A Visit to Moldova December 1998

In the summer of 1998, Chris' parents joined the Peace Corps, and were assigned to the Republic of Moldova, a small European country between Romania and Ukraine to the northwest of the Black Sea.

Photo Album Page 1 Getting There Page 2 Streets of Chisinau Page 3 Chisinau Central Market Page 4 Around Chisinau Page 5 Cricova Winery Page 6 Capriana Monastery Page 7 Kim's Birthday Party Page 8 At the Apartment

Moldova's best known for its many excellent wines. From June 1940 through August 1991, it was part of the Soviet Union, and known as the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic. Now, it's its own independent country. left: All Saint's Church, Chisinau, Moldova There's not much information to go on when choosing to visit Moldova... A Lonely Planet guidebook to the country is available, published in May 1998. Unfortunately, it paints a grim picture of Moldova, even going so far as to "describe Moldova as "the last bastion of Eastern bloc socialism" on the back cover. Fortunately, we now know that Moldova isn't anywhere near the Communist nightmare the Lonely Planet book describes. We had a wonderful time. Wine collection at Cricova winery, Cricova, Moldova A quick note on spelling: Moldovan place names such as Chişinău (Chisinau) have been Anglicized on these pages, as most people don't have Romanian-language fonts installed. left: Dairy market hall, Chisinau central market So, wacky Americans that we are, we decided to pay them a visit... so read on! First Page: Getting There and Away