Transnistria? Where??
It is always exciting to read up on obscure countries that nobody really hears about or visits. Featured GoNOMAD writer Daniel Reynolds Riveiro writes about his time spent in the country of Transnistria that technically, does not exist. After it declared independence in 1990, the little country wedged between Moldova and Ukraine has left haunting images from the times of the Soviet Union, as well as a very successful Cognac factory. Enjoy the excerpts!
“Back in America, when I let people know I was going to Transnistria, the collective response was: “where?”
And the reason they had never heard of it was because Transnistria, despite having its own constitution, army and currency, isn’t recognized by any other sovereign nation and technically doesn’t exist.”
“A statue of Lenin still stands in front of the president’s administrative offices, a Soviet Star is atop the parliament building and a hammer and sickle sit outside the train station.
Diana, my traveling companion from Ukraine, was in a delirium of nostalgia, pointing excitedly to things not seen since her Soviet childhood: fonts from the 80s, Soviet water dispensing machines, Soviet beer kiosks, 20-year-old buses, and stores that are named by their one state-mandated function.”
