V Day in Transnistria and first cherries

[topum]

We had fresh cherries straight from the tree of our hosts' neighbours today. First cherries in the village were ready to eat on the 5th of May this year.

We are trying to see if we could go to the self-proclaimed break-away Transnistria Republic for the V Day military parade there on the 9th. It is one of the last "Soviet Union" enclaves and we are told that the V Day celebrations there are done in true Soviet style and are very interesting to see. And I am a sucker for self-proclamed, break-away, closed, frozen in time and weird places of course. The parade in Tiraspol, the Transnistrian capital will be very pro-Russian we are told, in contrast with the official parade in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, which this year will be a joined affair with the US. Pro-Russian protests are expected in Chisinau against the participation of the US in the parade and pro-West protests are expected in Tiraspol against the Russians apparently. The grass is always greener on the other side of Nistru (the river which separates Transnistria from the rest of Moldova) it seems.

Comments

[topum.livejournal.com]

What kind of berries were those? Blackthorn?

[beautesauvage13.livejournal.com]

Ha!  I don't know we called them choke cherries.  They were tiny red cherries that grew on a tree.  They had a pit in them.  They were very bitter. 

Athena

[topum.livejournal.com]

I meant the blue ones.

[beautesauvage13.livejournal.com]

Ah those.  They're blue berries.  grow on bushes around here. Tastey too and a good antioxidant apparently. They aren't cherries though no pits in them.  We also have wild strawberries, Raspberries and black berries here in the summer months. 

Athena

[topum.livejournal.com]

They are not blackthorn then if there are no pits in them. Must be something else.

[beautesauvage13.livejournal.com]

They look like this

We call them blueberries here.  You can buy them in most grocery stores too.  They usually sell them by the pint.  The wild ones taste better though and make good blueberry pie. 

Athena

[topum.livejournal.com]

Oh, these are either blueberries or bilberries. Blueberries are native to North America, bilberries to Europe. Bilberries are sometimes referred to as blueberries in Europe. These are tasty, yes.