I am in Chișinău, the capital of Moldova. This country is sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine. It was one of tge Soviet republics, then named Moldavia, and today is a mix of a historical downtown, Soviet-style suburbs, and a few modern buildings. It’s small, hilly, very pleasant and relaxed, and not choked with traffic.

It has numerous beautiful parks, a university, and feels very young. It’s very Orthodox Christian, there are many churches filled with people who go there to attend mass and pray. Not something people do in Berlin. Also many smokers here, even outside the churches. Tourism is not a thing here, although there are currency exchange booths and ATMs everywhere that dispense local leu, euros, and USD.