Week 3 - Russia - Anne Hallez

Dear Bloggers,

Landing in Russia was probably the thing I looked most forward to this trip. Russia is a land with a lot of history and beauty to it that we couldn't wait to discover. 

I’m a little ashamed to say that before I came to visit Russia for the first time, I had nothing to associate it with but the picture film ‘Anastasia’ I watched passionately when I was little. 

Remembering this movie as perfect and nostalgic as it was, it was a big memory to live up to. 

I’m very pleased to say though, that the country in real life, did more than just live up to my memory. 

The architecture, the history, the beauty was more than I could ever remember or expect. 

Leaving my trip to memory lane aside for a moment, I would like to share with you readers what we saw and discovered in this new and beautiful country. When we arrived and checked into our hotels, we decided to go visit the central square of Moskou and all of Russia, the Red Square. 

 This central square carries a lot of history and Artwork with it. Being here we discovered the true meaning behind the name of this expressive place. The Russian word красная or also pronounced ‘Krasnaya’ can either mean ‘red’ or ‘beautiful’. We also discovered that this word ‘beautiful’ originally was derived from the Saint Basil’s Cathedral standing by the Red Square and was later transferred to the nearby square. Hearing this information, we decided to go take a look at this well known Cathedral. 

 To get to know a country, its culture and its architecture, it’s very important to learn some of its history first. The Cathedral of the protection of Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat, or shortly ‘Saint Basil’s Cathedral’ is a Russian orthodox church build in 1551-1561. It was build in the order of ‘Ivan The Terrible’, that was Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 till his death in 1584. It was build to commemorate the fall of Kazan Khanate, the final part of the battle of the Russo-Kazan Wars in 1552. It marks the geometric center of the city. 

 

When I first saw the building I was amazed by its vivid colors and beautiful structure. If you looked closely you could see that the building consists of 8 parts standing around of one central core. 

The building was built by a large group of Italian architecture and represented the up and coming Italian Renaissance. 

Some experts actually claim to see a little of the famous Leonardo da Vinci his work but I on the other hand am a little rough on my architecture to see the resemblance. 

I do agree though that it’s a beautiful piece of craftsmanship that truly deserves its acknowledgment. 

   

On our first day we already saw a lot of Russian beauty, culture and history but just like Rome wasn’t build in one day, seeing and experiencing all of Russia will take us more than one day! 

I’m actually really looking forward to discover more and I hope you guys are too!

Write you soon!

Love from the beautiful Russia.

Anne Hallez

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasia_%281997_film%29

http://www.take-a-trip.eu/nl/moskou/bezienswaardigheden

http://www.take-a-trip.eu/nl/moskou/bezienswaardigheden/basiliuskathedraal#content

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Square

http://2pat.wordpress.com/2011/07/20/red-square-moscow-view-from-above/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Basil%27s_Cathedral

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_the_Terrible

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Kazan_%281552%29

Week 2 - Annelien Pattyn - Ukraine

Good evening there!

Yesterday, we’ve had a nice party with a lot of drinks, but we also drank some water before we went to sleep to avoid a hangover just like we had one in Moldova (the one which Manderley already has written about). I have to say water really helps. I don’t have any headache or stomach-ache.

Today was a very sportive day. We went cycling in the blossoming National Park. This is a unique nature park with its cascade lakes situated right in the central part of Ukraine’s capital. An enchanted forest, picturesque natural landscape and fresh air will help you to forget your daily troubles (not that we have any troubles but I’m talking in general) and enjoy the nature. In the minds of many believers the Park and forest also are strongly associated with Golosiyivsky desert, where pilgrims come not only from Ukraine, but also from other countries.

While we were cycling, we decided to stop at the Saint Sophia Cathedral. No, I know we aren’t that religious people but sometimes those buildings are worth to see. The cathedral we visited was built over nine centuries and is a great example of Byzantine and Ukrainian Baroque architecture. The interior contains mosaics and frescoes dating back to the 11^th century. As you can see on the picture, it’s very beautiful. I’m sure that we don’t have such Cathedrals in Belgium. So hey, be jealous… haha!

After cycling the whole day, we were very tired. Now, I’m going to pack my bags because tomorrow, it’s time for another country, namely Russia. I can’t wait to see it!!! When I’m done, I will "jump" in bed early.

Nighty night everyone!

Annelien

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g294474-Activities-Kiev.html

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g294474-d556660-Reviews-Saint_Sophia_Cathedral-Kiev.html

 

Week 2 - Annelien Pattyn - Ukraine

Hello there!

Are you up for some more news about how we are doing here in Ukraine? Well, the week is almost over so we are staying here for the last weekend and then we move on to Russia.

Mandarin-Plaza-Kiev

 It’s 6 PM and I’ve just arrived at my hotel room after some shopping with Audrey, Anne, Manderley, Els and Emily. Jeroen decided to stay at the hotel today, because he wanted to catch up on sleep. We went to a very popular shopping center in Kiev with a lot of major brands. It’s called “Mandarin-Plaza”.  I can’t deny that we have spent a lot of money (shame).

As you can guess…this weekend will be –as I call it- a relaxing weekend. We are going to do some restaurants, some ‘nightlife experiences’ and other stuff we like to do. First of all, I want you to know some things about the kitchen of Ukraine.

After the independence in the cities, the offer of international and Ukrainian restaurants have strongly increased. Beside its own kitchen, the Chinese/French/ Italian and the Russian kitchen are also very popular. However, I advise you to take the local cuisine if you ever consider to go to Ukraine. Try local courts such as Ikra, chicken Kiev, Pampushki or Salo. The quality is high and the prices are low. So what do you want more?
Probably, there are readers among you who can’t do distance from the western “fatty” snack [including myself :)]. Well, in the big cities, there is always a McDonalds nearby.  

The traditional cuisine in Ukraine doesn’t differ much from ours. Beside a piece of meat, potatoes and vegetables such as carrots and beets form the basis. We only have more variation. The only difference with the Dutch kitchen is that they eat 2 times per day warm eating. Concerning the desserts in Ukraine: they are delicious, but very sweet.

Now something about the national drink in Ukraine: VODKA! The consumption of vodka suffers too many addiction from the population. I have one important advice for you, guys! If you ever plan to go to Ukraine, never buy vodka on your way, because the quality is often of a doubtful level.

Of course, there is also nightlife in Ukraine. The large cities, such as the popular Kiev have a sparkling nightlife that isn’t inferior to what we are accustomed. Moreover for us, western tourists, it is generally payable (thanks to the strong depreciation of the national currency!).

Who said nights were for sleep? So, I think it’s clear: Thank God it’s Friday, because tonight it’s going to  be a crazy party!

I am convinced that today was a good day or do I have to be more specific?

“Tonight will certainly be a good night!”

C u later for more catchy news about our trips…

From Annelien with love, xoxo.

http://www.waarheenmetvakantie.nl/oekraine/eten_drinken_uitgaan/

http://www.city.nu/info/kiev/

Week 2 - Ukraine - Audrey Vanderstraeten

Dear bloggers,

Since we’ve been traveling for a week now, visiting all these beautiful places and buildings, we decided to take a step back and have a rest day. 

While we were sitting on a terrace talking about our plans and what we were about to do next, the waiter heard our conversation and came up to us. He told us about the Seventh-Kilometer Market and that we should definately visit it.

Since we didn’t know how to get there, the waiter offered to go with us and show us the way (I think that he had a little crush on Annelien).

So here we were, the Seventh-Kilometer Market, in Russian: Промрынок 7ой километр, Promrynok 7oi Kilometr. It is the biggest outdoor market in Europe, located outside of Odessa. 

On the market you can find all kinds of inexpensive clothes, shoes and toys, kitchenware, hardware and software, cosmetics, sporting goods,… Jeans for $9. Turkish suits, marginally stylish, for $60. Dior, Chanel and Armani are all a steal.

The waiter told us that the market now has 16,000 traders or so and a central staff of 1,200, making it the region's largest employer. An estimated 150,000 shoppers come each day.

While we were walking around I saw this really nice dress for 4€, a real steal. So I thought, I would pay the lady in Ukrainian Hryvnia (UAH). First you should know that 1 EUR is 10.85102 UAH, And 1 UAH is 100 kopiyok (the symbol for this currency is ₴ since 2005 but most people still use the abbreviation "грн."). I paid 119.361₴ which means 11€. It was only when we were already walking away that I realized that I made a math error! However I don’t regret that I bought the dress because I really like the dress and 11€ is still a steal in my point of view…

At the end of our visit, the waiter told us that the faith of the market depends on the economy of Ukraine which means that as soon as the economy of Ukraine develops normally, the necessity of the market will die. It made me think about the consequences that this would mean for all the employees but I guess that we can’t stop the economy.

If you want to know more about this market you can check the site: www.7km.net. It’s the market’s own website!

I hope that you found my story as interesting as me? I really enjoyed how this day turned out into something we didn’t expect at all. After this I definitely can’t wait to see more of Ukraine but we’ll have to hurry because we are almost heading to Russia!

XO XO

Audrey Vanderstraeten

Sources:

http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/time-zone/europe/ukraine/currency/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_hryvnia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh-Kilometer_Market

https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/18/world/europe/18iht-journal.html&OQ=Q5fQ72Q3dQ31Q26Q70Q61Q67Q65Q77Q61Q6eQ74Q65Q64Q3dQ61Q6cQ6c

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/19/world/europe/19ukraine.html

Week 1 - Moldova - Manderley Gits

Buna ziua, my dearest readers !

Although, to me it isn’t such a fortunate day. As you might have already read, we’ve been to a wine tasting tour and from this moment on, I can officially say wine is NOT my cup of tea. (pun not intended, in case you’re wondering). Normally I’m not the type to be hung over, but after our wine tasting we enjoyed some other (more, well lots and lots actually) bottles of delicious wine with our dinner. And, well, you can probably guess what happened afterwards. But, as they say, misery loves company, because I’m not the only one wearing my sunglasses today, hoping for the pounding noise in my head to go away. We’re all enjoying our very first Moldovan hangover!

But, enough about that now! Today was our last day in this beautiful country and you can say we have saved the best for last. For the first time, we decided to explore some of the Moldovan culture on our own. Public transport in Moldova is very easy to use (and always on time! With our Belgian public transport, we weren’t quite prepared for this) so we took a city bus from Gara de Nord in Chisinau to Soroca town. It’s a medieval town where you can see fortresses, built to ensure the safety of the Moldovans in medieval times. The town is situated near the Dniestr river and brought us close to the Ukrainian border (our next stop by the way!) We visited one fortress, but we were forced to leave after Anne en Jeroen decided to act like knights who were fighting over the love of Els. I guess the alcohol didn’t quite reach the end of its effect on those two.

 

Afterwards we decided to take a long walk across the city and its green fields. Partially because we were afraid to enter any more buildings, but mostly because we were fascinated by the gipsy community that lives in Soroca town. You can see the people are poor, but they were very nice, given the fact we were staring at most of them. Before we even got the time to visit the candle of gratitude, we had to go back to the hotel to pack our bags and, of course, update you on our latest events.

In the end we can conclude Moldova is a picturesque country with green hills and flower fields so perfect and colorful, you can only see them again in cartoon movies. The country itself is poor but the people are extremely nice. It’s kind of a shame we have to leave already, but I’m sure we’ll come across some other amazing countries and cities. So I don’t see this as an ending. To me it was a perfect beginning to a hopefully equally amazing journey around the world (without any other hangovers I hope).

Lots of peace, love & hangover pills

Manderley






http://www.marisha.net/sites.htm
http://moldova.webark.org/
http://amazingmoldova.com/2010/10/26/soroca/

Week 1 – Emily Van Torre – Moldova

Dear readers,

After heavenly hours of energizing sleep, we went back to Chisinau for our first stop: the National Museum of History.
Once again we could enjoy the company of our guide.
The fellow man told us that the museum was established in 1983 and that the building of the museum is a building of the first men’s Regional Lyceum in Bassarabia.
In front of the museum we behold a copy of the Capitoline Wolf, a famous statue of the Roman She-Wolf with Romulus and Remus. The sculpture symbolizes the Latin origin of Romanian Bessarabia. The statue is actually a very funny one to see, two babies being fed by a she-wolf…

The museum is a huge “treasure”; it preserves more than 200 000 historical objects! No wonder why this museum is one of Moldova’s most important. So it’s definitely worth going to!

Once we’ve learned more about Moldova’s fascinating history, we thought it was time for the serious job. Alcohol. Don’t get it wrong, we just wanted to taste what makes Moldova so good: its delicious wine. So, we went on a wine tasting tour.
The tour we went on was called “ MILESTII MICI WINE CAVES”. According to the Guinness World Records Book, Milestii Mici is the largest wine collection in Europe, more than 200 kilometers! Unfortunately, we didn’t have the time (and the courage!) to wander throughout those 200 kilometers. But that, of course, didn’t stop us from tasting one of the 2 million bottles “Golden Collection” offers (gosh, what a taste!).
The galleries are underground, divided into tunnels. That’s why Milestii Mici is nicknamed “The Underground City of Wine”.

After all that drinking, our stomach began to tease us. We had to get out to grab a bite! We went to a local restaurant and ordered the most traditional dish of Moldova: Mamaliga. This excellent dish is a polenta served together with diced meat, cheese, fried meat, cream, etc. Mmm!

Dori să fii în moldova! (Wish you were in Moldova!)

Emily

Sources :

·         http://www.worldofmoldova.com/en/attractions-of-moldova/museum-of-history/

·         http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_History_Museum_of_Moldova

·         http://www.informator.md/en/tourist-attractions/moldova/monuments_statues/chisinau_region/65-the_capitoline_wolf_monument/

·         http://www.turclub.md/eng/excursion_list/10/

·         http://www.moldova.org/page/food-and-drinks-in-moldova-6-eng.html

Week 1- Anne Hallez - Moldova 

Hi bloggers,

Our First stop is Moldova, after a very long flight we arrived in the early morning at the airport of Chisinau. The city is not only the political, administrative and economical centre but also the capital of Moldova.  Because Chisinau is one of the greenest cities in Europe, we decided to stay there for a while to visit some of the many parks.  After seeing a lot of green and a lot of animals we went back to our hotel to go freshen op and visit some of the city’s cultural spots. 

Our first stop is the archeological complex ‘Old Orhei’. it’s an open-air museum located in Trebujeni , in the north east of Chisinau. When we arrive we are stunned by the archeology, nature and history brought together in one very spot. Our guide, a local from Chisinau, told us that in this very spot, different cultural layers from epochs were discovered, which made the place very special. I was surprised that such a beautiful place could have such a enlightening history within. 

After a lot of history we decide to go search for some peace at Saharna. This city is known for its beautiful nature, but also for its waterfalls. The noise of the waterfalls and the silence of the nature immediately gives me the peace I was searching for. If you miss some nature in your country, bloggers,  I would highly recommend to go visit Moldova and it’s beautiful reserved, green and quiet nature.  

It was a long day and we have a lot of history to catch up to tomorrow. After catching up on some sleep we’ll highlighted to go visit the national museum of history  and then go for a wine tasting tour. To go discover Moldova’s well established wine culture. I don’t know about you but I can’t wait! 

Write you soon!  

                            

Love from the beautiful Moldova,

Anne
 

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moldova

http://www.worldofmoldova.com/en/cities-of-moldova/chisinau/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Orhei

http://www.md4ever.com/services/tours/winetour.html