This weekend, my coworker Malgosia, her boyfriend, another friend, and I took a trip to the Purcari winery a few hours south of Chisinau. After a private tour, we had a nice little wine tasting with samples of eight of the winery’s finest (poured generously and refilled as desired), and finished the evening off with a delicious dinner washed down with more free-flowing wine. (See what I mean? – Moldovans take their drinking seriously.) Though I know approximately less than zero about wine, I somehow managed to love the two wines that are apparently typical American favorites: the Purcari Sauvignon Blanc and the “Rosu.” I was a huge fan of the fact that bottles could be purchased for approximately $5 each in the gift shop. I was not, however, a huge fan of the Cahor wine – a port-like sweeeeeet (like sugar, not like fabulous) concoction that’s purportedly a Moldovan specialty. I’m sure it’s great, but I just can’t roll with it personally.
We spent the night in Purcari’s hotel, a beautiful place on the beautiful winery grounds, and then drove down to the Ukrainian seaside the next day. In concept: great idea. In practice: sorta miserable.
(a) I haven’t yet mentioned that it’s been over a hundred degrees here every day for the past few weeks. While this sounds like great weather for going to the beach, it’s not. It’s just too hot.
(b) The water was full of weird fuzzy seaweed and hundreds of little jellyfish. I’ve never been squeamish about sea creatures, but splashing around without waves and with abundant unappealing aquatic flora and fauna didn’t make for a great time in the water. And without going in the water, you basically melt. (See (a).)
(c) The beach was full of (sometimes large) people in (frequently small/tight/creative) swimwear. Especially the men. I’m all for comfort, but boys, promise me that when you’re 70 you won’t wear baggy gray briefs in the sea!
One of mys weekend highlights was sharing some important American culture with my Polish friends: when we stopped by the side of the road for some watermelon, I started a seed-spitting contest. While the crowd started out quite skeptical, Malgosia really got into it. And who says Americans don’t have culture?
Scenes from the wine tour, and a 6-Speedo shot from the beach. Ah, Europe....
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