Through Romanian paradise and Moldavian hell to unrecognized Transnistria
What is it like to travel with young children in Eastern Europe? Drink water from wells, taste kvass, spend the night wild and in the morning look at flocks of sheep from your tent? To meet people every day for whom the sight of a cart with children brought a smile to their face and opened their heart?
From Romania, most travelers only know Transylvania, Dracula and Bucharest, the more experienced will also remember the Czech villages in Banat. Come and discover the lesser-known corners of Romania with the authors of this book, you will be just as surprised as they are, what natural and historical gems are hidden in the seemingly empty territory between the Carpathian Arch and the Black Sea. Mud volcanoes, salt karst, the Gura Dobrogei gorge, the remains of settlements from long before the birth of Christ and the Danube Delta await you.
And then they will introduce you to Moldova. The land of a thousand hills, arid and harsh, the poorest country in Europe, but richer in friendly people. Together with them, you will visit a Czech village, the world's largest wine cellars, the capital Chisinau, rock monasteries and much more.
And do you know, for example, where the independent Transnistrian Moldavian Republic is located? This unrecognized little town on the left bank of the Dniester River, which is often referred to as an open-air museum of communism? They couldn't miss that one either. The city decorations in the form of hammers and sickles with statues of Lenin brought them back to the old days.
The composition of the cycling expedition was as follows: father Luděk, mother Markéta, Víťa (3 years old) and Šárka (1.5 years old). Two fully loaded bikes, a tent and a well-traveled yellow wheelie cart. The trip took them 5 weeks and covered 2382 kilometers.