Chic Chisinau
Continuing with June 2008-stories, we come to Chisinau, one of Europe’s lesser known capitals. We stayed at Marisha’s flat, conveniently located near the train station (arranged through Your Friends in Moldova).
Our short-term home in Chisinau
Nightlife in Chisinau is rumoured to rock! On this Tuesday evening, it seems to be concentrated along the main drag, Blvd Stefan cel Mare. Green Hills Café on the main drag beckons. Nice food (huge portions), nice Moldovan wine, nice desserts, good coffee; an interesting place to people-watch.
Chisinau street scenes:
Time to hit the world-famous kick ass-nightlife. According to ever trusty Lonely Planet, good times can be had at Soho or Black Elephant: The Underground Club. Nah! Sorry folks. Not my scene. A book in a park is more like it. I know. I can be boring.
Chisinau – city of impossibly high heels. I marvel at the Moldovan women’s ability - and desire – to walk around on stilts. They look chic. But is it really worth the pain? The having to walk slowly? The total inability to suddenly start running to catch … whatever? The feeling of being handicapped? Is it that different from the old Chinese torturing custom of binding girls’ feet? I think not.
Worth checking out is Beer House. Bad name, but good everything else. Beer is brewed on the premises and tastes great. So does the food. Outdoors on this mild June evening are oval glass tables, wicker chairs, brick floors with Astroturf covers (it works) and strips of white Christmas lights hung vertically in the large windows (again: it works). The interior: in one area stone walls decorated with caveman drawings, in another, medieval décor, complete with knights in armour. The main hall leaves me with the feeling of being in an English village anno 1900 walking among half-timbered houses on a starlit night.
Beer House
The only drawback is cigarette smoke. But we’re in Eastern Europe. Eastern Eastern Europe even. Smoking laws are probably long ways away.
Tags: Blogsherpa, Chisinau, Eastern Europe, Europe, Former Soviet Union, Moldova
