July 22 - Back to the USSR
I woke up to a sunny day, got ready and started looking for the bike shop. The city - as far as I could see - has no major highlights, but has a lot of parks (I believe the most of all European capitals) and quite a few nice buildings. In the center I found the bike shop, which was still closed, so I had a breakfast of freshly made pretzels - almost every pedestrian had a couple in their hands. I talked to people on the streets, it was an interesting mix of Romanians, Moldavians, Russians and Turks.
A building in Chisinau
The bike shop small, there was just one person there with his girlfriend, he promised to fix my bike issues, while his girlfriend helped me find the only self-service laundry in the city. Taking care of all that was a good feeling - and it cost practically nothing, I think I paid 100 Moldavian Lei (just above Eur 4 or so) for the service, I got them a box of chocolates along with it.
On the way out, which was easier than coming in, I passed the airport, took a photo of the old Russian TU-134 in front and made a successful attempt at finding my buddy, Sergio from the Krems MBA, who works for the Moldavian Civil Aviation Authority. You see, the country is small, so it was not too hard finding the building he was in and we were soon having lunch together. He recommended that I do not go through the Transnistrian Republic, as the authorities can be rather rude and it's easy to get in trouble - but then how could that happen to me...?
I love this plane, it was the first one I've ever flown (Tu-134)
Soon the country of Moldavia ended in a rather abrupt way. There was a sign saying border crossing, even though the official border was still about 50 km away or so. Well, this was the Transnistrian Republic, an autonomous region within Moldavia, back by Russia (or should I say the Soviet Union). This republic has its own currency, license plates, police force (with the big hats known from the Soviet times).
End of Moldova - though the border is still 50 km away...
What followed were red stars in each building, statues of Lenin and various Russian/Soviet generals, sings proclaiming the friendship to Moscow - but, interestingly enough, also a number of newly built orthodox churches and other religious symbols. I got the first feeling of how annoying the authorities can be when they asked me to move by bike to another place, at the bottom of a completely deserted war memorial.
Hammer and sickle
I then got to Tarispol, the capital of the republic. The city hosts a soccer team often playing in the Champions Leauge and it had a strange mixture of being a an-Soviet republic on the one hand (numerous large Lenin statues) and a very pleasant, tidy town, next to the river Dnespr. There were a number of people sunbathing, bikers and in-line skaters cruising around, and people nicely dressed up walking up and down. The city is really clean and even though the cars are speeding, they stop for every pedestrian - which is a rare thing in this part of the world. Maybe it's the rough authorities?
City hall (I think) with red star and Lenin statue
Well, talking about the authorities, I did get into trouble with them. I was busy taking pictures of Lenin and the red stars when I accidentally took a picture of the wall of a militarty base, to my luck, just the minute a soldier was stepping out. He shouted at me and demanded I go up to him, then he ushered me inside the base. It was a strange feeling hearing the steel door being locked behind me and my passport being taken away. Soon I was accuded by a private of being an American spy, which I confirmed, sure, I work for CIA, FBI and KGB at the same time. Some time later the commendant of the base came, he was very polite and spoke perfect English, I had to tell the exact route of my trip, the purpose and show him the pictures I took. I was convinced that I was not really in trouble, but thought that this little adventure would cost some money - in summary, it did not. He sternly warned me not to take fotos of military establishments, took a picture of each page of my passport and then I was let free.
On the one side, I wanted to get out of this weird place, on the other, it was getting late and had no intention of camping in the wild. I found a real 4-star hotel, it was called nothing different that 'Russia'. A very pretty receptionist, Julia, helped me with the check in, she expressed her feelings, no, not about me, but about her passion for Russia. I went for a walk at night, the entire city was brightly lit, the young generation was out in the numerous bars and restaurants.