finally there is a high tech process where the neck of the bottle is fast frozen causing a natural cork that is blown out by the pressure when the bottle is quickly opened and then re-corked.  This eliminates the grape residue.  We next went to an underground museum where we saw many private collections of wine bottles.  Some were presents to the Russian President Vladimir Putin and some were gifted to the United States.  Our US ambassador has brought two bottles of California wine to be kept there.  One of the celebrities that visited here in 1966 was the Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.  A world map shows all the places that Cricova wines are exported to.  There were several fancy wine tasting rooms.  One had a deep sea theme.  Another the Presidential tasting room for foreign dignitaries.  And a fireside room that had a fire place that actually worked 65 meters below the surface.  And the room that we finally enjoyed sampling 2 white, 2 red, and 2 sparkling wines.  The best was the sparkling wine called "sweet tears".   Feeling better than when we came in, we now left for our next stop, Orhei Vechi.  Stay tuned.