See the attached PDF for full details.

At last! Here! The long promised Slow Food trip to Moldova has become a reality. From 13 September - 21 September - this is the best time in Moldova to catch the grape picking, wine making, harvesting, feasting and all - in the warmth of some gentle sunshine.

Moldova was featured in "Playing Moldovans at Tennis" by Tony Hawks, and by Michael Palin in his recent series and book "New Europe". And the relatively new table game "Where is Moldova?" is set out to become the "Christmas Game" of the year sometime in the future... As for the multiple TV programmes and media articles on human and labour traffic from Moldova, "the poorest country in Europe", oh, don't ask...

The Slow Food Chisinau Convivium, as a special Thank You! for your support in setting it up, is inviting Slow Food members to discover a different Moldova - hospitable, warm, flavoursome, and yet - somewhat naïve in business, peculiar and withdrawn from the tourist world. The tour promises to be a discovery without retouches for the tourists' eyes. Few of the proposed places are normally featured in tourist agencies' brochures. And because it is custom-made, and a first one of this kind, the price is more than convenient - around EURO 300 for the 8 days, plus your travel costs and insurance. We are still working on the accommodation, hoping to have you all stay with a hosting family, by this - enhancing your country experience. Should this prove impossible, there will be an additional cost of about EURO 30/day for accommodation.

So, are you interested? Then have a look at our draft programme and let me know whether you would like to come along. At this stage we would like to know how many people are going to join, before we finalise the programme and costings. Going to Moldova is easiest by plane direct to Chisinau with a stopover in Vienna, Budapest, Frankfurt or Amsterdam, costing, depending on date of booking, about £330. There is also a direct flight to Chisinau, from Stansted airport, on Tuesdays and Fridays, but it is a very long flight and somewhat unreliable (timings). The cheapest option is to fly to Bucharest (£80) and take the overnight train to Chisinau (£20). This, actually, is an experience in itself, since the train has to pass through the former Soviet border, where the width of the rails changes, and all carriages have to be lifted up on cranes, with sleeping passengers onboard, and wheels changed in the middle of the night. My British husband thinks this is hilarious and worth every penny. Another option is to fly to Bucharest and get on a minibus, for an 8 hour cross-border journey. Should there be a group of 10, we can book our own bus and negotiate prices, as well. Let me know at tschiopu@hotmail.com or via the sign-up form below.