Tiraspol: Where the USSR Never Ended

A Country That Doesn’t Exist

Tiraspol is the capital of Moldova’s breakaway state in Transnistria (the Romanian name, the official Russian name is “Pridnestrovia”). By “breakaway state”, I mean that Transnistria is a fully functioning country. It has its own currency (Pridnestrovian Ruble, not accepted anywhere outside of Transnistria), border with passport checks, and government. Everything except its own language (they only speak Russian by the way). Oh, and it’s not recognized by any other UN country.

The main draw for us to go to Tiraspol was that we heard it was like stepping back in time 40 years to the communist era. We, having a bit of a fascination with Soviet-era communism, had to go.

The Marshrutka to Tiraspol

From the central bus station in downtown Chișinău, Moldova, we hopped on a Marshrutka (a large Sprinter Van used for transport) for the 2-hour ride to Tiraspol.

The bus made a quick and painless stop at the border for a passport check. We were a bit apprehensive about this, but the stern border guard (dressed in military fatigues) only asked us about our purpose for visiting Tiraspol (tourism) and planned duration in the city (one day). He scanned our passports, and returned them without further drama. We returned to the bus and were on our way.

The Moldovan countryside is mostly rural rolling hills and it was a treat looking out the window. The Marshrutka dropped us off a few hundred meters from our AirBnB.

Hammer, Sickle, and Lenin

Though our Eastern European readers may just chuckle condescendingly at our bemusement with brutalist communist buildings and apartment blocks, we felt psyched to spend the night in one. Walking into our apartment was like stepping back in time 50 years. The woven wallpaper, old-timey light fixtures, and framed cross-stitchings on the wall all felt authentic.

We immediately set out to walk around the small city. The most striking things we saw were hammer and sickles and 5-pointed USSR stars decorating buildings and plazas and a Lenin monument in front of the parliament building. All of the other Eastern European cities we’ve visited to date are firmly Western aligned – all such symbols have been (appropriately) removed from public space and put into museums.

Back in the USSR

We got a luxurious meal out at the nostalgic Back in the USSR restaurant. The exterior, foyer, and main restaurant were resplendent with old vending machines, art, rotary telephones on the wall, and the obligatory bust-statue of Lenin.

The menu was decidedly Russian/Ukrainian as well. I ordered baked chicken in Ukrainian style (breaded chicken stuffed with mushrooms and potatoes) and Rose ordered stewed chicken and mămăligă (cornmeal mush – more yummy than it sounds). We shared an appetizer of eggplant-wrapped nut paste.

Bellies full with hearty food, we returned to our apartment.

Returning West

The next morning featured a quick run on icy streets to the local bus station to figure our transport out. The building was a grungy Soviet-era relic and so was the very surly lady behind the ticket counter. Tickets for two for the two-hour ride back cost about $6.

We jogged back to the apartment for a quick breakfast and pack-up, returned to the train station for the bus and back to Chișinău we went. Returning to the capital, it felt more western and “European” than when we left.

We spent a few hours in our favorite Moldovan restaurant La Plăcinte before catching our night train to Bucharest.