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After a bit of a light sleep due to the cockroaches we found in our room, John and I woke up late and headed out to the old town. Even though it was noon when we were walking around in 40 degree weather it was better then waiting until night, when we knew it was just gonna get hotter. While trying to find a place to enjoy a cold pint we saw some churches and mosques. The guidebook had mentioned some good pubs, but everyone we went to had disappeared (the book was a little outdated!) We found a gyro place to have lunch and cool off with a beer. After lunch we went to the gates of the city and walked by a hammam. Since we were desperate for some air conditioning we went back to our apartment to make dinner and watch a movie at night. After a short night we got up, grabbed one of the backpacks that we had packed up and headed for the airport bus. It was surprisingly busy in the streets, many shops were still open around 4am. We got on the bus and 30 mins later arrived at the airport. We checked in fine, got stamped out and got on to the plane which was basically empty. There weren't many people going to Cyprus at 6am and we don't blame them (it was a great deal though). We got breakfast on the one hour flight and arrived in Ercan, Northern Cyprus. Ashleigh and I found the bus to the capital Nicosia (Lefkosa), and were a little shocked by the high humidity and temperatures this early in the day. It will be a hot week for us. We caught up on a little bit of sleep on the ride into the city and then walked around the Turkish part for some time. It was nothing like we had imagined. Garbage was laying around, buildings weren't in best conditions and there were barely any people around, not to mention many tourists. It was for this exact reason we wanted to see this unique city. We saw a beautiful mosque, the hammam bathhouse (which was unfortunately closed), and wandered around within the old Venetian city walls. We couldn't check into our apartment until later so we took our time before crossing the border into Southern Cyprus (the Greek part). It was all confusing to us. Some shops displayed prices in Euros others in Turkish Lira. It's one country and part of the EU, but we still got stamped in and stamped out when going to the Greek part. We crossed the pedestrian border within the old city and arrived in a different world. It was like day and night. The streets were filled with modern coffee shops, western restaurants, and tourists were wandering through the many pedestrian walkways. Everything was in Greek and English. We sat down for a coffee before looking for our place. We haven't figured out why cars drive on the left side of the road yet, or why so many locals use English as their official language. But we were surprised and awed by what we have seen so far. We checked in, and went in search of a grocery store. It only took a few hours to find a bigger one (we did give up at one point and sat down for lunch before continuing), but we found what we were looking for and stocked up. To avoid the terrible afternoon heat, we hid out in the A/C apartment and finally did some laundry. Since we are coming back to Istanbul we decided to take it easy for a day and catch up on some administrative things. We backed up some photos, organized our backpacks (and dried everything after it got damp in Moldova), and then went on a hunt for sunglasses. Since Ashleigh doesn't believe in buying one quality pair that will last, (she has already destroyed two sets) we went searching for the next cheap pair. It took some wandering around Kadikoy to find a good set and bargain for a deal. I say, they will last a month max. We grabbed a traditional pastry and some ice cream before heading back to relax. Since we got spoiled by our friend Angie so much, we decided to cook a nice dinner for her. We also brought a couple bottles of Moldovan wine with us, which complimented the meal. We had a quiet night with many great chats and could have stayed up all night, but had to force ourselves to go to bed since the alarm was set for 3.30 am. John and I had an interesting start to our travel day running around to different spots, trying to find the bus to the airport. And of course you had to go through underpasses to get to the other street. We finally found our bus and we had perfect timing. We checked our bags, got through security and passport control hassle free and went right on the plane. Unfortunately there are always those people that hold up the plane so we left about 20 minutes late. Surprisingly enough, on an hour flight we received a big cheese filled pastry, drink and tea to finish it off. By the time we were done eating we were already landing! We also realized how impatient people are here. Once we landed and stopped moving everyone stood up and grabbed their stuff, even though we weren't even at the gate yet. The stewardess had to tell them like 5 times to sit down so they could pull forward. Anyways we quickly figured out where passport control was, smoothly went through with our Visas and then we waited almost an hour for our backpacks. Luckily we had nothing else to do so we just waited and waited. Once we spotted them on the belt we headed for the bus. We landed on the European side and had to get over to the Asian side. We took a metro that went under the water, and we got to the other side in minutes. We are staying with a friend that we met in Kosovo so we met her at her house. She then spoiled us to a fantastic dinner and beers at many different bars. We got to see the sunset over Istanbul, and witness the nightly bustle in the streets. We all had a great night with many hours of awesome conversations. We instantly liked Istanbul and are excited to explore it some more. Today John and I woke up to a rainy morning. Luckily today was a day for us to do nothing. We didn't have anything planned except to go out for lunch with our two Romanian friends we met the first day we were here. We went restaurant hopping for a bit since every one was a little overpriced. So we just went to the same place we had been for dinner the first time. Again we had to have like 5 different choices, because even though the menu had many meals, only a select few were available! We ordered some Moldovan food, and got lots of it, drank some wine and had some very good conversations. After saying goodbye, we bought some souvenirs, ate some chocolate and spent the night hanging out at the hostel. Ashleigh and I are always thankful for the buffer days we add in before booking flights, or otherwise Ukraine would not have worked out. After having an eventful day yesterday, we slept in today, ate healthy and tried to keep the walking to a minimum. After checking out, we made our way to the train station to get tickets. From experience we knew it would take some time. First they didn't accept credit card (but there is a spot that does somewhere), so we exchanged some euros (but not enough), went back in line just to be disappointed. So we exchanged more money and got our tickets after a half hour of running around (a big fail on our part, we should have known better to ask for price and card acceptance first). We had time to spare so it didn't bother us. We found a nice restaurant, and enjoyed some Ukrainian borsch, very delicious (almost as good as at home, but not quite). Ashleigh and I were the only ones in the restaurant, so we stayed for some time. It's too bad how much tourism is down, and how much small business have to suffer this season, so we felt good supporting this place. The rest of the afternoon, we spend hanging around the station chatting. We had some Ukrainians Hryvna left so we bought our dinner for the train ride, and spend the rest on a souvenir and groceries (a small support went to the guy singing by the station as well, even though he was not very good). We got on the train, this time a much nicer compartment with decent chairs and a table. We had our dinner, and smoothly got stamped out by the Ukrainian border guards. After an uncomfortably hot ride (30 minute random stops and small windows) we made it back to Chisinau. John and I only thought we would spend an afternoon in Odessa, but that turned into three days. There is so much to do and see here and it's quite cheap. We switched hostels in the morning then went to a dolphin show! And of course I loved it. I can never believe how talented and smart those animals are! We bought our $10 tickets and ended up in the front row, very close to their stage. Unfortunately it was very expensive to swim with them so that dream of mine will come true another time. After being forced out by the security guards (we couldn't stop admiring the dolphins), we went for lunch at a fast good place nearby. It wasn't exactly fast and John ordered a chicken burger and got beef and when I went back to make the switch, they insisted it was chicken. I didn't want to mess with the Ukrainians so John just ate it. We walked back to the hostel and hung out there until it was time to go to the Swan Lake ballet. Yes, Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, performed at the Ballet theatre in Odessa. Luckily for us they let tourists in without having to follow the dress code. But of course the one time we get the chance to dress up all nice, we left our big backpacks in Moldova! Our seats were very high up (only $11 for both) but we could still see the stage and the ballet was beautiful. It was very well done and the ballerinas were talented. Today we managed to see two shows that we really wanted to see somewhere in this world and we managed to see both for extremely cheap. We loved our short stay in Odessa. Ashleigh and I took a minibus to the train station and bought our tickets to Odessa. We had a few rubles left so we stocked up on snacks. The train arrived and we got on without having to talk to any of the patrolling officers. Hardest part was done and we were on the way to Ukraine. We got to the border and the border guards came on and thoroughly checked the train for anything that shouldn't be there. An officer took down our info, asked when we are leaving and stamped us in. Smooth process, the guy behind us didn't have such an easy time. He was traveling with his daughter from Moldova, but had a Russian passport which the Ukrainian guard disliked very much. He made multiple calls and advised he would not be allowed in next time, but could stay one day returning the same night from Odessa to Chisinau. He got lucky this time since his daughter had a Moldovan passport, but he was frustrated nonetheless. The number one topic on the train was the whole situation in Ukraine and how it effected travels. Most Moldovans and Russian do not go down to Ukraine anymore, and we had just read an article of how negatively this has impacted the tourism industry in Odessa. Once we arrived in Odessa, we loved it. It was a big city but not with the big city feel. People happily roamed the streets but it wasn't over crowded, and sidewalks weren't bombarded with tourists. We found our hostel and settled in. We seem to be the youngest ones here, not sure what it is with us and the old folks crowd lately! After lunch we explored the city sights and it's monuments, saw the churches and the Black Sea again. There was a dolphin show that we snuck a peak into. It was another very long day of walking so we refreshed with some beer at the hostel before going to get an enormous shawarma! Despite everything going on in Ukraine, this is a beautiful city. You can definitely tell that this place would be overrun by tourists before closing it's doors to many Russians. Yesterday on August the 19th, we walked around Chisinau exploring some of the cities sights and eating good food, we also switched hostels to avoid the weird guy working at the place. This morning the promised taxi didn't show up at 6.45am, so we decided to walk the 4 kilometers to the train station in Chisinau. It was a quick walk and we made it there just in time. The two and a half hour train ride had cost us $1 each, and we got to sit on the wooden benches with just a few other locals. It was only 70kms from Chisinau to get to Tiraspol, the capital of the unrecognized country of Transnistria. The train stopped frequently so it took the full two and half hours, but we avoided the road border control this way, which can be hair raising according to many reports and other travelers. Instead we arrived in Tiraspol and went up to the only immigration officer working at the station, to fill out the necessary forms and clear customs. He spoke English and interrogated us as expected, paying close attention to the stamps we had in our passport and drilling us with many questions. He wanted to know where we were staying, what we were doing, and especially how long we were going to stay. After stating we were already leaving the next morning traveling onwards to Ukraine, he became quite serious advising us not to go unless we had to. We are well aware with the situation in the Ukraine, but will be visiting Odessa, 100 kilometers away on the Black Sea for a short while anyways. He told us a couple stories of what he had heard was going on, admired my camel back, stamped our papers and let us go. Since we were just staying in Transnistria for 24 hours we did not have to formally register in the city and he noted this on the forms. The officer clearly stated though, if we did not leave by then, that there would be issues. We walked the 5 kilometers to the apartment which we had rented for the night. It was strange being in a country that was so similar to Russia. I felt like I was back in Siberia, with all the concrete blocks, Russian cars and trolley buses. Everyone was speaking Russian only, and a few old ladies were sitting near our rented place, just like they do around the apartments in Russia. Since we could not find the correct apartment, I asked them kindly to call the landlord for us. The lady was very nice and 5 minutes later the owner showed up, quickly showing us the place explaining everything in Russian and off he went. I was surprised how well my Russian still was and was proud of myself for being able to carry on a conversation. The apartment is quite nice and totally reminds me of the place I stayed at while traveling through Siberia. Ashleigh and I dropped our day pack (we left our big backpacks in Moldova, so we were traveling light), and went to explore this unique communist state. We got on one of the trolley buses and got off a little too late past the center, so we had to walk, once again. We stopped on the Main Street to admire Lenin's statue in front of the House of Soviets, walked past the soldiers memorial from the 1990-1992 war and took some pictures with the tank that was out there as well. We grabbed a bite to eat, before continuing down the road towards the train station, stopping at the presidents palace. We also stopped at the Vrink brandy factory and picked up a small bottle of vodka for 80 cents, this was going to be the only souvenir that we could find. When buying the vodka, Ashleigh experienced the real attitude of a Russian woman, the so famous "cheekiness" which many people find rude. It was amazing that this soviet style state has it's own police force, military and currency. We changed some money, but the Transnistrian ruble is not even on the XE chart, so they will be useless anywhere else but here. During our day we saw many young soldiers and lots of police, but we somehow blended in quite nicely, so we were never stopped once and felt safe. Transnistria is a very interesting place, with a recent history and looks so similar to Russia that one does not need to go through the visa hassle and should simply visit this unrecognized country. At night we picked up some groceries, cooked a delicious meal and enjoyed a few mixed drinks as well as a movie. We walked a lot, saw a lot and tomorrow we are crossing our fingers to smoothly get out without having to bribe anyone. The girl from the hostel was kind enough to organize a wine tasting tour for us at the famous Milestti Mici Winery, just outside Chisinau. The winery required us to have our own vehicle or a taxi for some reason (little odd, considering we are going there to drink alcohol, and the last thing we want to do is drive). We met a couple from Romania who was also interested, so we could split the taxi to get there and the car that would drive us around the winery. We got to the winery, met our guide and got into the taxi. We decided to go with a two hour tasting that included meals as well. Now it was clear why a vehicle was needed, we had to pass through underground tunnels to get to the different sections of the winery. There is a total of 200km of tunnels, 50kms of which are used for wine storage and production. It was quite impressive, and so we drove through the tunnel maze, which was lined with hundreds of wine barrels, each holding around 7000 liters, making up a total volume of 65 million liters of wine. The conditions are perfect with temperatures around 12 degrees and high humidity. We stopped at the cellars, which hold a collection of around 2 million bottles of wine at a depth of 85m below the surface. It is the largest collection in the world and was proudly recognized in the guinness world record book. We walked the many cellars which had wines from the 80s and some were even as old as 1973. For 200 euros a year one could even buy an empty cellar for a private collection. After the long and educational tour, we got to the fancy tasting room. A table had been set for the four of us and a band welcomed us. We tried four different wines and then enjoyed a big lunch accompanied by any, and as much wine as we wanted. Time flew by, especially having such a good company and we ended with a glass of sparkling wine which was delicious. Our guide somewhat rushed us out, otherwise we would not have left at all, and back to the daylight we went. We all got two bottles of wine as a gift at the end of the tour. It was an amazing tour, with great wine and delicious food. With high spirits we decided to save a few bucks and take a minibus back to the city. Since we got along so well with the Romanian couple we went out for dinner to try some traditional Moldovan food. We enjoyed another bottle of red and went back to the hostel to socialize with some other travelers. |
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