Sea, Stairs, Stares, see? - Odessa, Ukraine

After an eventful few days and a bumpy bus ride, I made to Odessa, Ukraine. I had no idea what to expect. As always, the extent of my research was having a quick look at a map and thinking "Yeah, why not".

Great weather graced my stay in this great city. The Potemkin Stairs, leading down to the Harbour.

The first evening spent there would be one of night-time wandering. Having quickly dropped off my backpack, I walked to the CLINGS and CLONGS from the noisy and central Odessa Harbour, through the soothing calmness of a city asleep... and finally, to the sunrise in the early hours. These just might have inspired a ukulele melody, recorded a few days later, at 3.am on the famous Potemkin stairs. Here sandwiched between a bit of Odessa-touring, for your convenience.

Of course there is much more to Odessa than pieces of stone that help you down from the center to the Harbour. For a start, historically, it is a city which was thriving during the XIXth century through the likes of Catherine The Great and Frenchman Richelieu, the special guests featured in the video above. A century which is clearly showcased by the beautiful buildings in the center of the city. Not only that, it is also, quite simply put, a very nice place.

Odessa has got it's own special identity in the country. First and foremost it is the great Sea-city, with its own heritage, its own non-official t-shirt (the blue sailor-striped top). It also has its own charachter, a mix of many nationalities sailing in and out for more than two-hundred years. And lastly its own absurd and bity humour, which can be explained by the a stong jewish community in the XIXth century. I din't get the humour though. Or anything anybody said, my Russian being exactly like most people's English here: non-existent.

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As you can "sea" above, even though the center's Potemkin stairs lead down to the busy port, a short bus-ride can lead you to enjoyable beaches. And if you weren't lucky enough to catch anything with your bare hands, you can drop by the big Privoz market and get a few dried fish for your afternoon snack. I'm off for lunch.

Stefan cel Mare - Chisinau, Moldova

There is a person you cannot miss in Moldova. For starters, he is on every single bill you will use here. And he is still today an important part of the Moldovan identity as a whole. His name: Stefan cel Mare. Here is his story:

You might have noticed, I mention Stefan building monasteries, in the middle of the song. Well, it turns out (narrative alert!) some of those are the ones I visited in Bucovina (see Bucovina blog post Here). Their paint is fading but the symbol Stefan cel Mare's in today's Republic of Moldova is going strong. His extremely long reign and political flair gave stability to the Kingdom of Moldova for the centuries to come, and as a reward, Steeve gets his face on the Lei, the local currency. Or, in this picture, on my tenor ukulele.

Stefan on my tenor Uke

History, eh? Great stuff. But shouldn't I share a bit of every day Moldovan culture with you as well? Like, for example a TV show? That would be a great idea! The fact that a ukulele-playing backpacker traveling through Europe and writing songs was the guest, has here nothing to do with it. I just thought you might enjoy a fun Moldovan chat/cooking show. 

This is Part 3. If you want more cooking ideas and such, here are Part 1 and Part 2.

And on this (musical and culinary) note, a big thank you to Moldova(ns), and a "see you soon" in the next country Ukulele Road Trips ventures to.

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Last musical moments in Chisinau. Before the road leads me further East still.

"Come, let us drink" - Cricova, Moldova

If you're the type of person who uses lists to organise your travels and priorities, at the top of "to see", "to do", "to visit" and "to drink" in Moldova, there will be the same word every time: wine.

Wine, wine, wine. It's quite the thing here. Wine production is the most important contributor to Moldova's economy and accounts for roughly a quarter of its GDP (facts!). The vines have been around for thousands of years, but it is only after the second world war that gigantic abandoned limestone mines started to be used for the storage of wine. Conditions in there, temperature and humidity, are "just right". The two main wine cellars are Milestii Mici, and Cricova, incidentally, the two biggest underground cellars in the world! I visited the later, Cricova, being the only one where you can take little train-tour inside the cellar. But if you have your own car, you can drive around which ever sounds nicest to your ears.

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The cellar of Cricova is almost a city underground. There are "street" names, mainly types of grapes and wine, that will guide you on your way. But even with light-up signs, it is easily imaginable that tourists without a guide could lose themselves for days, were they to wander through these dark alleys of barrels and bottles. Hence the amusing (and probably completely false) story according to which cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin lost himself, drunk, in these tunnels and was nowhere to be seen for two days - which you might have heard from the Moldova Podcast's song. What is definitely not made up, is that Yuri did visit these cellars and even graced the guest book with a little autograph in 1966.

A day out at one of Moldova's wine cellars is very enjoyable, although I don't really remember that much after the wine tasting. A bit of a blur to be honest. What is certain is that I was in no state to record a little video that afternoon. So it's once back in Chisinau, after a recovery period that I came by a Milestii Mici shop in the capital and recorded a little "catch" by a certain Henry. A catch being the musical equivalent of a tiny glass of Moldovan bubbly. Light, tasteful, and quickly consumed.

Wine, wine, wine and wine - check !