All,
Had a very nice and full day in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova.
Got in at midnight. Gordie and I both got up early and walked around the town. Pretty quiet, clean, and safe, with some cool sites. Had a nice breakfast.
Typical “English” breakfast. Delicious.
We signed up for a bike ride to a very cool underground winery. (Moldova is famous for wine.) Over 100 miles of tunnels and caves. Pretty cool. https://cricova.md/en
This place is like an underground castle.
A really cool place!
This is a picture and a thank-you letter from Yuri Gagarin, the first person to go into space. Word is that he visited here in 1964 and ended up spending the night (a combination of too much wine tasting and getting lost in the underground maze). Funny, he could get to space easier than he could find his way out of this place ð
The bike ride itself was pretty tough. Through the city with a guide (just the 3 of us) and (I know you’re all gonna laugh at me and think I’m full of shit) but pretty much all uphill. And through mud roads once we left the city itself. It was really hard, though I felt much better that Gordie, who is an accomplished rider, also thought it was hard as hell ðĪŠ.
Our guide, Ariel, was great. We never would have made it without him ð
Last night we had dinner with Shelby Magid and our friends from The Atlantic Council. Just a few folks–ex-US Ambassadors, some Kremlinologists, some security folks. VERY smart people. Gordie and I just kind of took it all in.
Looking forward to arriving in Odesa today. Will be traveling with our good friends from Allrise Capital. Will meet the Mayor and the Governor of Odesa and visit the soccer stadium, the port, and the women’s soccer school. And of course, see some of our LP team members–that will be my favorite part and what I am looking most forward to ð
Moldova is another very cool part of the world. Ex-Soviet Republic, looking to “westernize” and keeping an eye on how things go next door in Ukraine. Would likely be the next to fall if Ukraine is defeated, so clearly they/we have a stake in how this war ends. Hoping that the peace talks soon get “real” and that the US actually brings Putin to the table instead of continuing to kick the can down the road.
Lots of old Soviet style buildings.
National Theater. Named after one of the founders of the Romanian Theater.
There’s a miniature Arc d’ Triomphe here.
Nice broad walkways and parks. Chisinau is a very clean city.
Church. 95% of Moldovans identify as Eastern Orthodox Christians
Seems to me that there is SO MUCH to gain, for Russia, for Ukraine, and for the world at large if this war can end and everyone can get on with trade and investment and economic growth (not even to mention an end to all the senseless killing).
We’ll see. And we’ll do what we can to help.
Onward!
-JB