Chisinau (Moldova)

Chisinau is the capital of the small former Soviet Republic of Moldova. In spite of the fact that it was almost totally destroyed during World War Two (due not only to heavy bombing but also an earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale), it is a beautiful city, full of character.

It has a population of around 650,000; nearly 70 per cent are ethnic Moldovans, the next highest group is Russians with Ukrainians, Romanians, Bulgarians and Gaugazians (Gaugazia is a tiny breakaway Republic in the south of Moldova) making up the rest. In spite of the ethnic mix that has caused tensions in other parts of the country – resulting in two breakaway Republics being formed – the capital is a relaxed and friendly place.

Chinisinau was founded as a monastery town and has grown slowly and steadily over the years. It became a Soviet Socialist Republic after World War Two having previously been part of Romania and before that known as Bessarabia. The population grew more rapidly in the 1950s when Soviet architects laid out a plan for the rebuilding of the city. Now Chisinau is a city full of “Stalinist architecture” – large blocks of apartments, often with shops or other facilities at street level, built in clusters.

In 1971 the Soviet Council of Ministers decided to invest huge sums of money in the city and this continued until Moldova’s independence in 1971. As a result Chisinau is a city that feels like it has been designed and developed with its population in mind. It has one of the highest proportions of parks and open spaces of any European city, its bus stations are just out of town making the centre less busy and its best shopping spaces are underground.

WHAT TO SEE AND DO

· Go to the beach – yes, in landlocked Moldova you can go to the beach; on the edge of town there are several lakes complete with beached where you can swim (if you can manage to stop your knees from scraping on the bottom). Chisinau can reach between 35 and 40 degrees in summer and the lakes are a favourite spot to cool down. Bear in mind – as is common with freshwater swimming – you will be surrounded by sticklebacks, frogs and dragonflies. The nicest is Lake Valea Morilor
· Go to the cinema – I know you could have stayed at home to go to the cinema but one of Chisinau’s parks holds a little secret. "Cinema Patria" - a small cinema – still working – built entirely by hand by prisoners of war during World War Two.
· Buy some flowers – alongside one of the central parks is the best flower market I have ever seen; it is open round the clock and there are over one hundred little kiosks crammed with all kinds of wonderful blooms. In Moldova flowers are not seen as a treat – they are very affordable and something that everyone buys regularly.
· Go to market – Chisinau’s central market is fabulous. If you can’t buy it there then it doesn’t exist. It’s noisy, it’s dangerous (porters appear from nowhere pushing trolleys and you have to be quick to dodge them) and it’s terrific fun. If you have rented an apartment this is the place to come to buy your food – huge juicy watermelons, delicious salad ingredients and fresh succulent berries. There are nuns buying knickers (really), old ladies selling roasted sunflower seeds and beautiful Roma ladies, sitting on upturned crates, selling flowers.
· Go to church – the Russian influence in Chisinau is probably most obvious in the domes of the city's Orthodox churches – blue and gold domes pop up in the least expected places and a visit to at least one is recommended. The blue and gold domes of the All Saints Church are the most impressive of all
· Drink some wine – Moldova’s chief export is wine and even the best bottles cost not much more than a tenner. In fact you can pick up a decent bottle in a supermarket for about £1.50. Better still head outside the capital on a half day trip to the Cricova vineyards where you can do some tasting as well as learn about how the wine is made. You need to contact the winery in advance and its not cheap but there are smaller ones that are cheaper and easier to reach, Cricova, though, is regarded as the best. For these you either need your own car or to make an arrangemnt with a taxi driver or independent guide. This potentially lucrative aspect of tourism is not yet exploited in Moldova.
· Visit the Pushkin Musuem – it was while living in Chisinau (in exile)that Alexandr Pushkin wirte "The Prisoner of the Caucasus". The cottage and exhibition are small but interesting
· Take a day trip to Orheuil Vecchi – a breathtaking monastery carved out of an immense cliff face by hand by monks. Take a bus to the small town of Orhei, then negotiate with a taxi driver to take you to the monastery where the only remaining monk will show you around.

EATING AND DRINKING

Chisinau is a modern and cosmopolitan city as far as eating out is concerned. We were there for five days and ate Lebanese food, sushi and Italian food as well as traditional Moldovan cuisine – I shall never forget my lunch of Danube herrings!

Like every other European city Chisinau has an Irish Bar but its much more fun to try some of the little back streets bars as well as the newer boutique bars that are springing up. We tried "Havana" which we thought would have a Cuban theme; it turned out to be a basement bar, white tiled floor and walls, wobbly chairs and one in ten of the cocktails list available. Café culture is thriving and it is lovely to sit outside one of the bars on the leafy wide streets watching the world go by. Beer House is a great one to choose - the food is good and they brew their own beer.

Most pubs serve a full range of food and it's not unsual for places that seem like a conventional restaurant to be full of people just drinking. The Lebanese restaurant "Class" is one such place and I reckon the young people of Chisinau go there for the waterpipes rather than the entertainment - a guy playing keyboard trying desperately hard to slur "Blue Suede Shoes" enough to hide the fact that he only knew three of the words.

SHOPPING
There is a wonderful craft market held in the park next to the Arc de Triomphe each day. I would have loved to have bought some art if it had not meant hauling it around eastern Europe for another six weeks. This is the place to buy Russian dolls, painted in every colour imaginable.

Apart from this, tourist shopping in Chisinau basically means wine and there are several factory shops - including a big Cricova shop - in town for those people not able to get out into the countryside.

TRANSPORT

You can walk around Chisinau quite easily but minibuses will take you further afield. The city has three bus stations – one in the centre and two on the edge of town each serving different parts of the country. There is meant to be method to this – there isn’t. Chisinau still has lots of trolleybuses - make sure you use them at least once.

Fares are ridiculously cheap - we are talking pence. You can buy tickets from kiosks or from the driver. Taxis aren't expensive but we were warned that drivers might try it on and that we should only book taxis by phone. We never had to use a taxi since we were staying in a central location and were able to use maxitaxis most of the time (a maxitaxi is a small minibus).

WHERE TO STAY
Chisinau has lots of hotels across the spectrum and the old state run hotels are slowly being bought up and renovated. We stayed in an apartment because we were at a point in our trip where we wanted a bit more space to relax, eat in and do some laundry (in the bath of course - only the most expensive rental apartments in Chisinau would have a washing machine). Without booking in advance we were able to walk into an accommdation office and get a one bedroom apartment right on Stefan cel Mare for about £20.00 per night (or two) - not bad for a capital city. It was clean and comfortable and in excellent condition

Overall we found Chisinau to be a friendly and attractive city, one where you find yourself spending most of your time outdoors. What is remarkable is that it has so much character even though most of it dates from the 1950s onwards. There are no big tourist attractions but there is enough to occupy you for a couple of days at least, a bit more if you use Chisinau as a base to make day trips from.

Chisinau represents great value for money a good meal for two with wine should cost much more than £10, although you can spend much more if you want to - with so many Russian businessmen here the top end restaurants know they can charge high prices.

If you like the idea of visiting Chisinau I would advise you to do so soon before the international chains start moving in, Chisinau is largely free of them at present but this will no doubt change.

The only drawback is that Chisinau has nothing that is typically Moldovan or that you couldnt find elsewhere. However that does not stop it being on the most pleasant cities I have visited in Europe.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

For rented apartments in Chisinau

adresa@mdi.net
B-dul Negruzzi 1

The currency is the Lei (the same name but a different currency as in Romania). Many people will quote prices in Dollars but only accept Lei. There are plenty of ATMS in Chisinau but few outside the capital so get your money in the city if heading out of town.

Since January 2007 UK citizens have not needed a visa to enter Moldova. We had to buy one at the border in July 2006 - this was tremendous fun - so much so that the people on our bus cheered when we got back on waving our visas.

Chisinau has an international airport but many visitors fly into Romania and cross into Moldova by road or rail and this may be a cheaper option.

And finally - Chisinau - pronounced Kishinyev in Russian, Kishinow in Moldovan.