Old Orhei

Old Orhei is a cultural site and geologic phenomena unlike any in the world. It is a mini-grand canyon dotted with religious sites.

Some locals paint their houses blue; the best reason I heard was to ward off mosquitoes.

The river and geologic formations at Orhei made for excellent natural defenses. The Golden Horde used it in the 14th century to shield their herd.

The Church of Saint Mary is maintained by Orthodox monks, who also inhabit cave churches below.

The church was recently renovated.

The entrance to one of the caves. This cave church was maintained by one very old monk, who slept there.

These are seashells in the walls of the cave. All of Moldova was once underwater.

An interesting restaurant was established in a limestone quarry near Old Orhei.

It has some great cave art.

Quite the stove

Cricova Winery

Moldova was the major wine producer in the Soviet Union. Cricova Winery was originally a limestone quarry; in the 1950s it was converted into the world's second biggest wine cellar (the first is Milestii Mici, also in Moldova).

There are over 200 kilometers of tunnels filled with wine at the Cricova compound. A small bus is required for tours of the facility.

Wine flying by

Cricova wines are stored for maturation in the caves as well. These bottles are turned by hand to aid in the sedimentation gathering process.

Each tunnel has a street name.

There are stories of Yuri Gagarin getting hopelessly lost down here after drinking too much wine.

Every good underground winery needs a church.

Some of the "noble wines" of the collection on display

These passageways of very old and valuable wine also stretch quite a ways.

There's wine from all over the world here, including the Republic of Georgia!

Putin's wine collection is right across from...

John Kerry's wine collection.

A wine from 1902

There are a number of beautiful rooms in the winery heads of state taste wine in when the visit Cricova.

Chisinau

Chisinau is the capital of Moldova, a state that shares a language with Romania, but was part of the Russian Empire for almost 200 years. Pictured above is Sarmale (like dolma) in the pot, mamaliga (like polenta), and placinta (fried bread with a cheese filling).

An awesome candy bar

There's no Starbucks in Chisinau, but a couple of Tucano Coffees, which are even better!

Old armaments at the Military Museum

The Church of Saint Pantaleon, a Greek Orthodox Church

The Puppet Theater. The puppets had rest that day.

The National History Museum of Moldova holds some treasures. Moldova was on the outskirts of the Roman province of Dacia, hence the she-wolf.

Don't leave your historic stone carvings outside!

A figurine from 5000-3000 B.D.

Ancient pottery from around Moldova

A Greek vase and Scythian chariot top

A Roman / Sarmatian jug

The coat of arms of Bessarabia / Moldova

The highlight of Chisinau is the National Museum of Ethnography and Natural History

The building was designed by an Italian.

A festival I won't be attending

A map of Moldova

That's a large boar.

The art in the museum was amazing.

I can't imagine one of these roaming around Moldova.

More masks

I think Moldova was outside the worst effects of Chernobyl.

Good dog

A statue of Stephen the Great of Moldavia, who ruled with stability in the 15th and 16th centuries despite conflicts with Dracula, the Ottomans, the Hungarians, and the Poles. The ancient Kingdom of Moldavia encompasses Moldova and the Romanian region called Moldavia.

Moldovan crows are a little scary.

Moldova has crawfish!