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Published: September 13th 2017
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Our journey started with a few days in Kiev, the capital and largest city in Ukraine. As part of the former Soviet Union we were pleasantly surprised to find that the place was not as 'Russian-esque' as we had expected. In fact the whole place, the local people and the wide, tree-lined streets had a really nice upbeat feeling about them. In fact quite a few of the locals did not like the Russians at all due to past occupations, so it was quite funny to see a special souvenir sold in the markets of toilet paper adorned with the face of Vladimir Putin. Maybe we should have bought a few rolls!
We saw the highlights of the city on an organised walking tour, and among the various members of our group was a stunningly beautiful Ukrainian femme-fatale who we were convinced was actually an FSB - formerly KGB – spy (maybe not, but it got us in the mood as there are still many Soviet style buildings around the place). After the tour we decided to visit a few sights on the metro and were amazed that a journey anywhere in the city cost only 5 Hryvnia
(or 15 pence).
We thought long and hard about whether or not to visit Chernobyl, but in the end our curiosity got the better of us. The meltdown and explosion on April 26th 1986is the world's worst nuclear power accident The tour was fascinating from looking around the abandoned town of Pripyat to seeing the 4
th reactor enshrined in the recently erected sarcophagus. It was eerie to see life frozen in time – toys in the kindergarten, furniture in apartments – evidence of people escaping never to return. However, the reading from the geiger counter we wore during our time there showed we were exposed to the same level of radiation from that of an hour on a long-haul flight.
After Kiev it was a quick flight to Chisinau, capital of Moldova where we would start our week's tour of Moldova & Romania. The group weren't too sprightly as the very first morning one of the ladies tripped over and sprained her ankle so badly she was unable to walk and fully join in with the organised itinerary. Plus, one of the old dears got her knitting out on the tour bus as soon
as we were off. We were obviously the youngest on the tour.
According to the UN, Moldova is the least visited country in Europe and according to the IMF it has the dubious distinction of being the poorest. The first place we went to was actually the separatist region of Trans-Dniester (a small area that broke away from Moldova after a brief war in 1992). It was a strange affair as you need to cross a 'border' and exchange money into Trans-Dniester roubles (all the more strange as no country in the world recognises the region).
However the highlight of our visit to Trans-Dniester was a tour around the Kvint Brandy factory where they store over 25,000 barrels of high quality brandy (including a 50 year old brandy that cost over US$1,000). During the tour of the storage vaults you couldn't help but notice the overwhelming aroma of brandy that was lost to evaporation (known as the angels' share) – it was truly intoxicating. We were then treated to a tasting session that involved sampling 5 different brandies (from 5 years to 30 years old). Afterwards everyone couldn't get into the shop quick enough
as there was brandy for sale from £1.50 and vodka for £0.70.
Back in Moldova, we had a brief walk around the capital - it didn't take too long as quite frankly there wasn't much of interest. But popping our heads into an Orthodox church was memorable due to the haunting singing from the congregation. Apparently a service can last for up to 4 hours, and (apart from a few chairs dotted around the edges) there is no seating at all. How on earth do they manage that!
That evening some Moldovan specialities that we could have sampled at dinner were: spicy sliced pigs ears, smoked lard or 'fur coat' salad. Maybe something was lost in translation, but we decided to give them all a miss.
We think our itinerary must have been set by an alcoholic as the next day we had a visit to the Cricova Wine Cellars. The visit was very interesting as the cellars house over 120km of tunnels, holding around 1.25 million bottles of wine. Afterwards we enjoyed a wine tasting session in the very same function room that Vladimir Putin (yes, that man again) held
his birthday party in 2002.
Our last day in Moldova was spent in the countryside, and after viewing an ancient cave monastery dug into the cliffs by Orthodox monks in the 13
th century we made our way onto Romania and the town of Iasi (pronounced Yash), once dubbed the ‘city of the hundred churches’. Bizarrely enough, we spent the night at a Swiss-style chalet (strange, but true). For dinner we tried a Romanian favourite for desert: Papanasi – deep fried doughnut covered in sour jam & soft cheese. It sounds dreadful, but it was actually pretty good and very tasty.
On our way to the capital Bucharest we visited the Berca mud volcanoes where natural gases erupt from 3,000 metres underground and force bubbling mud to the surface, producing a surreal lunar landscape. After that it was lunch and (another) wine tasting session at Halewood Cellars who produce some of the best wine in Romania. Apparently the wine is mostly exported to the UK and is even available at Waitrose (so it must be good!).
The main point of interest in Bucharest was the Ceausescu Palace, a grotesque excess of megalomania.
The former dictator's palace is the second largest building and most expensive administrative building in the world and can be seen from outer space. It is so heavy that it is subsiding at 6mm per year. The estimated total cost of the building exceeded 3 billion US dollars, and the annual maintenance is over 6 million euros. We could go on, but suffice to say it was very over the top.
Our train journey to Transylvania was quite memorable, but for all the wrong reasons. The overcrowded, stuffy, non air-conditioned carriages were like something from the 1980's. The 100 mile journey took nearly 3 hours and was made worse when a giant 'walrus' of a man sat opposite us and spent the whole journey snoring very loudly.
Some people might assume Transylvania is an invention of Bram Stoker and that it is a dark, foreboding region. However, our first stop in Brasov was a real eye-opener: a buzzing place with a beautiful, ornate old town.
The main reason people come to this region is to visit Bran Castle (otherwise known as Dracula's Castle). We imagined an atmospheric castle in the middle
of the countryside, but instead we found an overcrowded tourist trap. The castle itself was interesting to wander around, but we were happy to be on our way.
Our last few days were spent at Sinaia, which was an unexpected treat. It was everything that Bran was not. Within 30 minutes walk of each other was Sinaia Monastery, Pelisor Palace & Peles Castle: three interesting cultural monuments set in a beautiful alpine valley. A very nice way to end our two week trip.
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Greg & June Wilkins
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Your Travels Never Cease to Amaze!
Dear David & Andrew. Just one question. Do you both glow in the dark now that you have visited Chernobyl????????? Good to hear from you and that your travels are still occurring!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep in touch!!!!!!!!!!!! Greg & June