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In Tiraspol, Transnistria, Moldova.

In Tiraspol, Transnistria, Moldova

They had the streets decorated with flags for the New Wine Day in Tiraspol, Transnistria (btw, these are Russian not Moldovan or Transnistrian flag colours but I want to cover this in a separate post).

This little dude liked the flags and took one from this street decoration (he chose red).



And then he just walked home with it. And yeah, that statue is Lenin.

In Tiraspol, Transnistria, Moldova.

In Tiraspol, Transnistria on Young Wine Day. Young Wine Day here is something like Beaujolais Day in France, a celebration of the new wine release.

I managed to take a couple of photos of this Transnistrian border and passport control officer with my phone through the rear view mirror. Taking photos is strictly forbidden at the border crossing so this is the best I could do.

Note the shoes. Chasing someone in these would not be an option but kicking with those heels could be effective. She had a gun too though.

It was a very unexpected place for glamour, grey, wet, muddy road full of dusty cars queuing up for passport control, people running around, cars getting searched. But she just calmly glided over all that chaos feeling beautiful in those shoes. Her face expression and he behaviour were completely different from the rest of the crew. Straight back, calm face, no hurry, no shouting. And I think it was because of the shoes. And she was way more effective and faster than the other officers. I have always been sceptical about the importance of getting another pair of shoes but I think I see it now. Apparently a new pair can change everything indeed. At least I think it did at this Transnistrian border crossing.

It looks like we are going to Transnistria next week. Their capital, Tiraspol would be the second largest city in Moldova if they didn't break away and it looks to me like it has now practically merged with Bender (it is just five miles away), which would be the fourth largest town in Moldova.

They have their own currency there, it is Transnistrian Rouble, our host showed us a couple of notes, here they are:



The guy on the tenner is Alexander Suvorov, the Count of Rymnik, Count of the Holy Roman Empire, Prince of Italy, and the last Generalissimo of the Russian Empire. He is a national hero in Russia.

Suvorov is one of the greatest generals in history and is one of the few who never lost a battle, being undefeated in over sixty large battles while frequently having the numerical disadvantage (Wikipedia).

He avoided comfort in his everyday life, even in peaceful times he “did not walk, but ran, did not just ride but rode very fast.”

The French King Louis XVIII said the following about Suvorov, “a small man, thin, frail, ill-proportioned… but under all these oddities there was a great military genius. In his army Suvorov was a real leader and solders followed him everywhere and without doubts. He was like a sword of Russia… ”

Suvorov believed that ‘a military man must know the languages of the nations with whom he is fighting,’ so he developed a fluent command of French, German, Greek, Turkish, Italian, Polish and Latin, as well as some knowledge of Arabic, Finnish and Persian. He also rejected a suggestion that the Russian army rid itself of its musicians, saying, ‘Music doubles, trebles the force of an army.’

Here are a couple of his quotes:

One minute decides the outcome of a battle, one hour the success of a campaign, one day the fate of empires.

It is very difficult to do one's duty. I was considered a barbarian because at the storming of the Praga 7,000 people were killed. Europe says that I am a monster. I myself have read this in the papers, but I would have liked to talk to people about this and ask them: is it not better to finish a war with the death of 7,000 people rather than to drag it on and kill 100,000.

As long as the enemy fights he must be beaten relentlessly, but a defeated enemy and especially the civilian population must be treated generously.

The more comfort the less courage there is.

If we had not driven them into hell... hell would have swallowed us.

He who is afraid is half beaten.

One cannot think that blind bravery gives victory over the enemy.

And this is a picture of some Moldovan wild flowers to make this post easier for wosny to tolerate in their friends feed. I know that wosny hates war but likes wild flowers.

The call



The way



Noul Neamt Monastery, Transnistria, Moldova.

After Transylvania we could not resist going further east to Moldova. And then of course we could not leave without checking out the breakaway pro-Russian region of Transnistria.