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I was in Moldova back in 2013 for a university org summer course and for me it somehow felt like being in Cuba. There weren't many tourists but everyone was ve

I was in Moldova back in 2013 for a university org summer course and for me it somehow felt like being in Cuba. There weren't many tourists but everyone was very welcoming. You could see even between students the difference in pro-russians and pro-europeans. Weird thing is cut the hot water during the summer. Best wine I've ever had and it was home made from my friend's parent's cellar. Loved the time there.

dosinga 2y ago
Had the reverse. Went there late October and it was unseasonably cold. Soviet style hotels only switch on the heating novemeber 1st though
seanmcdirmid 2y ago
Old Soviet style communities get hot water from central plants, mainly used for heating but also for showers, so when winter is over, they shutdown the heating plants for the season and no hot water at all. Some places in Northern China hook into muni hot water for showers in the winter but use solar hot water in the summer, when hot showers can be a bit less satisfying (in my experience anyways).
- cyberax 2y ago
  > Old Soviet style communities get hot water from central plants, mainly used for heating but also for showers, so when winter is over, they shutdown the heating plants for the season and no hot water at all. That's not quite correct. Thermal power plants supply heat, but local water heating stations can typically work autonomously. Hot water is typically turned off to allow for maintenance and tests. Hot water pipes corrode about 10-20 _times_ faster than cold water pipes.
- monero-xmr 2y ago
  Lebanon has a non-functional government where all publicly-owned everything basically doesn't work. Beirut is essentially a libertarian enclave now, where everyone with means has their own solar panels and gas generators, self-produces all power, and the economy runs on paper US dollars and cryptocurrencies. It's amazing what people can do when their governments are non-existent.
  - ClumsyPilot 2y ago
    How is police / crime doing?
    - vasco 2y ago
      Terrible, as is inflation, as is almost everything else, and in the south of the country you got hezbollah bombing things. I'm not Lebanese so just know what I know from close friends, but the comment read very strange to me. Life is very difficult there, none of the Lebanese I know want to move back. I'm not sure why OP painted it as an anarchist utopia, that's definitely not what I hear.
      - specproc 2y ago
        You also get Israel bombing the south of the country and a Syrian border run by drug cartels. Agree with the sentiment on OP. These libertarian views are so often held by comfortable Americans who've never seen what an absence of government looks like.
      - teractiveodular 2y ago
        The OP's handle of "monero-xmr" might give you a hint why.
      - monero-xmr 2y ago
        I never said it was amazing, I said how the country is still functional and people are kept from starving to death, given the government is nonexistent
    - snowpid 2y ago
      How is Hisbollah doing?
- TomK32 2y ago
  District heating is common in many northern European cities, even Italy (e.g 55% of households in Turino). The USA has 2500 (as of 2013) such heating and cooling networks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_heating https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_heating district cooling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_cooling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_cooling
- SomeoneFromCA 2y ago
  It is so incorrect, it is boderline idiotic urban legend. post-Soviet cities have hot water year around; same heating plants used for winter heating, are used for hot water in summer time, albeit at lower power. Also waste heat from power plants used for the same purpose.
  - throwaway290 2y ago
    I'll fact check you since I was born and grew up in Russia. No water most of the summer used to be the norm in my city. Checking as of today, in two cities I know central hot water is off every summer for 2+ weeks. My city improved and another one regressed. In a third city I asked about (one of the coldest) it's off for just single digit days.
    - SomeoneFromCA 2y ago
      What you describe is not normal today (unless we are talking about some Mukhosransk type of cities), and certainly was not normal in USSR, which kept civil infrastructure in a good shape. As someone who is currently living in Central Asia, yes I do have no water for two weeks a year, they switch it off for "maintenance". However all last 5+ years, I had water through summer, with only occasional failures. We did have no heating one year, but water was all the time present.
      - throwaway290 2y ago
        Sure, they keep water hot in select cities, and the rest is Mukhosransk territory that doesn't matter. You could be from Moscow with that logic! Respectfully you have no idea, planned hot water downtime in summer is reality for most cities in Russia (including SPb with official maximum length of two weeks), don't try to paint it look better than the mess it is. Other post-Soviet countries probably do better, especially in Europe, but I have no info
        SomeoneFromCA 2y ago
        have you read the original post? > Old Soviet style communities get hot water from central plants, mainly used for heating but also for showers, so when winter is over, they shutdown the heating plants for the season and no hot water at all Because if you reread it, you'll get the ridiculousness of that claim. So what you saying that situation in ex-USSR is such that there is only hot water during the winter. This is ridiculous, even taking into account grievances you have about Russian infrastructure.
- danayfm 2y ago
  Makes sense, but when I asked most people answered that it was to save natural gas.
petre 2y ago
They have good wines, as they can only compete through quality on the European market. Although before Russia set tariffs on Moldovan products they were only exporting awful sweet wines which they sold on the Russian market. I'm glad those days are over.
- sam_lowry_ 2y ago
  Purcari and Gitana are two staple names in the EU market. I bought them for 10+ years from a friendly reseller. IMO they are still the best value proposition.
  - petre 2y ago
    You should try Vinia Traian[1] then, It's very close to the Gagauzia autonomous region, located in the Valul lui Traian PGI[2]. Also anything from Slobozia Mare: Domeniile Davidescu, Vinaria din Vale. They also have Saperavi, a Gerogian grape variety. A popular Moldovan variety is Rara Neagra but you should be careful not to consume it alone without meat or cheese because it's an older variety, it's more acidic and might cause stomach burns if you drink anything in excess of several glasses. In Romania it's called Babeasca Nagra and in Ukraine it's known as Sereksiya. Purcari has a wine called Freedom Blend consisting of Saperavi, Rara Neagra and Bastrado, an Ukrainian variety. The name is obviously a pun. 1. https://www.viniatraian.md/ 2. https://wineofmoldova.com/en/valul-lui-traian-pgi-region/
    - danayfm 2y ago
      Off-topic, where can I find moldovan wines in the US, specially any rara neagra? I used to buy them in a store in Ohio (Jungle Jim's), but I don't live in the Midwest anymore.
protomolecule 2y ago
"Weird thing is cut the hot water during the summer." That's probably for the pipe maintenance. Even now in Russia the hot water gets cut off for a couple of weeks.

dosinga 2y ago

Had the reverse. Went there late October and it was unseasonably cold. Soviet style hotels only switch on the heating novemeber 1st though

seanmcdirmid 2y ago

Old Soviet style communities get hot water from central plants, mainly used for heating but also for showers, so when winter is over, they shutdown the heating plants for the season and no hot water at all. Some places in Northern China hook into muni hot water for showers in the winter but use solar hot water in the summer, when hot showers can be a bit less satisfying (in my experience anyways).

cyberax 2y ago
> Old Soviet style communities get hot water from central plants, mainly used for heating but also for showers, so when winter is over, they shutdown the heating plants for the season and no hot water at all. That's not quite correct. Thermal power plants supply heat, but local water heating stations can typically work autonomously. Hot water is typically turned off to allow for maintenance and tests. Hot water pipes corrode about 10-20 _times_ faster than cold water pipes.
monero-xmr 2y ago
Lebanon has a non-functional government where all publicly-owned everything basically doesn't work. Beirut is essentially a libertarian enclave now, where everyone with means has their own solar panels and gas generators, self-produces all power, and the economy runs on paper US dollars and cryptocurrencies. It's amazing what people can do when their governments are non-existent.
- ClumsyPilot 2y ago
  How is police / crime doing?
  - vasco 2y ago
    Terrible, as is inflation, as is almost everything else, and in the south of the country you got hezbollah bombing things. I'm not Lebanese so just know what I know from close friends, but the comment read very strange to me. Life is very difficult there, none of the Lebanese I know want to move back. I'm not sure why OP painted it as an anarchist utopia, that's definitely not what I hear.
    - specproc 2y ago
      You also get Israel bombing the south of the country and a Syrian border run by drug cartels. Agree with the sentiment on OP. These libertarian views are so often held by comfortable Americans who've never seen what an absence of government looks like.
    - teractiveodular 2y ago
      The OP's handle of "monero-xmr" might give you a hint why.
    - monero-xmr 2y ago
      I never said it was amazing, I said how the country is still functional and people are kept from starving to death, given the government is nonexistent
  - snowpid 2y ago
    How is Hisbollah doing?
TomK32 2y ago
District heating is common in many northern European cities, even Italy (e.g 55% of households in Turino). The USA has 2500 (as of 2013) such heating and cooling networks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_heating https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_heating district cooling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_cooling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_cooling
SomeoneFromCA 2y ago
It is so incorrect, it is boderline idiotic urban legend. post-Soviet cities have hot water year around; same heating plants used for winter heating, are used for hot water in summer time, albeit at lower power. Also waste heat from power plants used for the same purpose.
- throwaway290 2y ago
  I'll fact check you since I was born and grew up in Russia. No water most of the summer used to be the norm in my city. Checking as of today, in two cities I know central hot water is off every summer for 2+ weeks. My city improved and another one regressed. In a third city I asked about (one of the coldest) it's off for just single digit days.
  - SomeoneFromCA 2y ago
    What you describe is not normal today (unless we are talking about some Mukhosransk type of cities), and certainly was not normal in USSR, which kept civil infrastructure in a good shape. As someone who is currently living in Central Asia, yes I do have no water for two weeks a year, they switch it off for "maintenance". However all last 5+ years, I had water through summer, with only occasional failures. We did have no heating one year, but water was all the time present.
    - throwaway290 2y ago
      Sure, they keep water hot in select cities, and the rest is Mukhosransk territory that doesn't matter. You could be from Moscow with that logic! Respectfully you have no idea, planned hot water downtime in summer is reality for most cities in Russia (including SPb with official maximum length of two weeks), don't try to paint it look better than the mess it is. Other post-Soviet countries probably do better, especially in Europe, but I have no info
      - SomeoneFromCA 2y ago
        have you read the original post? > Old Soviet style communities get hot water from central plants, mainly used for heating but also for showers, so when winter is over, they shutdown the heating plants for the season and no hot water at all Because if you reread it, you'll get the ridiculousness of that claim. So what you saying that situation in ex-USSR is such that there is only hot water during the winter. This is ridiculous, even taking into account grievances you have about Russian infrastructure.
danayfm 2y ago
Makes sense, but when I asked most people answered that it was to save natural gas.

petre 2y ago

They have good wines, as they can only compete through quality on the European market. Although before Russia set tariffs on Moldovan products they were only exporting awful sweet wines which they sold on the Russian market. I'm glad those days are over.

sam_lowry_ 2y ago
Purcari and Gitana are two staple names in the EU market. I bought them for 10+ years from a friendly reseller. IMO they are still the best value proposition.
- petre 2y ago
  You should try Vinia Traian[1] then, It's very close to the Gagauzia autonomous region, located in the Valul lui Traian PGI[2]. Also anything from Slobozia Mare: Domeniile Davidescu, Vinaria din Vale. They also have Saperavi, a Gerogian grape variety. A popular Moldovan variety is Rara Neagra but you should be careful not to consume it alone without meat or cheese because it's an older variety, it's more acidic and might cause stomach burns if you drink anything in excess of several glasses. In Romania it's called Babeasca Nagra and in Ukraine it's known as Sereksiya. Purcari has a wine called Freedom Blend consisting of Saperavi, Rara Neagra and Bastrado, an Ukrainian variety. The name is obviously a pun. 1. https://www.viniatraian.md/ 2. https://wineofmoldova.com/en/valul-lui-traian-pgi-region/
  - danayfm 2y ago
    Off-topic, where can I find moldovan wines in the US, specially any rara neagra? I used to buy them in a store in Ohio (Jungle Jim's), but I don't live in the Midwest anymore.

protomolecule 2y ago

"Weird thing is cut the hot water during the summer." That's probably for the pipe maintenance. Even now in Russia the hot water gets cut off for a couple of weeks.