The Cosmos Hotel proved to be a real experience. It has something like 19 floors, with at least 10 rooms a floor--possibly double that--so it is a pretty large hotel, and maybe the tallest building in Chisinau. It is also in a really prime location, and has a nice square in front of it. This was the view from my room on the seventh floor:
So, the hotel was probably quite nice at some point, and still has potential. But, the reality is that it is tired and poorly kept up and, frankly, dirty.
Nonetheless, it gave me exactly the post-Soviet experience I was looking for. There was a souvenir shop in the lobby, somewhat surprisingly since a) the Hotel Cosmos does not appear to get a lot of guests and b) Moldova generally does not get a lot of tourists. It was, however, closed by the time I arrived. I could see postcards behind locked glass, and asked the girl at the reception desk if she could sell me one. No, tomorrow after 8:00, she said. Tomorrow (today) was Sunday, so the post office would be closed, so I headed over there last night to get a stamp. On the way back to the hotel I stopped at a grocery store in one of several shopping malls around the hotel to get some dinner. The mall was very nice as malls go, but I understand "Malldova" (clever, eh?) is even nicer.
I ate dinner in my hotel room, including this Ukranian beer (I was trying to make up for the lack of Ukrainian experience from yesterday).
Despite all kinds of things wrong with my room, including visibly dirty/stained blankets, I slept wonderfully.
I woke up to make sure I maximized the sun. Breakfast was supposed to be served at 7:30, so I went to the restaurant at 7:35: locked, and no one seemed to be inside.
"Well, I'll come back," I decided.
I checked out from my room and hit the quiet streets of Sunday morning Chisinau. I was leaving Moldova early in the afternoon, so I was wanting to make the most of the morning to see some of the city. The first place I went was Cathedral Park, named for the cathedral below.
There is also a triumphal arch at this park, and across the street is Government House.
There are also these monuments, very reminiscent of the anti-communism memorial monument in Bucharest.
From Cathedral Park I drove to the main train station. I thought there was a possibility I could maybe find a postcard there. This monument is in the square in front of the train station, a memorial to the victims of communism. No doubt this is a simplification, but at least in terms of public expression, the feelings about the Soviet past in Moldova versus Transnistria appear starkly opposite.
The difference is also emphasized by the fact that, despite not being an EU member, EU flags are flying all over Chisinau, and in Tiraspol I saw at least a dozen Russian flags--and certainly no EU ones.
The train station, while an impressive building, did not have anywhere selling postcards.
It was now 8:20, so I returned to the Hotel Cosmos.
The souvenir shop, which supposedly opened at 8:00 was not open; the girl at the reception desk shrugged when I asked.
The restaurant, which supposedly opened at 7:30 but was not open at 7:53, was now open at 8:20.
I ate a breakfast that was as sad as the building it was served in. Mostly the food was low quality and not fresh, but what was most sad to me was its presentation--entirely haphazard with absolutely no apparent attempt at anything resembling beauty or even logical organization. It was a far cry from the incredible pride I had been served with yesterday in Butuceny, where I was not allowed to even sit down at the table until it had been made up with tablecloth, candle, and so on. Anyway, I ate, and went back downstairs to see if the souvenir shop was open. Still, no.
"Maybe 9:30," the girl told me.
Since I really wanted a postcard, I decided to wait. Anyway, the Hotel Cosmos is something of a museum in a way, so I explored. Yesterday, when I parked my car, a doorman had led me through some of the back hallways. He spoke no English, but he was friendly and excited to show the hotel to me. It seemed obvious he did not think it was a lovely building, either. He used the word "imperial" to describe its construction which of course could just be the best word he could come up with, or, I think, might be indicative of how Moldovans view the USSR's role in their history. In any case, today I was on my own, but I wandered all over, not once finding a door locked. In fact, some of the unoccupied hotel rooms not only were unlocked, but had the doors wide open! What was just as hard to find as a locked door was light--most of the halls were unlit. Overall it reminded me a lot of the hotel I stayed at in Pyongyang, DPRK.
Finally at 9:45 a new girl at the reception desk told me what was becoming pretty obvious: the souvenir shop probably was not going to open today because it was Sunday.
Very well. I still had over an hour before I had to be at the airport, so I decided I would continue exploring Chisinau and also continue looking for a postcard.
I headed to some museums. I never found a postcard, but saw the military museum:
And the national history museum:
As well as the national art museum, which for some reason I did not photograph. Lastly I went to a bookstore, which, while lacking in postcards, had an impressive collection of Jung books (I am always looking for Jung books, and they do not seem to be this popular in Edmonton!).
Having given up on the postcard, I drove to the airport to catch my flight to Istanbul.
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