March 2025. Bender. Transnistria/Moldova. Yes, dangerously close to the Ukrainian border. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office advised us not to travel to Transnistria, a breakaway Moldovan territory without consular assistance or valid insurance, but Mrs RM insisted. “It’ll be fine !” said our guide Lily, who then seemed to mislay her passport at the border,… Continue reading I SHOPPED THE SHERIFF (TRANSNISTRIA)
Author: retiredmartin
Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.
A SIP OF HOLY WATER ON THE ROUTE TO TRANSNISTRIA
March 2025. Chisinau. Moldova. By common consent there’s only 3 things to do in Moldova. Lili was about to do the last of those as she picked us up on Day 3 in Moldova, just after I’d made my 3rd morning pastry raid on Linella Supermarket, giving the till assistant a 3rd opportunity to passive… Continue reading A SIP OF HOLY WATER ON THE ROUTE TO TRANSNISTRIA
FRIDAY NIGHT IN CHISINAU
March 2025. Chisinau. Moldova. I was back at our Chisinau hotel from my Tomato Gose expedition by half five, by which time Mrs RM had decided that the plate of walnuts (a Moldovan speciality) and bread sticks that accompanied wine tasting wasn’t sufficient for tea. The Art-Rustique Boutique Hotel (name picked by random computer generation)… Continue reading FRIDAY NIGHT IN CHISINAU
WHEN YOU REALLY NEED A PINT OF TOMATO GOSE…
March 2025. Chisinau. Moldova. Our Moldovan tour guide guide Vasili (“call me Les”), a chap in his 30s with a colourful history that took in Ashford (Middlesex not Kent) was a good lad, though with a cavalier attitude to the Highway Code. His partner in the tour company was less than impressed with the muddied… Continue reading WHEN YOU REALLY NEED A PINT OF TOMATO GOSE…
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF GAGARIN. WINE TASTING AT CRICOVA.
March 2025. Cricova, Moldova. I really didn’t want to do the wine tasting, but Mrs RM said she couldn’t really count Moldova as ticked without a winery; it would be like ticking a pub with a half rather than a pint. Cricova isn’t the biggest winery in Moldova, but we drove through a mile of… Continue reading IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF GAGARIN. WINE TASTING AT CRICOVA.
OLD ORHEI
March 2025. Old Orhei. Moldova. It’s generally accepted that the main activities in Moldova are craft beer bars, wine tasting, and monasteries. Let’s get the 2nd and 3rd of those ticked. Our guide Vasili had a nice looking car to take us to Old Orhei’s little collection of museums and monasteries. Well, it was a… Continue reading OLD ORHEI
PINK BOOTS AND YELLOW SNOW. LITRA & FRIENDS, CHISINAU
March 2025. Chișinău. Moldova. Chisinau had looked quite promising based on Untappd check-ins; though once you leave the capital there’s very slim pickings. I left Mrs RM to talk to ChatGPT while I nipped out to, a) get some Moldovan lei. A machine gives me a single 1,000 lei note (£42.88) & when I b)… Continue reading PINK BOOTS AND YELLOW SNOW. LITRA & FRIENDS, CHISINAU
MOLDOVA HAS FALLEN
March 2025. Moldova. I’m not sure she’s actually found the little pin badge to stick in the wall chart yet, but Mrs RM has completed Europe. Well, all apart from Belarus, and she’s not going there; it’s more dangerous than Maidenhead. I guess it’s a bit like claiming to have finished the GBG without having… Continue reading MOLDOVA HAS FALLEN
IASI – THOSE LOVELY TRAMS
March 2025. Iaşi. Romania. A last one from Iaşi, I promise. But, like Duncan in 2019, whose photo I steal with pride, I can’t ignore. “the trams, those lovely trams“, even if that seems to close to a Father Ted reference for comfort. We succumbed to the 68p for 2 hours of tram travel ticket… Continue reading IASI – THOSE LOVELY TRAMS
“Early to bed, early to rise…”
March 2025. Iaşi. Romania. Yes, we’re not in Kaunas now, Tonto. Iaşi has its share of brutalist housing estates (this one facing the Opera House), but it’s also packed with gorgeous buildings housing smart shops, and speakeasies. There’s some money around in Europe’s fastest growing economy. I always aim to explore the streets of a… Continue reading “Early to bed, early to rise…”
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