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