My time here in Moldova is winding down. Melissa left for the States this morning and Liz left a few days ago. I had a nice time with Melissa in Orhei this weekend at her goodbye dinner Saturday and picnic with her tutor's family on Sunday. My host family insisted on calling her last night and putting her on speakerphone to say a final goodbye. This consisted of Grigory telling her how great she is, wishing her happiness and success and most importantly wishing her luck in finding a good man. Naturally, everyone we have met in Moldova will be invited to her wedding.
Last week we finally made it to Milestii Mici, the biggest wine cellar in the world. I'm not just saying that; they have an official certificate from the Guinness Book of World Records. You have to get a taxi or have a car to do the tour because you drive through the cellar. It's enormous. There are street signs with the names of the types of wines that are stored in the barrels on each specific row. I think the most interesting fact we learned on the tour was that at one point during the time of the Soviet Union Gorbachev went on a campaign against alcoholism and wanted all the places like Milestii Mici to be destroyed. There's a secret room in the cellar where they hid all their best wine in case this were to happen. Another tidbit was that there's a very small door on each barrel so a tiny woman has to be the one to go in there and clean them. Maybe I've found my calling.
No comments:
Post a Comment