Moldova? Bowled Ovah!--Once Again

Chisinau, August 1-7

Leaving Budapest on July 31, we had an easy drive across eastern Hungary and into Romania as far as Cluj. Then the fun began. The “highway” across the Carpathians was under construction, and progress was so slow and painful we became convinced that Vlad the Impaler (aka Dracula) was directing the road crews. True, the scenery was magnificent and our overnight in Vatra Dornei was very pleasant, but we will defer pictures and further comments to our Romania posting.

We entered Moldova at a lesser used crossing point in the north, where the border authorities were polite, efficient, conversant in Romanian (Russian was their operating language in the late 1990’s), and quite aware that visas were no longer required of American tourists. We had been invited to stay at the beautiful Ambassador’s Residence, new since our day, by Rudy and Ethel Perina, our successors in Moldova, who had returned to fill a gap between the departure of the recent ambassador and the arrival of her successor. (Our old digs have been joined with those of the German ambassador, our good friend, to create a living and entertaining complex for the Embassy’s Marine Security Guards.) That evening the Perinas and we were able to join Ceslav Ciobanu (Minister of Privatization during our tour and now a professor at Virginia State), his wife Liliana, and Ciobanu relatives for a Moldovan-style barbecue with great homemade wine in the Chisinau suburbs.


New U.S. Ambassador's Residence


U.S. Marine House, Chisinau (erstwhile residences of the U.S.A. and Germany)


Ciobanu dinner

Our week was mainly spent reconnecting with old friends. The Perinas were kind enough to organize a dinner at the Residence with Moldovans the four of us knew, but we also sought out contacts on our own. We spent an especially enjoyable afternoon with Valeriu Loghin and Lorina Balteanu, who divide their time between Moldova and France, and Vince and Ilinca Morabito, whom we visited on Mallorca, to enjoy great food in Valeriu and Lorina’s garden. We met former President Petru Lucinschi on the street and quickly retired with him to a nearby hotel for drinks and conversation.


At the Perinas' dinner party


With Valeriu, Lorina, Ilinca and Vince


Luncheon fare at Lorina and Valeriu's


With former Moldovan President Petru Lucinschi

During our assignment here Georgia’s special interest was children’s health. Following up, we spent one afternoon visiting an orphanage and the National Children’s Hospital, where Georgia and the charities she fostered had concentrated their giving. Both facilities were greatly improved from our time, thanks to increased support from the Moldovan authorities and foreign sources. Dr. Gheorghe Grosu, the hospital’s competent and charismatic director then and now, gave us a personal tour to show us the many parts under renovation. We talked with some of the young patients, including several in the Burn Unit, the first focus of Georgia’s efforts.


With Dr. Gheorge Grosu, National Children's Hospital


Felicia at Children's Hospital

Chisinau’s weather was magnificent during our visit, giving us the chance to stroll along the Boulevard of St. Stephen the Great, named for the national hero of Moldova (and Romania), who died in 1504 after a career fighting the Turks and other pesky neighbors. His statue graces the city’s main square, and here brides lay flowers at his feet following their wedding ceremonies. Other touristic high spots were the refurbished grounds of the opera house and—outside of Chisinau—the 16th Century Capriana Monastery, Moldova’s most important, where the restoration work is beginning to produce impressive results.


Bride placing flowers at statue of St. Stephen the Great


Opera House, Chisinau


Capriana Monastery

Car maintenance also figured in our activities. Todd ran Valeriu through a car wash where the car moved instead of the mechanism (Moldova is, after all, part of the New Europe) and a team of young people spent 15 minutes cleaning the inside—all for under $7. When a taillight gave up the ghost, Todd visited the local VW dealer, who replaced it for the princely sum of $5. Now if we could only get our Lexus serviced here . . . .

Speaking of Valeriu, Todd signed his testimony in the appeal of the car’s namesake, former Defense Minister Valeriu Pasat, to overturn his conviction concerning the sale of the MiG-29’s to the United States. We’ll see if it helps get Minister Pasat out of jail.

Driving south to enter Romania at Galati, we passed through a series of villages along the Prut River, where a few improvements were visible, such as a new housing for the local well. More noteworthy were the number of Western Union offices where residents can receive remittances from relatives numbering among the hundreds of thousands of Moldovans working abroad. To end on a happier note, it was harvest season for melons, so we stopped along the road to buy a small yellow melon from a group of ladies and their daughters. They complained of the heat and lack of rain but nonetheless treated us to slices of watermelon. This is the Moldova we love.


Refurbished well in Moldovan village


Roadside melon purchase

Further Itinerary

Bucharest, Romania August 8-10
Poiana-Brasov, Romania August 11-13
Gura Humorolui, Romania August 14-16
Kyiv, Ukraine August 17-18
Lviv, Ukraine August 19-20
Krakow, Poland August 21-24
To Be Determined August 25-September 21
Munich, Germany September 22-27
Washington, DC, USA September 28-October 2
Sun Valley, Idaho, USA October 3-

More Defunct Habsburgs

Austria and Slovakia, July 25-29

Crossing the Brenner Pass once again, we headed for Weer, a village located a few kilometers east of Innsbruck. We had made reservations at the Weererwirt, a large inn that attracted many German and Swiss families with small children, whom we joined at the swimming pool to escape the heat. The inn itself could not have been more charming with folk art like the angel (mermaid?) chandeliers in the dining room.


Weererwirt Hotel, Weer


Chandelier at Hotel Weererwirt

Disciplined as we are, we spent most of Wednesday sightseeing in a sweltering Innsbruck, the favorite locale of Emperor Maximilian I (Charles V’s grandfather and predecessor), who loved the city so much that he arranged to be buried there in a fantastic 16th Century tomb surrounded by statues of his predeceased relatives and other royal worthies. The imperial residence was subsequently redone in Baroque style by Empress Maria Theresa, who filled it with paintings of her progeny and their spouses. All this, plus the famous Goldenes Dachl, the city’s landmark, makes Innsbruck one of the jewels of Europe.


Hofburg, Innsbruck


Giants' Hall, Hofburg, Innsbruck


Goldenes Dachl, Innsbruck


Maximilian's tomb, Innsbruck Hofkirche

We drove the next day to Vienna, but via Kitzbuehl to look at Sun Valley’s competition in Europe—“nice town, low mountains” is our capsule review. In Vienna Todd had meetings at the Secretariat of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the US Mission to the OSCE to discuss the Transnistrian problem in Moldova, While Todd sat in air-conditioned offices, Georgia trod the burning pavements, visiting first the Secession Building, the Jugendstil showcase that features Gustav Klimt’s Beethoven Frieze, and then the Hofburg where she made three stops (the Prunksaal, the showpiece of the Austrian National Library; the Schatzkammer whose jewels she never resists when in Vienna; and the Augustinerkirche where silver urns in the Loreto Chapel contain the hearts of the Habsburg family). We rendezvoused at the end of the day, however, to tour the Hofburg exhibit commemorating Mozart’s 250th birthday, a wonderful kaleidoscope that merited far more than the 90 minutes we could devote to it.


Secession Building, Vienna


Hofburg, Vienna


W. A. Mozart, Vienna

On Saturday we visited Bratislava, only an hour’s drive from Vienna, to see how the city had developed following the end of communism and the independence of Slovakia. The results impressed us favorably, for the Slovaks have turned the center of their capital into a pedestrian zone and refurbished the historic buildings there in a very attractive manner. Two good examples are the city hall and the Cathedral of St. Martin, the coronation place of many Hungarian kings, which boasts wonderful carvings in the choir. The old city does not lack humor, however, as evidenced by the many street sculptures (one of which was aped by a street mime) and the decision to place center court for the European U-18 beach volleyball tournament in the middle of Bratislava’s most prestigious square.


City hall, Bratislava


Choir stall carving in Bratislava Cathedral


European U-18 Beach Volleyball Championship, Bratislava


With street artist and statue, Bratislava

We closed out our Vienna experience with a visit to Beatrix Nohl, Todd’s partner in observing the Moldovan parliamentary elections last year, and her companion Damien Lahoupe, followed by dinner at a downtown sidewalk café where a rainstorm chased us inside. After two weeks of heat, we didn’t mind a bit.


With Bea and Damien