russia: veliky novgorod again

My second year in Russia, when I did most of my traveling with Claire and Angela, one of the cities we visited was Veliky Novgorod. We had a good weekend, and I remembered thinking at the time that I wouldn't mind returning at some random point in the future. I knew there were a few more things I wanted to see, and there was a cafe I really liked. (We liked it so much that we ate three meals there during that visit. Why mess with something that isn't broken.)

That random point in the future ended up being this summer. When we visited before, we came from Moscow, taking a night train. This time around I came from Saint Petersburg, taking an elektrichka. As always in Russia, my train arrived exactly when it was supposed to arrive.

I booked a different place to stay this time around, but it was just as easy to walk there as it was to the first place, partly because I knew the first 20 minutes of walking were along the same streets. As with Vologda and Petrozavodsk, the difference in Veliky Novgorod in various seasons is quite stark.

After checking in, I rested up for a while, longer than I should have, which unfortunately is my pattern. This is even easier to let happen during summer, when the days are long, and in the back of my head I know I have plenty of daylight to play with. Whoops.

I started walking, heading down the street in a new direction. At one point I walked along what I thought must've been older city fortifications, which now just look like horizontal hills covered in grass. Since the sky was all gray, it made for a great contrast. I followed the 'hill' to a church we'd glimpsed during the previous visit, when renovation was happening. 

Despite this visit being 18 months later, it looked just the same. A fence around the whole church, scaffolding in a couple places, etc...

I got back to the road, and followed it until I passed a park which had a war memorial. I've lost count of how many of these I've seen, but I still take a look every time I pass one. Russia always remembers its soldiers from wars going back centuries.

Eventually I got to the first sight I'd intended to see that day, a huge city sign. This one was at the edge of the city, where cars officially enter the city. A giant city sign, written in Russian, woo hoo!!

Not too far past the city sign was a bridge, which wasn't interesting in the slightest. What was interesting was the old bridge, which was right next to the new bridge. The old bridge had holes in a few places, with rust on some of the metal on the side. I could see grass growing in cracks in the cement, which always strikes me as photogenic. I wonder how long the old bridge has been out of service. I saw a guy standing near the other end, I think he was fishing; I wanted to walk on the bridge, but since there were a few huge holes near my side, I didn't have the confidence to do so. I love old abandoned stuff, but I also have a healthy fear of something collapsing while I'm looking around.

As the walk out to this area had taken quite a while, walking back took just as long. Actually, it took even longer, because it started raining at some point, so I took shelter. I hate walking in rain, and this wasn't rain I could ignore, it was quite heavy for a good 30 minutes. Argh.

On the way back I walked a couple new streets, enjoying some really huge grafitti along the way. Even though it was still relatively early in the evening, I decided to go eat. I went back to the cafe I'd enjoyed so much during the first visit, and was just as happy this time around.

Walking from the cafe back to my hostel happened at the early stages of sunset, I was thrilled to see the sky changing colours. After the rain had stopped earlier in the afternoon, it seemed like most of the clouds had left the sky. Those that were left perfectly accented the colours of sunset.

The next morning I took my sweet time getting moving, oh well. My first objective for the day was to go to the bus station to buy a ticket for the following morning. I was pretty sure I didn't need to buy the ticket ahead of time, but I didn't know what time a bus would be going to my next destination, and buying a ticket answered that question.

After the bus ticket I took a photo next to a big statue of Rachmaninoff, a well known Russian composer in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. He was so musically talented that he was able to start playing piano at the age of 4, and graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in 1892, after composing several orchestral and piano pieces. After reading his Wikipedia entry, I also learned he was born near Veliky Novgorod in March of 1873.

His statue was 'leaning' against the back of a giant park bench. The ratio of the size of the statue to the park bench look normal, so you don't realize quite how big both of them are until you try to pose with them. 

I ended up climbing onto the front bench side, then sitting on top of the bench, next to the statue. I still looked quite small. Since the bench wasn't made of wood, it was quite slippery, and I had some fear of falling off before the shutter clicked.

After this I had one more major sight on my list for the day, an open air museum of wooden architecture. It was pretty close to the monastery I'd visited with the girls, and getting there required a fairly long walk. This time around, I walked a little faster, partly because I knew where I was going.

When I got to the museum I discovered around half of it was closed for renovations, darnit. I got to the ticket desk and discovered this was yet another attraction in Veliky Novgorod that charges a higher price for foreign visitors than it does for locals. I paid the local price. I don't know if she didn't question me because I paid with exact change, or because no one expects foreign visitors during a pandemic, but she didn't even question me. Or maybe it was because I was by myself? Who knows. 

I enjoyed the museum. You have to wear a mask each time you walk into one of the buildings, and they made sure there weren't too many people inside anywhere at any given time. The buildings were all quite small, so this basically translated to one family at a time, or just me. Each building had an information sign out front, giving a few details of what was inside, and there was English on these signs. Yippee!

I got to take a peek inside homes they way they were in more rural areas back in the day, and in a church from a while back. There was also an example of an old well, and a farmhouse. All in all, a good place to visit. 

I imagine schoolkids are dragged here on field trips quite regularly for history lessons.

It started raining at one point while I was walking around, I ended up taking 'shelter' by standing on the steps of a church that were covered by an overhang. Thank goodness the rain didn't last long, and the clouds blew out just as quickly as they blew in. I hate rain. 

I took the bus back to the city center, I just wasn't in the mood for the long walk back. As I got off the bus I noticed a large mural on one side of an apartment building, but I could only see the top. 

After weaving through a couple streets I got close enough to see the whole thing, it was impressive. From there I noticed another such mural a little over a block away, also impressive.

While looking for the first mural I noticed an old bell tower/monastery gate. I rarely walk away from those without taking at least a little peek, so I ended up getting to see the grounds of a monastery. From what I saw, it seemed to be quite old, as there were ruins in the middle of the grounds, and newer buildings on the edges. Really really pretty, at least in a photogenic sense.

At that point I felt as if I'd seen everything I wanted to see, so I went back to the cafe for another dinner, then back to the hostel for another night of sleep.

Now that I've seen Veliky Novgorod in two different seasons, and seen the sights of interest, I don't think I need to return. But I know I should never say never.

russia: tver again

 

The first place I decided to visit when it became possible was Tver. Though I'd visited the city with my ladies last year, there were parts of the city we didn't see. Plus, it is close to Moscow, so I was able to do an easy day trip.

A day trip meant I didn't have to worry about accomodation, or food. I brought my snack bag with plenty of food, knowing I'd be able to find a bench somewhere in the city to sit on while eating. Cafes weren't yet open, I knew I wouldn't be able to get food that way.

I wore a mask the entire time I was on the train, which was just under 2 hours. The train wasn't as busy as normal, but it was more than half full. I'd say about half the people were wearing masks, and half of those were wearing them properly.

I arrived in Tver around 10am, it was hot. I started sweating almost as soon as I stepped outside the train station, but oh well. I'd planned out what I wanted to see in the city ahead of time, and marked all the spots on a map, I didn't want to waste time.

My first stop was a statue of Lenin, this one was not in the city center. To get there I walked a couple back roads, crossed a pedestrian bridge over the tracks of another train station, and passed some eye catching buildings. I'm a sucker for wooden houses, particularly those that have been kept up well, as they often have gorgeous flowers all around, and intricately carved window decorations. So pretty, and so quaint.

This particular Lenin was at the back side of a small park, and behind him was red stone, I think it was supposed to represent a red flag. 

These statues of Lenin always fascinate me, because I'm usually the only one around. It's rarely difficult to take a photo without anyone else in the frame.

After taking my photos with and of Lenin, I sat on one of the benches in the park to eat. Being in the shade felt soooo good, I already knew I'd have major heat exhaustion by the end of the day.

From there I walked back toward the part of the city most people visit when they come to Tver. Along the way I stopped at what used to be a big factory complex. 

There were signs with the history of the complex, but they were entirely in Russian, and I was hot. I should've taken pictures, to translate later, but I didn't.

I think some of the buildings are now used as apartment buildings, a couple are just plain abandoned, and others are maybe still factories? I'm not sure. I found an area with playground equipment, but it was slowly being taken back by nature.

After the factory area, I walked to a monastery. The name of the main church in the monastery was the Resurrection Cathedral, but I can't find the name of the monastery, argh. I was able to see a small chapel, and a church, both of which were outside the walls. Unfortunately, the monastery gates were still closed, so I wasn't able to see any churches or buildings inside the walls. The map I was using had me going through the monastery grounds, so I had to find another way around, which ended up being quite a bit longer than expected.

Normally I wouldn't have minded the extra walking, but like I wrote earlier, it was hot, and I was feeling it. When I got around to the other side of the monastery, there was a sign on the gates that basically said it was still closed for quarantine. From what I could tell, only people who belong inside the walls were going to be allowed in.

My next stop was an obelisk honouring the victory of the Allies in WW2. A very typical Soviet victory monument. There was another small church not too far behind the obelisk, also closed at the time. 

At this point, that wasn't much of a surprise. Many of the people I've seen in Russian churches are older, so they're more at risk for getting sick with Covid 19. As much as I want to travel normally, I also want to keep people safe if I can, and that sometimes means not seeing something.

Not long after that I got to one of the major bridges over the river, just by an art museum we visited in a previous trip to Tver. The bridge had walkways one both sides for pedestrians, there were plenty of people walking on the bridge. 

On the other side of the bridge I noticed something I hadn't seen during the first visit to Tver, a beach! There were quite a few people hanging out on the beach, enjoying the weather.

I turned onto another street, and before long ended up on another bridge. Walking over that one gave me a view of a pretty little marina, with a few boats moored. I wonder how many people in Tver have boats, and how often they use them. For that matter, how long is it considered boating weather? Where do the boats go when the river freezes?

Not long after crossing that bridge, I realized I needed to turn around and go back a bit. The road I was on at the moment wasn't going to connect with the part of the city I needed to get to. I know I've said it before in this post, but extra walking wasn't sounding as good as normal because of the heat and sun.

Continuing to walk, I passed the biggest/main Lenin statue in town. I also passed a stela that showed Tver is considered a city of military glory.

Eventually I got to my last sight of the trip: a mosque. Though Russia is generally known as an Orthodox Christian country, there are plenty of other faiths represented in the country. This mosque wasn't huge, but it was easily recognizable as a mosque. What I immediately noticed was that it was right next to a Catholic church. I love that kind of juxtaposition. I wonder if the congregations have any sort of relationship with each other.

From there I found the closest bus stop, and caught a bus back to the train station. Tver doesn't have a big train station, and not a lot of traffic, so they don't let you onto the platform you want until just a few minutes before the train arrives. 

Of course this means people gather right next to the barriers, (not many of them wearing masks,) waiting for the moment those barriers are removed.

The train back to Moscow went exactly as scheduled, which is exactly what I expected :)

Tver is a great city as a quick trip from Moscow, but now that I've seen it in winter weather and summer weather, I don't think I need to go back.

russia: a monastery and pokrov

Even though I'd basically just come back to Moscow, I started my second weekend back by taking off for a day trip on Saturday. I'd chosen my destination because of a photo I'd seen on social media, which has become a normal way for me to choose a place to go :)

Almost as soon as I boarded the elektrichka I missed the ladies I traveled with last year. We spent nearly every weekend together, traveling all over the country. I hadn't realized how much I'd gotten used to it, until boarding this train and really realizing they weren't there. Argh.

Around 2.5 hours later I arrived at a station called Glubokovo. The station itself was hardly a station, more like just a landing platform. To get to my sight of the day, I had a two hour walk, through a whole lot of nothing.

The walk was actually really pretty, though I kept thinking how much the ladies would've been teasing me about where we were walking if they'd been there. Less than half of the 'roads' were sealed, some were just sand!

That being said, I got to see some small lakes/ponds, which had beautiful reflections on a sunny, quiet morning.

Eventually I got to where I wanted to go: a monastery. The monastery sits on an island in the middle of a lake, which means the aesthetic appeal of a photo is pretty awesome. I got to see a beautiful reflection of the bridge and island on the lake.

Despite this monastery basically being out in the middle of nowhere (no public transport, at least not that I could find,) there was still a fairly steady parade of people crossing the bridge to the island. I generally love taking photos of me on a bridge, but I skipped that this time.

Go figure, the monastery itself wasn't all that great. One church was open, but only the lower level. It was nice, and fully decorated, but didn't feel as amazing as many churches because of the low ceiling.

The biggest church building was closed, and seemed to be under renovation, darnit. I wonder what it looks like when everything is in good shape.

After a two hour walk, I only spent about 30 minutes on the island. It wasn't big, and there wasn't much to see other than the reflection on the water. Oh well, at least the weather was good.

From there I walked to Pokrov, (Vladimir oblast,) the closest town. With just a little over 17,000 residents, the city was originally granted town status in 1778. It was originally built as a monastery village, but that's no longer the main focus of the city. Wikipedia tells me Pokrov is home to a chocolate factory, I wish I'd been able to take a tour!!

I stopped in the first grocery store I saw, the ice cream I bought tasted amazing. (Probably because I was hot and sweaty and had been walking for at least 90 minutes since leaving the monastery.) I had to make sure I didn't drink the water too fast, I needed to absorb the water, not have it go straight through me.

I didn't see much of interest in Pokrov, but I did like the chocolate fairy monument. She is a chocolate bar with arms, legs, a head, and a hat. Absolutely perfect. If only she handed out real chocolate. Sigh.

Further down the main street was a small park, Yandex maps told me a Lenin statue should be there. He wasn't, I was rather disappointed. There was a platform where I imagine his bust/statue used to be, but there isn't anything else there anymore. I wonder when he disappeared, and why.

I also found a church, but it was just as 'interesting' as the monastery. Sigh.

From there I had a loooooong walk back to the train station. I timed it pretty well, and only had to wait 15 minutes for the next elektrichka to come along.

I was quite happy with my day trip, even though I hadn't seen all that much, and had walked quite a bit. The weather was good, so being outside was a good thing no matter what.

Welcome back (to me,) to traveling in Russia.

transnistria: tiraspol and bendery

I've been fascinated with geopolitics for a long time. I love learning about how people view themselves, and when those views become strong enough to want to be separate. I think there are 195 official countries (as defined by the UN,) in the world, though there are a number of territories and areas that function as separate entities, but are not internationally recognized as separate. There are two more countries that are recognized by some others, but not enough of the rest of the world to be considered officially recognized countries: Taiwan and Kosovo.

It's the separate areas that fascinate me the most, those that function by themselves, but have little to no official recognition. I took a few days to visit one of them, which calls itself the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. The short name used more often is Transnistria, which is a whole lot easier to say.

Transnistria is basically the easternmost sliver of Moldova. Most of the republic is on the eastern side of the Dniester River, between the river and the Ukrainian border. Moldovan law actually defines the area, and designates it as an autonomous part of Moldova. In reality, Transnistria functions as a completely separate country.

The history of Transnistria is complicated, as are the histories of many countries in this part of the world. The area has been part of Ukraine, Moldova, and more. The capital city of Tiraspol was probably founded all the way back in 600BC, so there has been habitation here for a very very long time.

I reckon most people don't really know where Transnistria is, and have only a vague recollection of the name. This vague recognition probably comes from the early 90s, when the collapse of the Soviet Union caused total chaos in this part of the world. 

Former Soviet republics were struggling to figure out independence, and areas like Transnistria wanted to separate from Moldova, which was basically a new country anywho.

My journey started with a flight from Moscow to Chisinau, the capital of Moldova. The flight was in the middle of the night, which wasn't as bad as it sounds. After hanging out in the airport for a few hours it was easy to catch a marshrutka to the city center, getting off at a stop near the central bus station. From there it was easy to get on a marshrutka to Tiraspol. The hardest part was figuring out how much I was supposed to pay, as I don't understand Moldovan.

The drive from Chisinau to Tiraspol is easy, though a bit nervewracking when you get to the official border. Since Transnistria is not officially recognized, there is no stamping of passports when you 'leave' Moldova. Moldova doesn't even have border control officers at the border. Transnistrian soldiers investigate your passport, and print out a paper visa for your visit.

The soldiers at the border asked me where I was staying, so I'm glad I had booked a place ahead of time. It seemed like there was a list of some sort, because the name of the place I had booked was familiar to the guy. 

He also asked how many days I planned to stay, that information went into a computer as well. The paper visa goes in your passport, then you give it back when you leave Transnistria. Passport stamp geeks like me wish there was a stamp, but I understand why there isn't. Maybe sometime in the future.

I stayed on the marshrutka as it went through the city of Tiraspol, only getting off at the last stop, which happened to be the train station. As I'm a sucker for train stations, I walked through the train station before turning around and walking in the general direction of my accomodation.

Since I'd known I wouldn't have service for my phone, I'd dowloaded maps to my phone ahead of time, which made it easy to figure out where to go. Thank goodness for modern technology. Not far from the train station I noticed a sign (in Russian, English, and Moldovan,) pointing to a tourist information center. I had a general idea of what I wanted to see in the city, but I figured it would be a good idea to see what the info center had.

It was a great idea to walk into the tourist information center. They gave me a paper map of the city, as well as information about specific buses to go to other cities, and where some things were located. 

They spoke good English, I had no troubles with communication.

I checked into my accomodation and ended up taking a short nap. This is when I point out that the local temperature was over 30C in Tiraspol, significantly warmer and more humid than Moscow. I don't like taking naps, but my body needed the rest after the lack of sleep, and increased temperatures and humidity.

Eventually I started walking and exploring, I didn't end up spending that much time walking that day. Definitely not as long as I should've explored. Oh well. I started by walking toward Pobeda Park. 

Heaps of Russian cities have this kind of a park. More often than not there is a WW2 memorial in this park, but that wasn't the case in Tiraspol. There wasn't much of anything in the park, though I did appreciate the entrance gate. There weren't many people in the park either, but that was probably because of the heat.

I exchanged money not far from the park. Since Transnistria isn't officially recognized, they don't have an internationally recognized bank. I saw a couple ATMs, but I think they dispensed Moldovan lei, which wouldn't have been very useful. 

Transnistria does have their own currency, called the ruble. It's value is pegged to the Moldovan lei, the ruble is slightly stronger than the lei. I exchanged Russian rubles for Transnistrian rubles, hoping that I guessed right about how much I would need for three days.

Leaving the park I made my way to one of the main streets of the city: 25 October street. The date is from Russian history, as it is the date in 1917 when the Bolsheviks captured the Winter Palace in St Petersburg and therefore took control of the country.

Walking the length of 25 October street takes you past nearly everything there is to see in Tiraspol. I saw the front of the theatre, which was quite grand. I walked past the House of Soviets, stopping to take a photo because there was a bust of Lenin in front. Another grand building, typical of every house of Soviets I've seen.

I walked into a bookstore, most of the books were in Russian. I found a city sign, and took a photo even though I'm pretty sure I had sweat rolling off me by that point. 25 October street doesn't have shady places to walk, the direct sun was soooo hot.

A block off this street, not far from the city sign I found a supermarket. I was absolutely thrilled to see a few products from Ukraine, as those don't exist in Russia these days. It was air conditioned, which felt absolutely fantastic at that point. I was disappointed in the yogurt selection, there weren't many options. 

I love visiting supermarkets in general, and the chance to buy liquid was sorely needed by this point.

After gulping down a lot of water, I kept going. I found the city house of culture, small but grand. It was right next to another park area, this one with no shade whatsoeva. At one end of the mark was a monument with a guy on a horse, as well as flags of all the regions in Transnistria. There was also a series of flags with Russian colours right next to an identical series of flags with Transnistrian colours. There were giant flags of the countries of Transnistria as well as Russia, flying at the same height.

I kept going down the street, coming to the parliament building for Transnistria. In front of the building is a big statue of Lenin, of course I took a few photos. He stands on a tall pedestal, you have to back up quite a bit to get all of him in a photo, with parliament in the background.

Across the street from parliament was the war memorial I knew had to be somewhere in the city. I found a tank, an eternal flame, names carved in stone, etc... One part of the area was a separate memorial for soldiers who died during the Soviet war in Afghanistan.  Transnistria was under Soviet control when that war happened (I think,) so this memorial makes sense.

On the other side of the war memorial area was the river. I could see some man made beach areas, I kinda wished I had brought a bikini to lay out and actually enjoy the sun. I have no idea whether it is a good idea to go in the water or not.

Even though I'd only been outside for around 3 hours by then, I was exhausted. My lower legs were showing the rash I get from heat exhaustion, so I knew it was time to head back home. I stopped at a restaurant for dinner, enjoying the air conditioning more than anything. I crashed hard that night, which is typical for the first night of any trip for me.

The next morning I made it a point to get going earlier in the morning than I usually do, to make up for lost time the day before. I walked back to the supermarket, loading up on more liquid and snacks for the day. From there I walked to a stop to catch a marshrutka to a town called Bender (or Bendery, depending on who you ask.)

I got off the marshrutka near the center of Bender, hoping it wouldn't be hard to find where to catch one going back to Tiraspol later in the day.

First up for me was walking along Lenin Street, to the Lenin statue. He hadn't been cleaned in a while, I could see a lot of yellow pollen dust all over the statue. Ick. I kept going, all the way to the end of the street, where I found a train station.

This train station was much better than the one I'd seen in Tiraspol, though I think it gets far less traffic. 

There was no one inside while I was there, but the doors were unlocked, and I could see signs designating a ticket office, so there had to be someone I couldn't see. The stairs and ceiling were quite grand, I was thrilled.

On one side of the train station was a train monument, as well as a war memorial. Very similar to what I've seen in various Russian cities. On the way back to the city center of Bender I looked at some of the street signs on the buildings. More than one of them listed names in Russian and Moldovan, as well as historical names of the street. I love that kind of stuff.

I walked to a big traffic circle, in the middle of which was a stelae showing that Bender is a city of military glory. I didn't know that designation happened outside of Russia, but it obviously does. On one side of the traffic circle was an older tank, with another war memorial. Again, typical of a Russian city.

From there it was a looooong walk to my next sight, in very little shade. I was really glad I'd brought water with me, and even happier when I saw another supermarket just as I got to where I wanted to go next.

I love big monuments, this one definitely qualified. It was a victory arch, like those I've seen in Moscow and St Petersburg and Irkutsk and Astrakhan, etc... Just past the arch was another big gate of sorts, the gate marked the entry of a military cemetery. I would've walked through more of the cemetery, but it was now the middle of the day, and the sun was strong. Instead I headed for the supermarket across the road.

Inside the supermarket I walked around until I found a vent from which cold air streamed out. I stood under that for a good five minutes, it felt incredible. 

Ice cream and more water were the perfect purchases. I noticed chocolate for sale, how does anyone eat that in this weather?

Then I got to suffer through more sun to walk to the last place I wanted to see in Bender: a fortress. There was a much higher entry fee for foreigners, something that never fails to irritate me. This fortress is the first thing to visit on tourism lists, but I wasn't as impressed as I wanted to be. It had been renovated not too long ago, and I felt like it looked new.

This fortress goes all the way back to when this area was part of the Ottoman Empire. 

The outer walls have been rebuilt, as have the towers in various places. You can climb stairs to a walkway along the top of half the walls. There isn't much in the middle of the grounds, it is mostly green grass with a couple walkways. Honestly, I didn't think it was worth the entry fee.

There was a church near the fortress, but it wasn't open, argh.

As I walked back into the center of Bender, I followed a couple buses/marshrutkas and found the main starting point for city buses, and from there it was easy to get back to Tiraspol. 

Since I'd enjoyed my dinner the night before, I went back to the same place :)

Before going to sleep that night I made a specific list of what I wanted to see the next day, my last day in Transnistria.

The next morning I was up early again, and actually managed to get myself out the door by mid morning. First on the list was a photo at the city sign for Bender, then a stop at another, much bigger city sign for Tiraspol. Those two signs weren't all that far from each other, the cities aren't far from each other.

My first sight back in the city of Tiraspol was a history museum. I was disappointed again to find another foreigner entry fee, sigh. Nothing was in English, so my extra money went I don't know where. The foreigner price was three times the local price, so I feel like I have a legitimate complaint there.

The museum was decent. There were several rooms with different parts of Transnistrian history. I saw traditional Ukrainian clothing and culture, uniforms of soldiers from various wars, products produced in Transnistria, etc... Looking out the window in one of the back rooms I was thrilled to see another statue of Lenin.

After leaving the museum I tried to figure out how to get to Lenin. It turned out that the statue was in an area behind a locked gate, sigh. As I walked by that gate, it opened, and a truck drove through. I took the chance to walk through at the same time, and eventually found an open door. Employees were standing just outside the door, taking a smoke break. In my very broken Russian I asked them if I could get closer to Lenin and take a photo. Yay!!

The history museum was really close to the war memorial area I'd seen a couple days before, and that area was close to a bridge over the river. 

I walked across the bridge, to a marshrutka stop on the other side of the river. It was easy to catch a ride to my next and last stop for this trip: a monastery.

Noul Neamt monastery was founded in 1861, and has somehow survived, even though the area was under decidedly non religious Soviet control for a long time. During those years, from around 1960 to 1991, the monastery served as a hospital. The entire monastery is surrounded by brick walls. I found the entry gate and walked into a nice garden area. 

The inside of one wall was covered in a religious mosaic mural. 

The property isn't big, but manages to hold at least two churches, a bell tower with lovely painting, and what I assume are accomodations for the monks. I didn't see anyone else the entire time I walked around, but I'm sure someone had to be there. One of the churches was open, the other was not. The interior of the open church was totally covered in frescoes, and light streamed in, so I was a happy camper.

I left the monastery and went back to the main street to find a stop to catch the next marshrutka back to Tiraspol. The ride wasn't long, but it was longer than I would've wanted to walk, if I"d had the time to do so.

My timing ended up being on point, as I only had to wait a couple minutes for the next marshrutka to come along. 

I got back to Tiraspol in time to have one more meal at the same restaurant I'd already visited twice, then grab my backpack from the hostel, and walk to the train station.

I didn't have to wait long for the next ride to Chisinau, and from the central bus station there it was easy (and cheap!) to get back to the airport.

I wonder if other cities in Transnistria are worth exploring?