ronik24
Proud Earthling
Hi,
To the previous part of the series:
Wintery East '18 - 22: Snow Day in Chișinău (50 p.)
http://www.railroadforums.com/forum...ry-east-18-22-snow-day-in-chișinău-50-p.13197
The video for this part:
March 20 2018
After the city tour and supermarket shopping, we walked down the snow-covered street to our hotel.
The snow maybe hid some potholes but created new problems. I managed to pass this spot with the Kia Rio unharmed two times, the third time the front lower right bumper struck one of these ice bumps. I detected a crack in the plastic later, so everything was thoroughly documented.
View from the hotel room during dusk on the snow day, to the top right you can already spot the approaching locomotive.
One half of a 2TE10M or third of a 3TE10M smoked past our window almost punctually at 6:29 p.m., hauling express 341F from Moscow.
I filmed the return of train 341B departing at 8:40 p.m. (video at second 0:47). Snowfall had significantly decreased and we were greeted by sunrays the next morning.
March 21 2018
We left the hotel at 6:30. The car lock was iced up, but dunking the key into a cup of hot water solved the issue. More snow could be found on the streets despite a nice morning, on a drive down to the shores of Ghidighici Reservoir we met a tanker truck across the road which had not made it up the hill. Then, the road surface became so bad we were not able to continue in this car, so we turned around. Lastly, I found a spot below a road bridge across the railroad near Pruncul station. I waited at 7:30 a.m. for a train supposed to arrive to the main station at 7:46.
Again, quite punctually for such a long journey, express 061B from St. Petersburg appeared from around the corner at 7:39.
Again, it was B-unit of 2TE10L-1250.
Snow action in Moldova - you cannot plan for that!
A little blue sky and sunshine also seemed improbable after the day before.
The first car belonged to the Belarussian state railroad.
The rest was kept in classic green livery.
We drove to Străşeni - the following train will be shown in the next report. Afterwards, we stopped at the Jewish cemetery on the way back.
It is the largest Jewish cemetery in Moldova, some sources speak of the largest in Europe. Chișinău had been a center of Jewish culture in Europe. Until WWII almost half of the population was Jewish, about 270,000 according to a 1930 Romanian census. Who managed to escape the Holocaust returned in Soviet times, then many emigrated to Israel especially during the late 20th century. In contrast to other cities, 10000 people of Jewish faith still live in Chișinău - so the cemetery also offers an active section.
More information (in German, please use browser translate function): https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jüdischer_Friedhof_(Chișinău)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Moldova
We walked uphill along animal tracks.
The cemetery attendants were busy renovating railings also doubling as snowplows.
In the lower corner already next to apartment blocks the oldest part of the cemetery can be found, including a destroyed 19th century synagogue.
Grave sculpture typical of the Soviet Union showing the occupation of the deceased.
Subsequently, we drove to the airport to return the car where I was charged for the damage, but reimbursed after the trip by the Rentalcars insurance. Then, a rather unofficial looking cab - which did not seem to bother the official taxi dispatcher at the airport - took us to the city center.
Gheorghe Asachi high school.
Cathedral Saint Theodora of Sihla.
We sat down at PaniPit restaurant next to the National Art Museum and enjoyed Moldovan cutlets with mămăligă (porridge made out of yellow maize flour, similar to Italian polenta).
We saw a mixture of public and not so cheap private transport on a subsequent city walk.
#3789 is a ZiU-682G built in 1990.
Once, houses in the center had been limited to one floor.
A Škoda 14TrDT/6M, delivered in 2002.
Kamow Ka-26 helicopter with co-axial rotors in front of the history museum.
Below, the club "Propaganda".
We got on a brand new RTEC 62321M2 #3907 built in September 2017 where the female conductor sold single tickets for 2 lei (10 cents). I am not sure how corruption would be possible at such prices...
A final trolleybus image of the trip with ZiU-682V-013 #3792 from 1990 in front of the former state circus.
We returned to the hotel for our luggage, the receptionist called us a cab. This GAZ M21 Volga parked in front of the hotel.
After a ride through rush-hour traffic, we reached the main station. The timetables next to the entrance are not current anymore.
We took our seats in the waiting hall. Once, a security guard wanted to know where we were going and if we had tickets, otherwise we were left alone. I just took a few cell phone pics...
The next, border-crossing part will include 100% railroad content!
To the previous part of the series:
Wintery East '18 - 22: Snow Day in Chișinău (50 p.)
http://www.railroadforums.com/forum...ry-east-18-22-snow-day-in-chișinău-50-p.13197
The video for this part:
March 20 2018
After the city tour and supermarket shopping, we walked down the snow-covered street to our hotel.
The snow maybe hid some potholes but created new problems. I managed to pass this spot with the Kia Rio unharmed two times, the third time the front lower right bumper struck one of these ice bumps. I detected a crack in the plastic later, so everything was thoroughly documented.
View from the hotel room during dusk on the snow day, to the top right you can already spot the approaching locomotive.
One half of a 2TE10M or third of a 3TE10M smoked past our window almost punctually at 6:29 p.m., hauling express 341F from Moscow.
I filmed the return of train 341B departing at 8:40 p.m. (video at second 0:47). Snowfall had significantly decreased and we were greeted by sunrays the next morning.
March 21 2018
We left the hotel at 6:30. The car lock was iced up, but dunking the key into a cup of hot water solved the issue. More snow could be found on the streets despite a nice morning, on a drive down to the shores of Ghidighici Reservoir we met a tanker truck across the road which had not made it up the hill. Then, the road surface became so bad we were not able to continue in this car, so we turned around. Lastly, I found a spot below a road bridge across the railroad near Pruncul station. I waited at 7:30 a.m. for a train supposed to arrive to the main station at 7:46.
Again, quite punctually for such a long journey, express 061B from St. Petersburg appeared from around the corner at 7:39.
Again, it was B-unit of 2TE10L-1250.
Snow action in Moldova - you cannot plan for that!
A little blue sky and sunshine also seemed improbable after the day before.
The first car belonged to the Belarussian state railroad.
The rest was kept in classic green livery.
We drove to Străşeni - the following train will be shown in the next report. Afterwards, we stopped at the Jewish cemetery on the way back.
It is the largest Jewish cemetery in Moldova, some sources speak of the largest in Europe. Chișinău had been a center of Jewish culture in Europe. Until WWII almost half of the population was Jewish, about 270,000 according to a 1930 Romanian census. Who managed to escape the Holocaust returned in Soviet times, then many emigrated to Israel especially during the late 20th century. In contrast to other cities, 10000 people of Jewish faith still live in Chișinău - so the cemetery also offers an active section.
More information (in German, please use browser translate function): https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jüdischer_Friedhof_(Chișinău)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Moldova
We walked uphill along animal tracks.
The cemetery attendants were busy renovating railings also doubling as snowplows.
In the lower corner already next to apartment blocks the oldest part of the cemetery can be found, including a destroyed 19th century synagogue.
Grave sculpture typical of the Soviet Union showing the occupation of the deceased.
Subsequently, we drove to the airport to return the car where I was charged for the damage, but reimbursed after the trip by the Rentalcars insurance. Then, a rather unofficial looking cab - which did not seem to bother the official taxi dispatcher at the airport - took us to the city center.
Gheorghe Asachi high school.
Cathedral Saint Theodora of Sihla.
We sat down at PaniPit restaurant next to the National Art Museum and enjoyed Moldovan cutlets with mămăligă (porridge made out of yellow maize flour, similar to Italian polenta).
We saw a mixture of public and not so cheap private transport on a subsequent city walk.
#3789 is a ZiU-682G built in 1990.
Once, houses in the center had been limited to one floor.
A Škoda 14TrDT/6M, delivered in 2002.
Kamow Ka-26 helicopter with co-axial rotors in front of the history museum.
Below, the club "Propaganda".
We got on a brand new RTEC 62321M2 #3907 built in September 2017 where the female conductor sold single tickets for 2 lei (10 cents). I am not sure how corruption would be possible at such prices...
A final trolleybus image of the trip with ZiU-682V-013 #3792 from 1990 in front of the former state circus.
We returned to the hotel for our luggage, the receptionist called us a cab. This GAZ M21 Volga parked in front of the hotel.
After a ride through rush-hour traffic, we reached the main station. The timetables next to the entrance are not current anymore.
We took our seats in the waiting hall. Once, a security guard wanted to know where we were going and if we had tickets, otherwise we were left alone. I just took a few cell phone pics...
The next, border-crossing part will include 100% railroad content!
