Wine Festival

People come from all over the world for the annual Chisinau wine festival so I was surprised that it's held for one weekend only. I walked up on Sunday morning when it wasn't crowded but never got to try any wine. I decided to walk the length of the wine tents and was going to buy wine on the way back but I got sidetracked by the craft and food booths. The crafts were not traditional but just stuff you can buy at most craft shows. I wanted to take food to Nicole but there were only huge plates being served. No takeaway.

By the time I tried to get back to the wine, it was too crowded so I left. I walked the mile up and back without getting lost. This is a city I can understand.  It has blocks, not small windy streets. The names of the streets are usually on actual streetsigns.

The performance at night was Trapdoor's last on this tour. Matei Visniec, the author, was there so camera crews came. They tried to interview me but I refused to give my opinion...in Romanian. Another standing ovation. They've been invited back to every festival they toured.

The American ambassador's assistant came and admitted he was afraid they wouldn't show up. I guess because he thinks Americans are flaky. The festival had promised to give Trapdoor 5000 euros. Then they asked the US embassy to give it and they agreed. They admitted they were making the contribution only because they had excess money that would be deducted from their budget if they didn't spend it. The next day, Beata had to sign the contract.  It listed the reason for the Americans coming to Moldova as "American football."  I guess supporting theater would be suspicious to the US  government. 

Yesterday,  we went to see another Visniec play by a troupe from Bucharest.  Even Visniec didn't want to go but he was the guest of honor. I woke up Nicole from a much needed nap and made her go. I don't know why but it never occurred to me the play would be in Romanian. I just laughed when the woman behind me did.

I'm flying to Bucharest tomorrow and home the next day.  I am concerned about getting to Bucharest.  The lighting director's plane was late to Warsaw and he had to spend the night there. I have a Tarom flight that is a separate reservation from the Delta flight and that's the airline that canceled one flight and didn't notify me. I've been looking every day and so far it claims it will fly to Bucharest.

My original plan included seeing some of Chisinau but that's not happening since I can barely move. I learned a valuable lesson on this trip which is I'm too old to eat dinner at 10 and stay out until 3 a.m.

See you in Cincinnati.

Crossing into Moldova

The performance in Iasi was great. 200 people.  Standing ovation. But after the show, they had to take down the set and load it in the trailer.  That led to a big search for a pizzeria open til midnight.  It was a long walk but I was glad I did it because we were in a nice section of town which I hadn't seen. Pedestrian street, flowery displays of cabbage every few feet. Cabbage bushes. I thought the whole city was like my neighborhood but I just lived on the wrong side of the tracks.

I had tried to go to the Palace where there's an art museum on the first floor and historical museum on the second but you had to buy tickets in the store where an entire 3rd grade class was buying stuff. One little kid pushed me; he probably heard about the time I pushed the kid at the Dracula castle. I waited around for awhile but didn't have time to wait for hours so I left, right when another class was coming in. Good decision.

We left Iasi on Saturday for the 3 hour drive to Chisinau. 

The crossing would have been anticlimactic except for the hassle crossing the Romanian border. The agent came on the van and matched our faces to our passports and took them all to stamp. Another agent had looked at the trailer but didn't ask for it to be opened. Our passports were gone for a long time but other vehicles were moving slowly too. Finally,  he came out with one passport. Beata's (the artistic director). They couldn't find the stamp when she arrived in Romania. That stamp was in her Polish passport which she usually uses in Europe because she lives in Barcelona.  She gave that to them and they didn't have to honor it since she had listed her US passport number in our official travel papers but they did. Good thing because I would have had to play her part and she has a 10 minute monologue.

There was the possibility Moldova wouldn't take that passport but it seems they didn't care how we got into the EU or out of it. The bus driver took our passports into the building,  came back with them stamped and they didn't even look at us. The US and Moldovan embassies were supposed to have called to say let us through and I guess that worked, along with the money we paid to ensure the trailer wouldn't be searched.  The driver had to buy an additional certificate to add to his mounds of paperwork but that was it. Meanwhile,  the line of trucks going into Romania was at least a mile long. Everyone was being searched.

Unbeknownst to me, I had booked an Airbnb 2 blocks from Trapdoor's hotel. They never know where they're staying and eating until the last minute. This tour is mostly funded by the individual festival. They are the first American group to be invited to perform in Moldova.

Also going on this weekend is the 2018 wine festival. Moldova is supposed to make some of the best wine in the world.  I haven't tried any yet because I was too tired and hungry to go anywhere other than the closest restaurant,  Andy's pizza. I had a hamburger and a Pepsi. Luckily,  the Hypermarket was next door so I could buy laundry detergent.  I have a washer and separate dryer in my apartment in the Luxury Apartment complex. This apartment is huge, has everything you need but is tacky. There's mood lighting of different colors in each ceiling. Plus there's this shower. It's harder to understand than European washing machines.

Iasi

On our last day in Suceava, we walked to the fortress that a prince had built in the 1300s when he made the city the capital of Moldova.  The other people took taxis but the 1 mile path to it is right across the street from my apartment.  My tour guide had told me that and I double checked with the play director so there were two men who didn't say yes, it's across the street but don't take that path because there's a million steps to climb.

It wasn't the worst mountain I ever climbed but it was difficult. We later found out that the director had told the others it was too hard for him to climb so they had to take taxis.

The fortress has a lot of displays to appeal to children. There are hologram knights, video games, and a digital photography booth that dresses you in a medieval outfit.

We ate lunch at the restaurant at the top of the mountain and people left at different times and got lost in different ways. Nicole and I thought we had chosen the same path but it was different and turned out to be 100 times easier to walk. Of course, it was downhill but this path didn't have the sets of stairs. There were some steps built into the ground. It was much flatter than the other path. When we made it to the street,  we were just a couple of blocks to the apartment.

The next day, we left for Iasi (pronounced Yahsh). It's supposed to take around 2 hours but it took much longer. Traffic was bad, the van needed fuel, the driver has mandatory breaks, and the city is confusing so it took much longer. The good news is the driver drove much slower than he did before I was in the van because he was reprimanded for driving carelessly.  We ended up in a full parking lot when we got to the theater and had to unhook the trailer with the set, back out the van, rehook the trailer and drive to a separate parking lot.

When we finally got to the Airbnb, it turns out it's not as centrally located as advertised. The streets are narrow and confusing.  I have to take a taxi to and from the theater because the GPS doesn't really work here.

Add caption

Trapdoor performs tonight and tomorrow is the scary border crossing into the Republic of Moldova.  There's a chance they won't let us in or at least not the trailer even though the bribe money has already been paid and both the American Embassy and the theater festival people are supposed to call border control. If we get searched,  the set is illegal to bring into the country. The director is going to say the trailer contains props and suitcases. Everyone has been warned not to speak, smile, or make a joke. It reminds me of border crossings into Communist countries in the 70s. I think the young people are a little apprehensive but the main thing to fear is an intensive search.  We could be there for hours. Send positive thoughts.

Suceava

The first full day I was in Suceava,  I stayed in bed most of the day, proving once again that spending time in airports is more tiring than climbing mountains. Suceava is not a pretty town, mostly because there is no Old Town. My Airbnb host said,  unlike in many other Romanian towns, the Communists tore it down.

I have a luxury apartment in a high rise for about $53 a night. It has beds for 7 but my host prepared only the twin room since I said Nicole may or may not stay with me instead of letting me have the other bedroom which I obviously deserved.

The second day, I took a tour of 4 of the 8 painted monasteries. All 8 were painted by a father and two sons over 500 years ago. Parts of the outsides have faded but the inside colors are close to the original. All they've done is clean the candle smoke off the painting.  The paintings show various Bible stories and there's complicated symbolism.

Most of the monasteries are still occupied by nuns. My guide said they're not nice enough for the monks.  Romania remains one of the most chauvinist societies in Europe.  This guy kept telling me what to do and I had to follow in his footsteps.  My guide in Slovenia was much nicer. This guy was nice enough as long as I did what he said.

On the other hand, he knows everyone at the monasteries so he took my phone and took pictures in the interiors even though it's forbidden.  You pay 10 lei (under $3) to photograph the outside of each building but I just paid that once. He got tired of watching me try to take pictures since I know nothing about lighting or angles.

For lunch, we stopped at a resort and he ordered my lunch but he made good choices. Cream of mushroom soup made of mushrooms from the forest, a piece of chocolate cake, and a liqueur made from wild blueberries.  Everything is homemade there. There were blueberries at the bottom of the glass. Blueberry liqueur is also one of the traditional liqueurs of Slovenia. 

Driving through the mountains is beautiful when there's no snow or rain

Nicole and company left Brasov at 3 a.m. for the 8 hour trip to Suceava.  They have a small van and were terrified by the driver who drove like a maniac through the mountains.  Romanian drivers are always scary.  They pass each other when there's a car coming the other way but somehow usually miss a head on collision.

The last time Trapdoor performed here, they performed in a gigantic bar but now there's a new theater. The director of the theater said she missed that bar. This theater is fabulous.  The actors had a little sleep but the tech crew was up for 24 hours and didn't have time to eat. But the play was a big success. There were 240 people in the audience which they managed to seat in about 5 minutes. They leapt to their feet and yelled Bravo. The woman sitting next to me was the sister-in-law of the theater director.  She started explaining to me about the playwright and how famous he is, but of course,  I got to say I know him. He is going to be at the Chisinau festival since it's named after him, the Matei Visniec International Theater Festival.

After the play, we ate at the finest restaurant in Suceava,  Latino. It's an Italian restaurant.  There's  also a pizza place in town called Taco Loco. They didn't want to serve us because it was so late but they did. The food was great. And it cost about $80 for drinks and about 10 meals.  It is truly cheaper to visit here than stay home.

Airports: More tiring than walking up mountains.

I was so afraid I'd sleep through the alarm and not get up in time to meet my driver at 5:30 but I made it. Because I was on a pedestrian street, I had to walk a couple blocks.  Not too many people out at that hour.

Adria Airlines is ok except for the fact they had canceled my nonstop. There's just a few gates at the Ljubljana Airport so we left a little late. I had never flown through Munich but yikes. It's like Paris. I was in Business class on the Ljubljana flight. The flight cost $114 when I booked the nonstop so they had to honor that; the price went up to $400. I paid 50 more I think for the chance to get business.  I did that for 2 reasons--so they wouldn't weigh my carryon and so I could get off first and run to my next flight.

Stupid decision.  They took all the carryons for planeside pickup which is fine but everyone had to get on a bus to go to the terminal.  I think we were parked in Berlin. The one good thing about that flight was flying over the mountains.  They were beautiful in the clouds.

Then ...how do I never remember. Passport control. The 3 agents they had handling the hundreds of people with late flights were having fun flirting with the young girls. When I finally got there, my agent looked through my entire passport.  He finally asked when I had first entered Schengen and I said Paris on the 25th so he found that somehow. I don't know why. I don't think anyone ever checked that before. Then I race walked a couple of miles. I count on Joyce to do the OJ Simpson airport run but she wasn't there. Plus I didn't check the bag. I got close to the gate when they said last call.

But was it? Of course not. First, my ticket didn't scan or else notified them I was on the no fly list. They checked my passport and finally let me go. Where? A huge German airport makes you walk down 3 flights of stairs to the bus. I guess they didn't invent the elevator or escalator.

We waited on the bus for the last old couple who finally made it. After about 10 minutes,  someone determined they had to get off. I am dying to know why. They weren't upset that they were being kicked off so who knows. At that point,  I asked the attendant if we were going to Bucharest.  She thought I was hilarious. I figured anyone could get on their transports. Plus the driver could get confused and bypass Berlin.

I have been through Bucharest on several occasions and don't remember it ever being so crowded. Tarom is a small airline and they seemed to be the ones with the most problems. They wouldn't let you do self check in on a machine until 2 hours before the flight. I was there about 4 hours before and the only place to sit is upstairs, as in 2 flights of stairs.  I went to the one restaurant they had and got a Romanian hamburger which was  actually the best one I've ever had in Europe and in loads of places in the US. Or I was hungry.

I was checking a bag because the website says you can have a total of 10 kg and I had more. So I stood in the bag dropoff line for an hour. Security was relatively quick for having so many people in line.

When I walked to the gate, my flight was boarding...the bus. I looked at everyone's carryons and they didn't seem to match the requirements.  When we walked to the plane, everyone threw their bags on a cart for plane pickup. It pays to  know the rules.

My airbnb host was late picking me up because we landed early. He will also take me on a tour of the painted monasteries. But the apartment I rented is in the top 3 ever. I could live here except it just has a washer and a rack, no dryer.

Cave

I have seen some caves in the US but I have never seen anything like the Postojna Cave. 26 kilometers are open and you see 6 on the trip. A million people visit a year so these people are organized.  Tours start every half hour. We were divided into Chinese, English and Italian speakers. First, you ride a train for 2 k. It's really about 50 benches on wheels. Then you're walk 2 k with a guide. It's a quick walk so it's hard to stop and take pictures. Then you ride the last 2 k. There's over 50 caves in Slovenia but this is the one open to the public and it's been open for 200 years.  You can see most of the other caves with a reservation.

This cave has everything--red formations from iron, white calcium formations, huge rooms, narrow passageways. Unlike in the US, we weren't given a 10 minute lecture on how to behave or warnings to duck if you're tall. I figured there's no liability laws here but Elvir said every site and every business,  even he, has insurance.  The difference is no one ever gets millions of euros, you get your medical bills paid. Lawsuits against medical facilities that mess up on children are often successful,  but in the hundred thousands,  not millions.

After the cave, we went to the largest built-in-a-cave castle, Predjama. It's beautiful but like most castles,  there's no elevator.  Way too much walking today for me.

Tomorrow I have 3 planes to catch, if I can manage to get up at 5. My 1:30 nonstop to Bucharest was canceled and now I have a 7:20 to Munich, then Bucharest where I sit around for about 8 hours before flying to Saceava, Romania.

My laundry doings were a big success.  Only the socks were damp but they dried on the radiator.  I think I can make it one day without doing laundry.

Lake Bled

I booked two private tours and today the tour was to Lake Bled which is pictured in the background of the blog. The drive is very pretty. There's lots of mountains to look at which can be blurry when the weather is bad. Today is clear and sunny. I told the guide I climbed the mountain to the castle yesterday and he said it's a hill because if there's trees, it's a hill.

The lake has lanes set up for competitive kayak training. One of the buildings on shore has a skating rink where some famous Slovenian hockey player trained. I forget his name but it will probably appear in my trivia game. There is also a beach for swimming  but you have to pay unless you're staying at one of the fancy hotels.
On the way, Elvir asked what activities I wanted to do. There are paths around the lake that take around 2 hours to walk, a train that goes around in 45 minutes, wooden boats that go to the island, and an electric boat. I chose the train and electric boat but when we got to the dock, only the wooden boat was available.  The boats are traditional and are rowed. Cute but the electric would be quicker. Because they take so long to get to and from the island, I didn't get to take the train. The oarsmen were professionals and now row tourists for about 12 hours a day.

The Castle

How I got to the Ljubljana Castle is in my top 5 stupidest hikes ever. I had downloaded a google map that was supposed to take me to the funicular. I memorized the street to turn on. I found that easily since it's a 5 minute walk. As I walked the windy trail, I started to realize I was going to the castle. I guess the map was taking me to the funicular at the top. In short, I climbed a gigantic mountain.

After touring the castle, I took the funicular down and discovered what I hadn't seen was a sign above the castle this way sign. It said funicular and pointed straight ahead. It was right around the corner.

At the top was a parking lot. I could have taken a taxi or the free electric train which I saw there. The city has free electric cars in the pedestrian area which isn't very big but it's part of their effort to become a green city. They've made tremendous strides in just two years, going from having the worst quality air to one of the best in the EU.

Part of the castle I could see while I drank iced tea

The castle was a fortress when it was built in the 12 century. It was never the home of  a ruler. It was used as a prison and military outpost. Its history is the same as a bunch of European castles: destroyed, rebuilt, repeat.

If you climb the tower in the picture, you get a great view of the city. I saw the stairs and asked myself, "What would Johnny do?" The answer, of course, is never climb a tower under any circumstances.

Dragon sculpture in Dragon Museum

There are dragons everywhere in this city. What I didn't know is that St. George is their patron saint. As the guide said yesterday, their culture is a mixture of all the others that controlled them for 1000 years.

This is supposedly a replica of the oldest flute in the world, made by a Neanderthal 45000 years ago. They also have the oldest wheel with an axle in the world. Who knew Slovenia was the cradle of civilization.

A New Adventure

I have never taken a free city tour in any city but I decided to today because I got up late and would have had to plan a route myself which is impossible. I didn't realize until today that the restaurant I ate at last night is 3 doors down from me. In my defense, my apartment building has the smallest door so it's hard to see.

The tour was very nice; i always thought there would be lots of obnoxious Americans asking questions but that wasn't the case. People really didn't ask too many questions. One person asked whether they eat horses here and our guide, Ina, said yes and that she didn't know for many years that people in other countries don't. She said horse steak is good but a delicacy so it's expensive but if you just want to try it, you can get a horseburger.  Baby horse steak is the most expensive. I ate horse in France back in the middle ages so I don't need to do it again.

Speaking of food, there's a raw milk machine in the middle of town. Local farmers take turns supplying the milk and their information comes with your order. Raw milk is illegal in the EU but they were approved because they have the cold machine. 1 euro per liter so dirt cheap. Again, I already did that and I hate all milk.

Statue of some famous poet

I don't remember the name of this poet because I'd have to spell it but his story is interesting. He wrote lots of poetry for his true love, Julia, whom he met when he was 43 and she was 16. They never got together because she had her own Romeo so he married and had children. On his deathbed, he said he always loved Julia. There's small sculptures of Julia on many of the buildings but the woman at the top of this statue is a muse. She is nude and since the sculpture is in front of a church, they planted trees so you can't see her from the church. Also, when you come out of the church, you're advised to cast your eyes downward.

Speaking of churches, the one with the most beautiful interior has been closed for 8 years so we didn't see it. The parking garage they built under it turned out to be unstable and the church is in danger of collapsing.

As for religion, our guide reported that Slovenia has more churches per capita than any other country in the world. Most of them are closed 364 days a year, though, because Slovenia is the most secular country in Europe. The country churches open one day a year on their patron saint's day.

Door of St Nicholas

St. Nicholas is one of the churches that is open in the city. All of the elements on the door have a meaning. At the top is Pope John Paul so the door is not ancient. That Julia character is on there, peeking out of a window. There are two crowds of people depicted--one represents the shame and horror of WWII; one represents hope for the future.

,

Interior of St. Nicholas

Ljubjlana was invaded by the Italians early in WWII which worked out well for the city. The city was surrounded by barbed wire and there was no reason for the Nazis to bomb it since it was already controlled. A lot of buildings were built during the war and few of their citizens were killed.

The University

Everyone goes to the University in Slovenia. Not only is it free but during the time you're there, your rent is 60 euros a month and all food is 1/2 price with a student id. Since there have been few jobs in the country, students were staying for 10 years. The government finally figured that out so now you have to get a bachelor's in 5 years but you retain your benefits for 6, and a master's in 3 years but benefits for 4. Then you either work at a job that doesn't require your level of education or you leave.

Finally, the myth of the founding of the city is that it's a result of Jason and the Argonauts. Their ship ran aground because they ran out of river. They had to stay to rebuild it and during that time, they fathered many children. Since children are a burden, they abandoned them when they left. A river monster took care of them and hence, the city.  In retelling the story for generations, the river monster became a dragon which is why there's a dragon bridge, dragon logo, dragon in the flag, etc. There's 20 dragons on Dragon Bridge. The legend of that is since we all know dragons eat virgins. it is said if a virgin walks across the bridge, the dragons wag their tails. Again, I'm sure people keep their eyes downcast.

It's been a long day

I left around 6 on the 24th and now it's the same time but the 25th in another country. The flights were fine, although bumpy but the 5 hour layover at CDG was a killer.  I kept setting the phone alarm but couldn't fall asleep until about an hour before my next flight. I kept waking myself up snoring which I'm sure everyone else appreciated. I woke up in time to walk to the gate.

I was frantic for about a half hour because my driver hadn't arrived but he finally came and drove me to the beginning of a pedestrian street. I had to walk a long way to get to the apartment.  The owner had sent someone else and she gave me the keys and showed me where the laundry room is. Washer AND dryer.

The apartment is old but functional. There's no closet and the only treat they left me is a jar of instant Nescafe.

On the back of the apartment door

My first time getting lost was from turning left coming out of the apartment instead of right. The owners advertise a private courtyard in the back but I didn't know how to get to it so I decided to go downstairs to see. But I discovered it here on the second floor. A yard and some lawn furniture.  I still don't know how they did that but I might never have found it if I knew right from left.

My private garden

When I decided to go walk around and eat dinner, I quickly discovered none of the keys worked. I tried the 3 keys multiple times and got nowhere.
I emailed the owner who tried to help but finally decided to come for personalized instruction. Lola will attest to the fact I know to turn Eastern European keys around 2 to 3 complete revolutions but I couldn't make them move in the lock. It's one thing when you have large keys but these are those really thin ones. Even the owner couldn't manage the laundry room key so we decided to leave that open. The apartment key works with brute strength. I'm sure I won't leave here without snapping one off in the lock.

I walked around a little, staying on the pedestrian street so it would be a straight shot home. I did walk to a parallel street to get a view of the river.

Ljubljana--a river runs through it

I looked at a lot of menus and chose the one that had inexpensive entrees because I wasn't sure I'd be hungry. I had a bowl of lamb goulash for 10 euros and Slovenian Pinot Grigio. Everything was great. Slovenian wine is supposed to be some of the best in the world; this was certainly world class. Most people were eating outside under the heaters so I did, too.  It's cold here but the heaters make eating outside possible.  Great people watching. So far no one looks like Melania.

Best and first lamb goulash I ever had

I paid the bill and told myself I lived next to the Honey store. Close (2-3 blocks), but not next door. After wandering around the street for 10 minutes, I had to use Maps on my phone to return. I don't understand why my landmarks don't work for me but I'm looking forward to new adventures tomorrow.  I passed the chocolate store and am certain I can find that again.

WARNING!!!!

This blog will contain detailed descriptions of doing laundry. Not suitable for people who disdain washer/dryer combo machines.