The year before, during the summer of 2022 Biya and I travelled extensively through Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. It was during the early days of the war between Russia and the Ukraine. When we spoke to people, especially the younger ones, we heard that soooo many had one of their parents who were either Ukrainian or Russian. Throughout the 80 plus years of the USSR, inter-ethnic marriage was a norm not an exception. The same can be said of former Yugoslavia in the past century; and of Moldova. This fact alone is leading to huge family conflicts. What struck me in Moldova's capital Chisinau was the impression that a lot of small businesses are owned or in the hands of ethnic Russians, that make up more than 20% of its population. Many Moldovans only speak Russian and no English. And obviously the region which is de facto separated from Moldova is Transnistria: we decided not to visit its capital Tiraspol for the simple reason that one can easily get into a 'misunderstanding' with its people (many of these pro-Russia). An issue over whatever small thing could easily get out of proportion and then what? Westerners like Biya and I are considered to be in line with the current heavily pro-European government in Chisinau. We took no risks.
For me the question remains: is Moldova part of Europe? I do not think so but as the media and communications from Brussels appear to say again and again: yes, including countries like Georgia and Armenia. The Russian bear definitely shall not like this. No country likes to loose its sphere of influence. Rightly so I would say. I would not be surprised when in the coming two years Mr. Putin will deploy more troops to the borders of Moldova, Georgia and Armenia to instill some sense of reality with fear in the people and their leaders there.
Anyway we did not really talk politics during the trip.
We flew into Romania on 8th August from Eindhoven airport; to Suceava, a pretty and small town close to Ukraine. We wanted to just stay for a day or two to plan our trip to Moldova. What a nice place Suceava turned out to be. Rich culture and a heroic past with huge monastries and a castle that speaks for itself. In fact this part of Romania, (Bessarabia, Buckovina and Walachia it was called 150 years ago) had been on the frontier of Christians fighting the advance of the Ottomans. Then Suceava is all walking to show this history: the famous St.John's monastry; the traditional village exposition; the centre of town which offers old and new with a nice park to stroll through. The tradional village that was built shows in detail rural life some 100 plus years ago. Clearly one sees rural Romania 450 kms away from the capital Bucarest with farms and homesteads without electricity, or running water (families and cattle sharing living quarters) and no tarred roads with people moving about with oxcarts and donkeys.
Then King Stefan cel Mare remains the great hero of this region/also in Moldova. His long life and reign (he died at age 71! in 1504) safeguarded the interests and power of Romania, Moldova and beyond. The many castles he built in this region can count for that! I really can recommend Sucaeva as a hassle free entry into Romania and onward to Moldova via Iasi. Entering Moldova by bus I was truck by the largesse of the houses and gardens. These farmers all have vineyards and late summer they get together and still drink their own wine in the evenings on the porch. And huge plots of I guess about 2.500 square meters around their homesteads. A scene I never forget and which was told to me by my mother when she was reading fairy tales to me when I was 3 or 4 years: I really saw while in a village, riding on the bus, an elderly man herding a pack of geese!
For someone like me who appreciates old fashioned scenes Moldova has lots to offer: rolling hills with wooden buildings, villages with paths and no tarred roads, people working their gardens with
a hoe, a lot of vintage tractors and harvesters moving about. People in the countryside seem to be at ease. A nice place to cycle without heavy traffic at all.
Also nice, including all over Romania, and later throughout other countries we crossed like Montenegro, Albania and Croatia: no tourist hassles from vendors or taxidrivers. Biya and I felt comfortable looking around and asking about this and that. Nobody acted like they wanted something out of our deep pockets. Then indeed we hardly saw any tourists in Moldova. There were some visiting the Cricova vineyards and the impressive tunnels where they keep millions of bottles (most of it exported to Russia). And in Orhei Vecci where one can see how the monks used to live in the caves against a beautiful backdrop of fields full of sunflower and maize.
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| Monastry and fields Orhei Vecci, Moldova |
Orhei Vecci was a bit problematic to reach as we did not have a car but once arrived, this location impresses any visitor: a small entry to crawl through, then reach the cave where monks used to live and where they had created/built a small church.
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| Orhei Vecci: church in cave |
These monks were real hermits and not allowed to leave whenever they wanted. Their dark 'slots' in which they pray and sleep in the cave ...grrr not for me. I just remember there is now only one monk left...basically to deal with visitors. Selling a lot of memorabilia. We saw the same all over with the Orthodox Churches: priests and monks sell all kinds of bibles, prints, icons to hang in there financially But it appears that being a priest remains a popular vocation. Many of them we met and talked with were youngish, spoke English and had their children studying outside the country in Western Europe. Interesting also, foodwise Moldova reminded me about Southern Russia (Ingushetia): borsjt=beet soup with sour cream; polenta/maize; lots of pork and some rice. They definitely do excellent soups.
Moldova's capital Chisinau is small and still has houses with large gardens. It's centre very much Russian-styled with square buildings and cheap looking flats 'Plattenbau'(as was the case in Eastern Germany). All in al I did not get the impression that its people are very poor (as we are told). Rural folk mind their own business and grow much of what they eat. Only for high education, transport and modern stuff (like computers)...yeah that requires a lot of money.
For me Moldova is a country to go back to: with a bicycle and pedal around in the spring when the land is green and clean and the crispy weather perfect.
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| Saint George Orthodox Church, Constanta, Romania |
I had wanted to see the Danube delta with its flora and fauna but timewise this was not possible. So we crossed the border between Moldova and Romania by overnight bus and we stayed a few days in Constanta with its beaches. It is not my kind of environment but interesting to see how socialist hotels have now had a make-over and look quite 'Westernized' with all the shops and eateries. This big city on the sea has a huge port and we had a interesting drive through it. Old buildings, empty docks, quais and rusted ships with stuff lying all over. The E.U. is putting a lot of money into this kind of dysfunctional infrastructure. Now, with the war ongoing across the Black Sea, business has dropped I was told. Constanta keeps its charm with leafy quartiers and sandy beaches although seas were rough when we were there. We actually saw the Romanian airforce doing a mock attack on helicopters (to warn the Russians not to come too close). True, the beachfront in and around Constanta covers miles long of sandy beaches with the Maiama beach as the people's favourite. Fair enough and still busy by the middle of end of August with mostly Romanians.
We took the train to Bucharest and I enjoyed this slow mode of traveling. When I first traveled through this region in 1974 railways were prime: most travelers started from Vienna to take the Orient Express train into Hungary and further to Belgrade into Yugoslavia. There were only a few direct buses for 'hippies', like the 'Magic Bus' from Amsterdam to Istanbul and as far as Kathmandu; and the special buses for Turkish guestworkers from Istanbul to Cologne and Munich in Germany. Nowadays, it is all about the bus: Flixbus and its subcontracting national companies rule the roast. Special busstations exist on the outskirts of Bucharest, Sofia, Skopje and Zagreb where one can take the long distance buses such as from Skopje in Macedonia to Paris, to St. Petersburg, to Barcelona and even to Odessa in the Ukraine. And do book early because this kind of transport is cheaper and much faster than trains.
We traveled by train and bus in one go from Constanta to Bucharest and Sofia to Skopje where we met my trusted ex World Vision collegue-logistician Radomir Gerowski. Apart from a few grey hairs the man had not changed: conscious of himself in a nice manner, a no nonsense person, always helpful and with a 'can do' mentality. Biya immediately took to him.
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| Radomir/Anton scootering /background statue Alexander the Great |
He drove us around on his Italian scooter and showed us the two highlights of Skopje: the birthplace/spot of Saint Theresa (Mother Theresa of Calcutta) and the statue of Alexander the Great (who by the way was not born in current Macedonia but in Pella around 350 years B.C. (Pella is in Greece).
The Macedonians with professional marketing have been able to convince the world that Alexander is a true son of their country only.
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| Radomir, Biya, Anton at Memorial birthplace Saint Theresa in Skopje, Macedonia |
It was nice to see Radomir again. A stable man with a caring family and most likely getting back the lands that the Yugoslav socialists took from his grandparents. 'It will make me a rich man' he chuckled! What a joy to see and meet someone back from the times when Isabel Gomes, Julian Srodecki and I worked on a 'winterization prgramme' during the crisis in Tetovo, Macedonia more than 20 years ago. At that time the Albanians tried to get back parts of Macedonia (mostly Muslim dominated areas) by infiltrating the country with armed groups that roughed up the countryside. We as humanitarian actors then developed a programme through which as a minimum one room of a burnt homestead was rebuilt so the family could pass the winter inside it and keep warm. Work well done!
Radomir told us 'Ohrid is a mess, too many crazy visitors'. Then both Biya and I were fixed on this historic place and we were not disappointed: a clear blue lake one can swim in, a different church to pray in for every day of the year, a room with view on the lake and in walking distance to all the sites, especially the castle and monastry up the hill. It was my birthday and we ran into an elderly photographer/mountaineeer who in the past had worked with Edmund Hillary in Kathmandu. We talked and he invited us to his cozy cottage. He, Rumen Kamilov thoughtfully offered us cake and a strong cherry-based Schnapps. What a nice surprise on my 72nd birthday 22 August. Actually we met other very nice people; many retired from Belgrade and Skopje who had bought years back a second home by the lake. Haha, yes we went for dinner at the 'Belvedere restaurant', where the waiter with his fat neck (no name of course) charged us one beer too many. When I told him he looked at us as if he did not know. Then he simple said 'ok'. Then I asked to pay with my card. And he said 'the machine is broke'. After paying cash, we waited for the change that never came. Every time he passed our table he pretended not to see us or waved, signalling that he would come asap. No bill and no change; we finally gave up. Yes, a professional 'tourist picker'. Biya was furious and remained so, even after I said 'Leave it to God'. Interestingly when we related the story to our new acquaintances Lenka and Rumen, both mentioned something like 'yes stuff happens', and 'no worries most waitors are ok'.
In Ohrid and next to our apartment in the old town is a small museum with all the books by Dutch writer A den Doolaard (the wanderer). He lived here between the two World Wars in the past century and his books were part of our literature exams at school. Raw reality and traditional culture of the Balkans is what he described. I read at least five books by him: 'The inn with the horseshoe', 'Marriage of the seven gypsies' and 'The grape pickers' are three of them. Then we went onwards to Struga town, also on the lake and in no way comparable to Ohrid apart from the beach.
Biya is an expert on trading 'booking.com'. She has 'Genius status' which gives her financial privileges. She found a place which marketed itself like 'bright apartment overlooking the seafront with private beach, swimming pool and restaurant'. The deal seemed perfect, only when we got there she received a message on her mobile that the municipality had cut off the electricity. And 'sorry I cannot assist you finding another accomodation'. Ha, we found out that the beach, pool and restaurant were about 150 meters away from the apartment across the street and was all public. And his apartment on the 6th floor looked grimy from the outside. Fortunately Biya found another wonderful exclusive apartment with Daniela as our host; cheapo cheapo! Generally out of 10 reservations of accomodation Biya scored 8 of them Tops!
Then onto Tirana, Albania where at the busstation the poor, old, nice but illegal taxi driver ('only euros please') could not find our rented apartment. He must have cruised around in the centre for about 30 minutes to find the Fatmir Haixhu road (who was a most famous Albanian painter!) It was stifling hot with > 40 degrees C.
Tirana like all other capitals and major cities in the Balkans and South East Europe has changed enormously. Although Albania like Serbia has no interest to become part of the E.U. the signs of liberal capitalism are all over: shopping malls featuring the latest fashions from mainly Italy and Austria, and tall glass buildings for offices our landlord explained that have no real function. 'Making black money white', he said is what is going on; crime with drugs and corruption are all over. We did not see it! I did notice the prettiest ladies in the sub-continent though; nearly as pretty as Biya.
We went to see the National Museum to understand more about Enver Hoxha and his tyranny which lasted from 1944 to 1985. He has been called the 'mad dictator' and 'iron fist of Albania'. And indeed he was ruthless. The museum features a copy of a prison cell in which people were beaten and left to rot and die. Terrible application of what this man and his cronies ideologically stood for. Obviously I am naive but if one reads where Enver stood for he wasn't mad, though he used his iron fist. He was a pure nationalist having fought the Germans/Italians in WW2, then took power as a solid communist but subsequently made enemies with Russia, China and Yugoslavia accusing these countries (rightly so in my opinion) to abuse poor rural Albania with their imperialist motives (all these countries wanted access to the seaports, and buy local produce cheap, which Enver refused). Albania remained poor but came close to self sufficiency. The 'iron fist' modernized the backward agriculture, drove illiteracy out of the country, and installed equal rights for all in a feudal society. Not bad at all!
BUT, by doing that, he and his spies (inside every family and in the neighbourhoods he had his paid spies) exercised terror like in North Korea and in Guinea in Africa to name similar situations. Only, Albania was inside Europe. We at school, we never understood really. After he and his party's reign finished in the late eighties there was no brake to anything wild and free. And in the museum one can see that it was a wild place from even the Roman period onwards: men on horseback and camels branding swords and old fashioned guns; steep mountain passes, bitterly cold in winter, isolated villages and a top down patriarchal society. You wink to a lady in the old days...the next day the family comes and tells you to marry her; and in case you are no game, you pay a heavy fine or loose an arm. Karl May wrote a beautiful book about this place: 'In the Land of the Skipetars', a book every boy should read. Nevertheless a beautiful country to travel in.
Next time I am in Albania top of the list is a visit to the 'House of Leaves' where one can read how the sophisticated system of spying on each other worked in Hoxha's days. I am sorry but I do have a kind of a morbid taste at times to find out the big 'WHY'.
Always onwards from Tirana to Budva in Montenegro with its hot sun and sandy beaches and good food. And then onto Dubrovnik where I realise now, I should have gone to 50 years ago when I was in Yugoslavia.
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| Off the walls in Dubrovnik |
From Komiza village on Vis island back to Split and with the Flixbus to the nature reserve "Plivicze Jezeva' where we stayed in 'Villa Lykos' quite comfortably. WOW moments in this nature reserve, colours, waterfalls, nature, beautiful paths to wander on, fresh air. Simply gorgeous. Never to be missed.
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| Plivicze waterfalls: unique! Croatia |
With Dubrovnik the two absolute hits in Croatia.
Further to the capital Zagreb which reminded me of Vienna and by train to Zamardi and overnight at the Balaton Lake in Hungary. Slooooow train going. Then cross the lake to Tihany village, the last 5 kms on foot up the hill toward yet another pretty apartment. We have been fortunate in finding excellent places to stay and I noticed that nearly all of our landladies had earned the money to open a B&B by working in the 'West'. Some, like Maria in Budva, for 20 years plus in Italy. Tihany is the 'princess' with its lavender fields on Lake Balaton. Indeed! Postcard vistas and Biya and I rented a bycicle and see what happened after 40 kms: she was so eager to get home that she overtook me on the last hill before the cycle shop. Would you believe that one? She said 'I knew it was the final hill and I felt inspired with God's strength'. Hallelujah and Amen.
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| Biking Biya around Lake Balaton, Hungary |
We spent three days in and around Tihany and then by bus to Budapest. There is so much to see and walk about in this city: 1. walk the chain bridge across the Danube 2. visit Fransz Liszt museum 3. wander through the old Jewish quarter 4. stroll in Buda around the Castle/Burg/St. Matthews Church 5. St.Stephan's Basilique and 6. the unforgettable night cruise on the Danube; table for two with a glass of bubbles! PLUS large plates of gulash soup every day!
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| Selfie Szechenyi chainbridge Budapest, Hungary |
And then during a long afternoon walk in Buda my Biya became dizzy. And I realised we should/must cut down on long walks. That day we had been walking/talking for about four hours if not longer, skipping proper lunch. On average I guess we walked thoughout our trip some 5 kms each day! And much of it with a backpack. I remember the very long and hot walk from the Cricova winecellars to the main road...some five if not more kms. Really in the future we must tune down such physical toll-taking walks, especially during midday.
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| Nightcruise Budapest; Guilded splendor : Parliament |
Then and there in Budapest in front of the SPAR supermarket on Erzsebet Avenue we made an agreement: shopping is Anton's business. Let him do it please; he is fast and efficient and does not turn an apple around twice before taking or ditching it. Biya walked into the shop to buy one simple thing....and came out 20 minutes later. 'Lord give me patience, but be quick please'. Anyway we are both glad that shopping is Anton's discipline. In nine out of ten cases he will do just fine or good enough!
12 September the return flight from Budapest to Eindhoven with Whizz Air. Uneventful and bus waiting for us to ride back to NS station Eindhoven and Leende home-house. We celebrated with French fries from our village cafetaria 'Klumpke' and drank large Hansa beers from Dortmund, Germany.
A couple of addendums and special comments:
Food....ok we did not travel much or stayed often in the rural areas where farmer's food is the norm. But grosso modo these days there is too much of the following going around: comfort food, standing food, convenience food, easy food, finger food, fast food, holiday food, junk food, food to go. Not to speak about sliced pizza! Same look, same paper and plastic taste. I want traditional dishes please!
The old fashioned 'Konzum' shops still exist in Croatia. Some kind of cooperative I guess. With fresh food from the farms. Whenever possible we cooked in our rooms or simple apartments. With Biya always on the look-out for noodles of course.
Yes...Jr. Walker & All Stars already in 1969 sang 'Home cookin' . And that counts! You ain't nothing if you can't cook!
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| Home cooking by Anton: Liver dish at Vis Island, Croatia |
Listing all the beers we, or Anton tasted; random sequence and country of origin:
Chisinau Beer (MOL), Birra Korca (ALB), Zlaten Dab (MAC), Tuborg (DEN), Urquell (CZE), Edelmeister (ROM), Donner (ROM), Eichbaum (ROM), Dreher (HUN), Hofbrau (GER), Steffl (HUN), Loewenbrau (GER), Soproni (HUN), Borsodi (HUN), Efes (TR), LAV (SERBIA), Becks (GER), Apativsko (SERBIA), Staropramen (CZE), Peja (ALB), Hacker-Psorr (GER), Klaas Bier (SLO), Nicziko (MON), Zipfer (AT), Elbar (ALB), Karlovacko (CRO), Ozujsko (CRO), Bergen Bier (ROM).
The wines, generally the red wines are all heavy and expensive. We were surprised. All because of taxation; must be.
Interestingly and sadly, I noticed all over Romania and Moldova everywhere, even in villages a Betting Shop. Whitewashing money? What a waste of money! Then in both these countries there are more car wash installations than car (repair) shops....I would nearly say that people have their cars as absolute status and only put them on the road when cleaned. What a waste of water!
We passed four locations that featured prominently in popular movies:
Dubrovnik streets / movies 'The Game of Thrones'
Komiza on Vis island beach / movie 'Mama Mia'
Ohrid Lake / movie 'Before the rain' an award winning Macedonian drama
Plivicze nature reserve / with its landscape identical from 'Avatar'
Never to forget: when in Zagreb, Biya ran out of one of her pills (amlodipine) and it turned out I use the same...and I had enough for an extra two weeks. Thanks God.
6 Dec. 2023, Leende, NL
tonvanzutphen@gmail.com
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