Expect the unexpected
A legend says that in the 18th century one of Moldova’s rulers, Grigore Ghica, fell incurably ill. One day a peasant in a bull cart stopped at the gates of the ruler’s palace and asked for an audience. The man promised to cure his majesty in return the ruler should handover his power, for one month, to somebody else.
Continue reading “Rudi Monastery – A Saint Place in a Beautiful Setting”
Olga Koshel sits in her pottery studio in Chisinau and works on another piece of ceramics. Together with her Austrian husband Bernhard, she runs the K&K-Ceramics studio. She has to finish an order of 200 wine cups. Continue reading “Olga Koshel – the Master of Arts”
Hardly any positive news hit the headlines from the officially unrecognised Pridnestrovje. That’s why the state owned Radio PMR works hard for a positive international image. Five times a week the news speaker Andrey Smolensky welcomes his German, Austrian and Swiss listeners with the words, “Hallo hier spricht Radio PMR – Hello, this is Radio PMR!” Continue reading “Hier spricht Radio PMR!”
During one of Leonid Rosca’s expeditions to explore his homeland, a lump of rock stuck into his eye. In fact, it was not the rock itself, but the form of its surface. He figured out a head, a beak, eyes, bones, wings. Leonid had discovered a petrified 150-million-year-old Pterodaktyl and thus by far the oldest remains of an animal ever found in the Republic of Moldova. Continue reading “150-Million-Year-Old Pterodaktyl Found in Moldova”
Bendery, or Tighina so the Romanian name, celebrated recently its 600-year-anniversary. The city, located on the right bank of the Dniester, was gleaming brightly in new splendour: freshly painted historical houses, decorated streets, glossy anniversary posters all over and an outdoor museum of Bendery’s history brought new glory to the city and its 94.000 inhabitants. Continue reading “600 Years Bendery”
A silhouette of a man on his horse appears far out on the smooth hills of Gagauzia. Elegantly and gently he gallops closer to his stud. The charismatic rider in his forties does use neither saddle nor reins. It is Constantin Kelesh and his life is dedicated to his horses.
“Yes, we are all equal,” is Anatolie convinced. He is in a lively discussion with a black man and an Indian, sipping Austrian schnaps. “It doesn’t matter what someone looks like, it is important what is in his heart.” Continue reading “The Old Man and the Park”
Tiraspol, the lovely capital of Pridnestrovje, is situated in the south of the unrecognised republic along the river Dniestr. The city was founded by General Suvorov in 1792 after the „Peace and Friendship forever”-treaty following the Russian-Turkish war (1787-1791). Today about 130.000 people, predominantly of Russian origin, live in Tiraspol.
The sun is setting in the little village Valea Perjei, situated in the south of Moldova close to the Ukrainian border. Outside on the hills, there are seven men in a lively discussion while they are eating and drinking. They are sitting on an old wooden bench around a crooked table. Continue reading “Two Shepherds Called Stepan”