By Train to Chișinău (Part Two)

...Although there were about twenty minutes left until departure, the train was nowhere in sight. However, just as the tension on the platform reached its peak, a blue composition appeared exactly at 7 o'clock. The excited passengers felt the urge to claim their seats and lines formed to board the carriages. Fresh memories of double bookings on trains along the Bar railway give us confidence and secure a front position during boarding... (read the complete first part of the travelogue)

The moment has come – the whistle blows and the train slowly starts heading north through the industrial suburbs of Bucharest. The exercise of arranging the beds follows as the "beddings" are neatly packed in bags. After an hour of travel, a smell permeates the carriages unmistakably indicating that the train is passing through Ploiești, the center of the Romanian oil industry. There are only two power sockets in the corridor of the carriage, and there's no trace of wireless internet, so most passengers opt for an early bedtime. Traveling is like in the old days – with the rattling of the train, dim lamp light next to the beds, and a book. With such entertainment, passengers drift off to sleep, and our train slowly cuts through the Romanian night. The railway to Iași is one of the main lines in Romania and is in quite good condition, allowing for decent speed and a smooth journey throughout.

If anyone was not accidentally awakened by the locomotive change in Iași (as the railway from Iași to the border is not electrified and a diesel locomotive takes over), the role of the alarm clock is eagerly assumed by the Romanian customs and border police around 3:30 am. After the inspection, the train continues and crosses the bridge over the Prut River, designed by Gustave Eiffel. The bridge connects two towns of the same name in Romania and Moldova – Ungheni. The Moldovan border control is thorough but quite fast and professional, while the element of surprise is provided by the lady in the blue uniform who conducts sanitary and epidemiological control. By promptly determining that the train is free from carriers, we bypass yet another obstacle to entering Moldova.

Only the width of the gauge remains from the beginning of the story. In the border area, standard and broad gauges are parallel, but further into Moldova, only the broad gauge is used, so the locomotive pulls the train into an open-air workshop where the bogie exchange takes place. Numerous workers quickly take action, the composition is disassembled, and the carriages are placed on lifts. Passengers in the end compartments of the carriages will be treated to a sudden visit from the masters who swiftly remove the small carpets and extract three pieces resembling large nails that hold the carriage and bogies together. After that, a bit of shaking and unusual sounds follow, but the entire operation is completed in less than two hours, and we are ready for the journey on the broad gauge. The only potential inconvenience is the fact that the toilets are locked during the bogie exchange. As the train is short, a diesel locomotive - a Czech-made shunting locomotive of the ChME3 series, which is present throughout the former Eastern Bloc, arrives at the front.

The dawn has already broken, and we have about three hours of travel left to the Moldovan capital. For those who are not inclined to sleep, they can observe the seemingly monotonous landscape of rural Moldova, which is actually quite relaxing. The train's speed is not spectacular, averaging about 50-60 km/h throughout the journey. Right on time, a few minutes after 9 am, we arrive at the Chișinău station. We are greeted by a huge and impeccably clean station from where passengers can directly travel not only to Bucharest but also to Odessa, St. Petersburg, and Moscow. The train to Odessa, which runs only on weekends, is particularly popular. With the comfortable trains of the Moldovan railways, it is possible to make a day trip to Ukraine. In the peaceful atmosphere of the railway station, aquariums with fish further confuse the arriving tourists. The inscription on the station building informs that it is both a "gara" and a "vokzal" since, in addition to the official Romanian (which some call Moldovan), Russian has the status of a recognized minority language, and its use is widespread. Taxis are quite cheap, and since the driver has trouble finding the street where our hotel is located, a short city tour is included in the price at a dizzying speed.

Moldova is the country with the fewest tourist visits in the whole of Europe, so visitors can enjoy a rather unusual atmosphere by today's travel standards. There are no crowds in front of museums, no clicking of cameras, no waving of selfie sticks everywhere, and no tourists buzzing on electric scooters. It seems that in this peaceful city, everything flows quite slowly and there is no rush anywhere. This claim is confirmed by the TV news, which focuses on a traffic accident in which a jeep knocked down a lamppost, as well as a flower shop robbery.

The city suffered heavy damage in the earthquake at the end of 1940 and the German bombing in the summer of 1941, so a large part of it was rebuilt after the war. The central city street and the main city park are named after Stefan the Great, whose likeness also adorns the Moldovan leu banknotes. This ruler successfully resisted the Ottoman Empire, Hungary, and Poland in the 15th and 16th centuries, managing to maintain Moldova's independence. He was also a great builder of churches and left behind a large number of endowments. The "street" named after him houses the Parliament, the Government building of Moldova, the National Opera and Ballet Theatre, as well as one of the city's major tourist attractions - the Triumphal Arch. It was built as a monument to the Russian victory in the war against the Ottoman Empire in 1828-1829. The arch is located on the edge of the park, where the Metropolitan Cathedral is also situated. The city can boast of many parks, so there is no shortage of greenery in Chișinău. Another interesting building is the State Circus, opened in 1981, which was once considered the best in the USSR. After languishing in neglect for years, it is slowly returning to its former glory.

A few pleasant and relaxed days can be spent in Chișinău, and it can also serve as a good base for visiting several famous Moldovan wineries. Not far from Chișinău is the "Mileștii Mici" winery, boasting the world's largest wine cellar spanning over 200 km (although only about fifty kilometers are currently in use), and a wine collection of over two million bottles, also considered the largest in the world. In addition to wine, Moldovans are proud of the beer named after the capital city. Since it is certainly not wise to drink on an empty stomach, it is worth embarking on a search for the city's gastronomic gems. In addition to the obligatory modern restaurants serving international cuisine, restaurants serving traditional local cuisine are very popular. They offer an interesting mix of dishes known from Romania and Eastern Europe - borscht, solyanka, Romanian cevapi, shashlik, cabbage rolls, and pelmeni. When all of this is accompanied by Moldovan wine, it truly creates a first-class experience.

Unfortunately, we are once again at the railway station, preparing to leave Chișinău. The locomotive cheerfully hums, waiting for the sound of the whistle that signals departure. Since the dining car is missing from the train composition, we stock up on necessary supplies for the journey at the station shop. How else to bid farewell to Moldova than with a can of "Chișinău" beer while the train meanders through the gentle landscape.

Inspired by the hop beverage, the next story takes us by train to the city where one of the most popular types of beer in the world was born.