Bye-bye Kiev

After our return from Chernobyl we were heading out for a final evening dinner in a restaurant underneath Independence Square. Below some photos of the square during the way back after dinner Friday night.

With my taxi to the airport leaving at 10:30 on Saturday morning, I found myself with a bit of time, to have a closer look at the information displays around the maidan, telling the story of the euromaidan revolution – how it started, what happened, how it ended and also the role of social media in the revolution – overall a good installation with loads of detail – – and one that left me quiet thankful for all the freedom, peace and liberty, I have at home and that I (and many others) probably take granted a bit too much …

Overall it’s been an interesting trip through a region in Europe, very little visited. This one was clearly not about mind-blowing landscape or world class attractions – but more a glimpse into recent history (sometimes subtle, sometimes very direct), the very different developments in the region after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the overall attitude towards the EU vs. Russia.
To conclude – for me the highlights of the trip were clearly the glimpses into the past, back into Soviet times – the living and breathing version in Tiraspol – but also the abandoned and closed-down version in Pripjat (and if you look closely, you will see, that both cities have the same Ferris Wheel model). Otherwise the wow-factor on this trip really is between the lines, in the little things and in comparing different cities and territories.

To read through this trip chronologically, start in Romania.

KVINT-essential Surprise

This afternoon was dedicated to, what is featured on the five ruble note – i.e. the KVINT divin (brandy) factory.

We got to the factory mid-afternoon and were welcomed by our guide, who directly led us to the plant’s showroom. Here we could get a bit of history of the factory and learned, that during Soviet times KVINT was about as premium as things could get for most, with some of the produce even making it into space and to the MIR space station (despite the fact that alcohol was officially off limits). We even got to see the one bottle, that made it back from space (so – what was wrong with that one – or did they just smuggle too many?).

We also learned about the product range and the best sellers. Key fact here … there is more than brandy … KVINT also does wine, vodka and gin.

From the showroom we continued to the bottling facility and then on to one of the cask stores. Final stop – of course – was in one of the ‘board rooms’ for a brandy tasting – covering five divins starting with a six year old one all the way to the ten year old XO Surprise … certainly an interesting tasting 😉

After the tasting we made it to the KVINT store around the corner and some of the older brandies (i.e. mostly older than anything, we had in the tasting) made it across the counter (in exchange for several of the already mentioned pictures of the KVINT factory). As I was curious about the gin, I got a bottle of that and we ended up having some gin & tonics later that night. The gin was a fairly simple affair, very crisp and clear towards juniper (as it should be) with some side notes of cardamom and none of the playfulness of most gins in Western Europe – for my taste a very straight, delightful and refreshing gin (and at less than 2 USD for a half liter bottle a very affordable one as well).

Bendery Fortress

Once back on the van we made the ten minute trip to a parking lot near Bendery Fortress. After a ten minute walk through an abandoned industrial area we eventually arrived at the actual fortress.

The fortress dates back to the very early 16th century, initially just build from wood – but developed into a full fort after the town had been conquered by the Ottomans in the mid 16th century. Over the centuries the fort was expanded a number of times and also went through a number of sieges (isn’t that, what you build a fort for?).

Today the fortress – or better the area around it – is yet again undergoing a major transformation – this time battling for tourists. Paths are being built, as is a parking lot – overall infrastructure around the fortress is going through a major overhaul (like for instance toilet facilities).

We started our guided tour outside the fort in an already renovated area overlooking the river. Here a cannonball with an attached seat grabs the attention. Background is that it was here in Bender, where the fictional (?) Baron Munchausen did ride the cannonball to get into the fort during a siege – and then of course out again with some added tactical information.

From here we made our way around the fort to its main entrance and on to the museum, where the tour concluded.