Moldova Day 3

November 26, 2016

I stayed up until almost 2am, again. That's just too late when usually need to get an early start end are not feeling well anyway. I did wake up with the sunrise...yes, sunrise, it was glorious, not a cloud in the sky. I could have gotten up then but did want to try and rest a but more. I was restless and so tossed and turned, when I finally gave up and looked at the time...12:45pm. UGH!

I couldn't believe it, as I had screwed up my day's plans. Do I try and make it a short trip? No. would be very late returning, do I try somewhere else? Everything would be 1.5 hours each way plus time there,

I decided to do museums and ...???

I cleaned up and had some juice, yogurt, and a pro bar. It was 1:30pm when I left. Ugh!

I walked the 20 minutes to Gallery L only to have it closed again ugh!!! I read, tried to read the sign which said in Romanian " Saturday - 2-4pm". As it was just after 2 pm, I waited. 15 minutes later I gave up.

Museum of Ethonography

I walked another 15 minutes to the National Museum of Ethnography and Natural History. It was opened in October 1889 on the occasion of the first agricultural exhibition in Bessarabia. The museum has more than 135,000 pieces, including exhibits about the natural history and how people lived of Moldova. The museum is divided into 2 parts: the first looks at the flora and fauna of Moldova and the second to the people of Bessarabia, their customs and traditions. The museum building was built in 1905 in an oriental style making it a unique building in Moldova.

Let me explain Bessarabia - Very interesting

Bessarabia is a region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. Today Bessarabia is mostly occupied by modern-day Moldova, with the Ukrainian Budjak region covering the southern coastal region and part of the Ukrainian Chernivtsi Oblast covering a small area in the north.

In the aftermath of the Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812), and the ensuing Peace of Bucharest, the eastern parts of the Principality of Moldavia, an Ottoman vassal, along with some areas formerly under direct Ottoman rule, were ceded to Imperial Russia. The acquisition was among the Empire's last territorial acquisitions in Europe. The newly acquired territories were organized as the Governorate of Bessarabia, adopting a name previously used for the southern plains, between the Dniester and the Danube rivers. Following the Crimean War, in 1856, the southern areas of Bessarabia were returned to Moldavian rule; Russian rule was restored over the whole of the region in 1878, when Romania, the result of Moldavia's union with Wallachia, was pressured into exchanging those territories for the Dobruja.

In 1917, in the wake of the Russian Revolution, the area constituted itself as the Moldavian Democratic Republic, an autonomous republic part of a proposed federative Russian state. Bolshevik agitation in late 1917 and early 1918 resulted in the intervention of the Romanian Army, ostensibly to pacify the region. Soon after, the parliamentary assembly declared independence, and then union with the Kingdom of Romania. The legality of these acts was however disputed, most prominently by the Soviet Union, which regarded the area as a territory occupied by Romania.

In 1940, after securing the assent of Nazi Germany through the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Union pressured Romania into withdrawing from Bessarabia, allowing the Red Army to retake the region. The area was formally integrated into the Soviet Union: the core joined parts of the Moldavian ASSR to form the Moldavian SSR, while territories inhabited by Slavic majorities in the north and the south of Bessarabia were transferred to the Ukrainian SSR. Axis-aligned Romania briefly recaptured the region in 1941 during the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, but lost it in 1944 as the tide of war changed. In 1947, the Soviet-Romanian border along the Prut was internationally recognized by the Paris Treaty that ended World War II.

During the process of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Moldavian and Ukrainian SSRs proclaimed their independence in 1991, becoming the modern states of Moldova and Ukraine, while preserving the existing partition of Bessarabia. Following a short war in the early 1990s, Transnistria proclaimed itself the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, separate from the government of the Republic of Moldova, extending its authority also over the municipality of Bender in Bessarabia. Part of the Gagauz-inhabited areas in the southern Bessarabia was organised in 1994 as an autonomous region within Moldova.

There you go,,,who knew.

My favorite items on display were the wood carvings, the clothing and home goods. The design details on clothing and table cloths connect them with other Balkan peoples, I saw a design that is on a handmade table cloth I bought from a little old lady in rural Serbia.

The crafted wooden items were numerous and intricate. There was cooking utensils, boxes, bowls, mugs, wall ornaments, and posts.

There was unique pottery ( earth tones, no real colors) with geometric designs and animals.

Lastly there was some beadwork / metal disks that were used for jewelry and garment decoration.

In the natural history part, I did find a fascinating wooly mammoth type skeleton. Much of the flora and fauna is lost on me. It is quite extensive though.

I turned in my photo badge and looked for a shop... closed, of course, I had enjoyed the visit very much as I always do with ethnographic exhibits.

What to do know??? I walked back to Gallery L, hoping it would be open. No such luck I give up.

As it was still sunny and clear, I walked back to Cathedral Park. I stopped along the way for a sesame seed pretzel (5 leu - 5¢) and then a brief stop at a bookstore. Front end center was a political section with a biography of Hillary Clinton, There wasn't one of Donald Trump but there was a Hitler Biography. I guess there is a limit on evil per bookstore.

On to the park. What a nice day to be there, many people were out and enjoying the favorable weather. Kids were terrorizing pigeons on the square in from of the Metropolitan Cathedral.

As it was open today, I walked inside to take a look but as there were many people praying, I took no pictures. It was covered with rich, colorful frescoes in the Eastern/Russian Orthodox styles. They are favorites of mine as they are more folk art than fine art. The stories are simple and colors,,vivid, with strong blue and red.

The light was getting low and I began my return to Tolstoi street, where the apartment was. I try to take different paths to and from as to see more of each place. Sometimes doing so will being me a lucky find, This was no different.

I found a park area that was filled with vendors, there were paintings ( cheap duplicated art for home use) and ( one of a kind pieces painted by locals ). I asked about one group and was told that they were painted by Italians and Romanians...no go. The conversation was had in my most broken Spanish as it was where we could find common language.

I assessed all of the stalls. Many with cheap magnets, generic pottery, scarves, decent wood carvings, and handmade garments and table cloths.

I decided on a small pairing, rural scene, created by the lady I bought from, Her name was Natalia and she took a picture for me, with the painting, (200 Leu - $10)

I also bought a handmade burlap wine bag with Moldova on it...special bag for their special wines. (60 Leu - $3)

Excited that I'd found some treasures and the money went to support goods made in Moldova, I continued my walk back.

Always looking for graffiti, I found "Huck Berry Finn" and "F@&K COMUNISM" both spelled just that way.

I reached the apartment just as the sun was dipping below the horizon. I was hungry and needed some meds. I felt that I had salvaged the day now with my many thoughts from the museum. I love museums.

I needed to make tomorrow a big day, whatever will come, I'm going to Transnistria.

* Late update - I jumped to me feet as I heard a noise (shots?) around 10:30. I ran to the window ( probably not the best idea ) and discovered that it was a fireworks display, looking to me at the Cathedral Park. Exciting :-)