Waking up with cows, in Ukraine!
Tiny border crossing between Moldova and Ukraine (this time not through Transnistria) and first stop at Dniester Liman. And then we met friendly party people with too good cognac. Was a hard morning with… cows.
Bye bye Moldova
At the beginning I couldn’t get used to funny Moldovan bank-notes which looks for me like Monopoly money. Now after almost a month, when I know them very well, we are leaving.
Worth to visit: Hanul lui Hanganu
At the end of Moldovan world, after long long awful roads (“Drum in lucru” – means road during renovation but we didn’t see any renovation!) – in small Lalova village we found a lovely place: to stay for night or to eat.
Sweet small waterfall
In Saharna, less than 100 km north from Chisinau you can find something for your soul and something for your eyes.
Maybe good place for a marriage…
Because all good tourists should check it out: Tipova Monastery – Easter Europe’s largest cave monastery.
Visiting Gagauzia
That was a day when Hanna was repeating all the time: “GAGA GAGA”. So our destination was clear: Gagauzia, another autonomous region of Moldova, when Christian Turks are living.
A real monk in the real cave
Fairy place (like the picture photoshoped by Tom, heh – the original one you find inside the post): cave monastery Orheiul Vechi. The room was filled with the smell of garlic. And we met a real monk.
Why not all the families are on such a trip??
I feel so happy to be on the trip! And more and more often I’m wondering why not all the parents are packing baby to their car and leaving to discover the world together?
At home in Transnistria
In old shabby Soviet block there is living a family. With no warm water except winter but with warmest hospitality we met until now. Welcome to Crasnoe, tiny town in Transnistria.
In the capital of Smirnov’s empire
The town (like all Transnistria) is lead by Sheriff Smirnov, on the streets a lot of Renault Espace cars (so we felt very welcome) and… smiling faces: after 3 years I came back to Tiraspol.
Meeting the “Gypsy King” and his people
The most what Hanna liked was jewelery and golden teeth. We liked the most smiling eyes and real family feelings. Warm soup, freshly baked cake and sweet cherries to take with us. Not much time is needed to get through social structures: from talking with kids to drinking with the “king”.
How is Hanna?
Today Hanna is 10 months old! Last weeks were a crazy fast change of life with her. And I’m not talking about different countries or climates – but discovering the world.
Living in Chisinau
Neighborhood of Parcul Valea Morilor in Chisinau. Shopping bread in the morning, visiting hospital, having police meeting, fighting with embassies. We are living a Chisinau life.
From Moldavia to Moldova
And again we crossed UE-not UE border. Again without a problem, again a bit excited. Hello Moldova.
Wet bottom-right corner of Romania
Danube Delta where Danube river split into 3 channels and spills into Black Sea is a 4187 square km wetland (also partly in territory of Ukraine). This makes a heaven for 300 species of birds and 150 species of fish. National park where every private man has a boat to organize trips.
Along the Romanian Seaside
So first we visited Saturn, Venus, Jupiter and Neptun… Not so cosmic seaside resorts with hundreds of not the most beautiful hotels. But looks like place to be in the summer – Romanian seaside is not so big and all country has to find his square meter on the sand.
Touching our Black Sea
A visit-surprise for Tom’s parents changed our plan to touch Bulgaria in September. We crossed to Danube river for two days already now to visit Hanna’s grandmother and grandfather.
In Bucharest with friends
Bucharest time was a time with our friends: with Polish-Romanian couple Ania and Costin with small (younger but not smaller) Magda, with Andrei and his lovely family, with Luisa in students dormitory.
Pieces from around the Fagaras Mountains
Million places to see but we cannot stay in Transzlvania forever. So just brief stays, walks and talks in the heart of the country: small village Slimnic, in two important cities: Sibiu and Brasov and part of Transfagaras Road.
A smiling Romanian police
First time stopped by police (not counting night visit of border police during our camping)! I think they were just curious why we are passing by same village four times.