Hotel Bella Donna Chisinau

... for øvrig så glad at jeg halvveis springer fram til døra på bussen. Sjåføren ligger henslengt i et av passasjersetene og leser avis. Jeg prøver å formidle hvor glad jeg er med en blanding av engelsk og den lille russisken jeg kan. Han løfter forsiktig på begge armene og viser i all tydelighet med kroppsspråket sitt at dette kunne han ikke bry seg mindre om. Det er en buss fra Sverige. Move on, turistjævel.

... br> &gt; 1st floor (here called 2nd) with nice view on park <br> &gt; modern apartment still with some soviet nostalgia, high ceilings<br> &gt; safe parking in yard <br> &gt; next to main office State Security, Hotel Leogrand and commercial centre "Sun City"<br><br> &gt; little open entrance hall with build in ...

... since I can't speak Russian) if I would only be there for a day or less. So I spent 2 days in Chisinau (pronounced Kish-i-now). As I said not a lot of tourists sights or anything in Chisinau but I did go to see a Orthodox church that was recommended and it was nice. But also good to just sit and relax, have a coffee. I got the night train back to Romania on Sept. 18 and the train took me all the way to Bucharest, the capital of Romania. I must mention the train station in ...

Day 10 Oonagh Poonah Today was an extraordinary and dramatic one in many ways. - It started with our visit to the Hospital of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, where we were met by the senior consultant and Rotarian, Dr Marin Vasile Rotaru. Before we started on our tour of the hospital, Dr Rotaru took questions from us and generally explained the situation and position of his hospital. So, before the drama begins, I will brief you on SOME FACTS ...

Regular readers will remember the cheerful way I recounted tales of buying a train ticket in Kiev. Silly, silly boy. The train from Lviv to Chisinau originates on the Polish side of the border in Przemystl. The key ramification of this is that the Ukrainian railways are unable to sell any reserved tickets (not knowing how many the Poles may have sold)... for a train departing at 12:10a.m.... just get to the station from 10:00p.m. and see what you can get ...

Continuing my tirade on short distances and long transport times, it is 160km from Odessa to the Moldovan capital of Chisinau, but yesterday, this trip took 7 hours. Granted, though, a significant chunk of this time was at the border, where I had the honor of being called off the bus, my bag searched, and being questioned by a very nice customs officer with a limited knowledge of English. He kept asking me questions in Russian, with ...

... corrupt country in Europe currently, and the former at least can be fairly easily gauged. Just across the border from Romania - which itself isn't exactly Monaco - the roads get a lot worse, the significant settlements get more infrequent and the villages turn a lot blander and more ramshackle. In fact though, the corruption doesn't take long to rear its head either, and the conspicuous frequency of "traffic police" manning the roads and pulling people over for dubious ...

... Chisnau. All for nothing and me and Jan ended up catching a free lift with a big coach party of local pilgrims (and they were grim) back to a shop where we met up with the others. Caught the micro bus back to town and straight to the beer house micro brewery for food and beer. One by one people left to catch trains etc and I was left with the German who watched while I tried all the beers. Feeling slightly sloshed as we walked back to hotel tourist to meet ...

... though as the original English commentary was dubbed over in Russian...but you could hear both at the same time. It was a rather odd experience. I walked around the city the next day...not many tourists in the city. In fact, I don´t think I saw any at all during my stay. I was greeted with mild amusement by most who saw me. Found an art market with lots of soviet paraphernalia for sale and I spent a lot of time in two very large parks that mark ...

... the shield a green plant in its right leg and a sceptre in the right - pragmatic and regal I tell you. They also are awash in mobile phone technology. Anyway my friends I must leave you now as the meeting we were attending has just finished and they would be surprised at how copious my notes really are. I continue my quest (not for the portable toilet - that is yet to be started) but for the ultimate Moldovan homemade beverage experience and of course to perform ...