Kishinev- The capital of the Republic of Moldova

             At last, here I was, on the platform in Kishinev, my destination. The train arrived exactly at 08.52 a.m (Moldova uses same hour as Romania). I got off the train and looked for the lady with a big sheet of paper which had my full name on it. 
             You know, like they wait for you in airports, but this time it was in a railway station. I met the lady, and make the deal: I gave her the book and she gave me the brandy bottle.

Kishinev railway station...

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As I checked before departure in Oradea, to go to the city centre of Kishinev, I had to make first right, then first left and straight ahead to find the city centre. So I followed this exact route…

On my way to the centre, I remembered that a friend asked me to buy some postcards with the city, so I stopped to a newspaper booth to try to buy some. I asked the lady there, in Romanian, if I could buy some postcards and her answer, apart from being in a mixture of Romanian and Russian language was stunning: ”I never heard of the word –postcard-. What are those?”  My first thought was : “Ohh, dear, what country is this?” I just turned around and left without turning my head back. This was my first contact with an human being there.

            So I walked for some hundreds of meters. And than, I noticed something. At every corner was a policeman who guarded something. I didn`t new then what were they doing there. After a few moments, some tanks, armoured vehicles, rocket launchers started to pass in the middle of the main street. “Ohh God, i`m in a middle of some war?”, I thought… I filmed a minute or so from this thing and walked ahead.

Military vehicles through Kishinev...

After some few meters, I realized that I don`t have Moldovan currency (MLD) so I should go to a bank and get some.  I found very few opened banks at that time, as most of them open from 10 a.m, and those which I found open, didn`t work with Romanian currency. “Just wonderful”, I thought, as I was a little hungry. I walked around the main boulevard and found some Exchange office to change some money. I changed 60 RON and I got 222 MLD. Finally, I could search for a restaurant to eat something.

            I found a restaurant in the centre of the city, next to the parliament building, which was quite nice, but had a Russian name. A lady came and took the order: a pizza, one bottle of Pepsi  (500ml) and a coffee. I paid for this around 87 MLD which was  ~ 23 RON. A fair price for a city center restaurant.

            I got new powers after the meal, so it`s off to walking again :)  In the meantime I found that they were preparing for Independence Day, which is 27- Aug. So that is why those military vehicles passed through the city. They were rehearsing for this day.

Governement of the Republic of Moldova...

The triumph gates in Kishinev...

"Birth of the Lord" Cathedral, Kishinev, the Republic of Moldova...

Bell tower of the above cathedral...

The Presidency of Moldova...

Parliament of the Republic of Moldova...

Yours truly, in front of the Parliament building...

Theatre of Opera and Ballet, Kishinev...

                As time passed very quickly, the next stop was at the candy shop. The shop was located on the main boulevard. You must be very carefull in order not to miss it. It is called “Bucuria” (“Joy” in English).

"Bucuria" store, on the main boulevard in Kishinev...

I entered in the store. It was like entering in Candy land :) There were like 50 different types of candies, biscuits, wines. And also a line of around 30 Moldovans. I stayed in line and after about 35- 45 minutes I arrived in front of a Russian- Romanian talking women, which switched the language depeding on the customers. I bought 3 kilos of different candies for which I paid a little above 220 MLD. The price doesn`t matter when the “joy” is maximum, am I right?

           Therefore, my bag was litteraly almost full with candies. From here, I walked to the central park which was almost across the street. I have to say that in Kishinev, to cross the street is a real adventure. There are very few crossings which are marked ( at the railway station there isn`t a single one- or I didn`t saw it) so you`ll have to look for the streetlights to figure where the crossing is located. Weird. 

            I must mention that two accidents happened right before my eyes. Luckly, there were between cars only and no pedestrians were injured.

Street crossing in Kishinev...

Also you can`t find a garbage can on the sidewalk, so you basically have to throw your stuff directly down. That, if you don`t like to keep them in your hand until you reach the park, where the garbage cans are quite a lot.   

            In the central park, there is a beautifull fountain, and also the statue of Stefan the Great which holds a cross in his left hand. Stefan the Great is a national hero in the Republic of Moldova, even most of the population speaks Russian. Interesting.

The fountain in the central park in Kishinev...

Stefan the Great statue...

Me smiling at some japanese guy who took me this picture...

Some arrangement in the park...

Next stop was at some bar, where I drank a juice and made this photo of the menu there.

                                                 Panimaiu paruski?

            After this, I decided to head to the vicinity of the railway station and take some photos there. On my way there, I took some pictures with Kishinev trolleybuses, as there were no trams in the city.

Kishinev trolleybuses...