{"id":449754,"date":"2021-11-15T09:54:27","date_gmt":"2021-11-15T09:54:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/?p=449754"},"modified":"2021-11-17T07:17:56","modified_gmt":"2021-11-17T07:17:56","slug":"viscauti-the-moldovan-village-where-you-feel-like-heaven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/viscauti-the-moldovan-village-where-you-feel-like-heaven\/","title":{"rendered":"V\u00ee\u0219c\u0103u\u021bi, the Moldovan village where you feel like heaven"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 9<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

She enters the house in a hurry and arranges the corner of the entrance mat. She leaves her purse and other items on the kitchen chair and starts washing the dishes. Then she goes to the second floor, changes the sheets on the beds, arranges the trinkets on the table, draws the curtains and opens the windows to aerate the room. From the window you can see the Nistru river, its banks covered with fresh vegetation. The woman sees to her tasks. She vacuums, she cleans the floors and starts all over again on the first floor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then she moves to the old house next door. Nobody was accommodated in this house yet, as everyone prefers \u201ceuro\u201d repairs, as Lucia, the 52 years old administrator of the guest house, explains. But she doesn\u2019t let the dust settle on the furniture and always has the rooms ready to accommodate guests.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n[aesop_content color=”#000000″ background=”#cdeeee” columns=”1″ position=”none” imgrepeat=”no-repeat” disable_bgshading=”off” floaterposition=”left” floaterdirection=”up” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off” aesop-generator-content=”The House of the Boyar is a guest house in the village of V\u00ee\u0219c\u0103u\u021bi, Orhei, and can accommodate up to 8 persons. It is part of an eco-cultural touristic project \u201cBronze Half-moon\u201d (\u201cSemiluna de bronz\u201d), which aims at attracting tourists in rural regions, offering them authentic experience, but it also promotes social entrepreneurship. Besides involving the locals by creating jobs, the project also offers the opportunity and necessary support for the villagers to sell their products and services. Also, the profit is reinvested in the locality and its development. For example, now they work on developing a touristic trail through the forests of V\u00ee\u0219c\u0103u\u021bi with all the necessary infrastructure, which will benefit the visitors of the village, as well as the locals.<\/p>\n

“]The House of the Boyar is a guest house in the village of V\u00ee\u0219c\u0103u\u021bi, Orhei, and can accommodate up to 8 persons. It is part of an eco-cultural touristic project \u201cBronze Half-moon\u201d (\u201cSemiluna de bronz\u201d), which aims at attracting tourists in rural regions, offering them authentic experience, but it also promotes social entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n

Besides involving the locals by creating jobs, the project also offers the opportunity and necessary support for the villagers to sell their products and services. Also, the profit is reinvested in the locality and its development. For example, now they work on developing a touristic trail through the forests of V\u00ee\u0219c\u0103u\u021bi with all the necessary infrastructure, which will benefit the visitors of the village, as well as the locals.<\/p>\n[\/aesop_content]\n[aesop_gallery id=”449755″ revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

Lucia quickly sweeps in the yard and takes out the trash. She managed to tidy up in just about two hours. A group of tourists just left and another one is coming. Lucia Frunz\u0103 took off her apron and is ready to welcome the guests. \u201cThey come from Chi\u0219in\u0103u, they come from everywhere,\u201d she says in a hurry.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lucia remembers when she received a group of 18 people. At their request, she cooked them <\/span>pl\u0103cinte<\/span><\/i>, pot roast and <\/span>m\u0103m\u0103lig\u0103<\/span><\/i>. But she decided to make them a surprise and prepared some mulled wine. \u201cAs a bonus. I have a special recipe. I add black pepper, sugar, lemon, oranges and a little vanilla. These give the wine such an arooomaaa.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She is a very good cook. And one of her secrets is a special knife, which she carries with her from home to the guest house and back. It\u2019s a cleaver with a wavy pattern blade, so when she cuts produce, it has jagged edges. When she makes soup, she cuts the potatoes, the carrots, the meat and the onion – she slices everything with it. Once she brought a bowl of soup to uncle Colea. \u201cOh, this soup with farfalle is so good, it\u2019s like at a restaurant!,\u201d recalls Lucia amused about the impression she made on the neighbor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n[aesop_gallery id=”449782″ revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

The meadow and the cave<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Gheorghe and Ludmila Frunz\u0103 live down the road from the guest house. When Lucia has too much on her plate, the old couple helps her out with cooking or with laundry. He is 74 years old, and she is 70. In summertime, the couple spends their second youth in V\u00ee\u0219c\u0103u\u021bi. In winter, when it\u2019s cold, they go back to Chi\u0219in\u0103u.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gheorghe was born here, and he knows all the surroundings like his five fingers. He knows how to reach the Boyar\u2019s Cave two ways: one is more difficult and the other one easier.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n[aesop_content color=”#000000″ background=”#cdeeee” columns=”1″ position=”none” imgrepeat=”no-repeat” disable_bgshading=”off” floaterposition=”left” floaterdirection=”up” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off” aesop-generator-content=”If you are in good shape and have the courage, you can reach the Boyar\u2019s Cave through the ravine. But Gheorghe\u2019s legs can\u2019t keep up with this trail as he used to. The pathway to the cave goes between two rocky hills. You will step on the slippery rocks, washed by the cold water of the springs. You will climb the trees so thick, you can\u2019t embrace with both hands, knocked down by the summer rain. You will slowly advance towards the cave located up the hill, where you\u2019ll see the Cornelian cherry dogwood full of hard-to-reach red berries, which local people pick for making compote. If you try and yell between the two rocky hills, your voice will not travel far. You will have no use of modern technologies, and your phone will only be good for taking pictures. Here you can breathe fresh cold air, while embraced by the silence dictated only by the murmur of the water.<\/p>\n

“]If you are in good shape and have the courage, you can reach the Boyar\u2019s Cave through the ravine. But Gheorghe\u2019s legs can\u2019t keep up with this trail as he used to. The pathway to the cave goes between two rocky hills. You will step on the slippery rocks, washed by the cold water of the springs. You will climb the trees so thick, you can\u2019t embrace with both hands, knocked down by the summer rain.<\/p>\n

You will slowly advance towards the cave located up the hill, where you\u2019ll see the Cornelian cherry dogwood full of hard-to-reach red berries, which local people pick for making compote. If you try and yell between the two rocky hills, your voice will not travel far. You will have no use of modern technologies, and your phone will only be good for taking pictures. Here you can breathe fresh cold air, while embraced by the silence dictated only by the murmur of the water.<\/p>\n[\/aesop_content]\n

\"\"\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n[aesop_content color=”#000000″ background=”#cdeeee” columns=”1″ position=”none” imgrepeat=”no-repeat” disable_bgshading=”off” floaterposition=”left” floaterdirection=”up” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off” aesop-generator-content=”Once you reach the cave, you need a lantern. On the walls you can see \u201cV+M=LOVE\u201d, but also hanging bats – almost embraced one next to another. There are three entrances to the cave and many labyrinths. No one knows exactly what are its measurements. There are some assumptions that it\u2019s one kilometer long. But you can\u2019t really reach its depths, because it collapsed a long time ago. There are many legends about the origin of the cave. Gheorghe tells us that it used to be a quarry, tons of rock being extracted for the construction of churches.\u00a0 Actually, according to archives, the cave was dug by the Sandino boyar around 1900 for storing wine barrels.\u00a0 Locals say that during the two world wars, the cave was used as shelter for their grandparents and great-grandparents, and that they were guarded by the soldiers stationed in V\u00ee\u0219c\u0103u\u021bi.<\/p>\n

“]Once you reach the cave, you need a lantern. On the walls you can see \u201cV+M=LOVE\u201d, but also hanging bats – almost embraced one next to another. There are three entrances to the cave and many labyrinths. No one knows exactly what are its measurements. There are some assumptions that it\u2019s one kilometer long. But you can\u2019t really reach its depths, because it collapsed a long time ago.<\/p>\n

There are many legends about the origin of the cave. Gheorghe tells us that it used to be a quarry, tons of rock being extracted for the construction of churches.<\/p>\n

Actually, according to archives, the cave was dug by the Sandino boyar around 1900 for storing wine barrels.<\/p>\n

Locals say that during the two world wars, the cave was used as shelter for their grandparents and great-grandparents, and that they were guarded by the soldiers stationed in V\u00ee\u0219c\u0103u\u021bi.<\/p>\n[\/aesop_content]\n[aesop_gallery id=”449770″ revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

The old couple takes us on the river bank. \u201cIf you get on the boat and sail on the river, watching the forest\u2026 It\u2019s such a beauty!,\u201d Gheorghe tells us with excitement. He walks slowly and looks towards Nistru, watching the swans, the forest. \u201cThe air in V\u00ee\u0219c\u0103u\u021bi almost makes you drunk,\u201d he adds. He is followed by his wife Liuda and Daniel, a boy from the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

They want to visit the three springs. It is said that the water of each of the springs has distinctive tastes. When they get to the place, they can see tourists\u2019 traces: campfire ash, some pieces of paper. Tourists are not uncommon in these places. Gheorghe tells us that they come with their tents and spend a couple of days here fishing. He likes spending time with them. \u201cAll of them say that this is a nice quiet place\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Map drawn for the tourists who visit the Boyar\u2019s House<\/p><\/div>\n

In V\u00ee\u0219c\u0103u\u021bi you can rent a boat from the locals. You can also buy homemade bread, wine and free range chicken, fresh river fish, home grown vegetables. The village also has a beach, a picnic area, a wharf and a neighborhood called \u201cThe joyful neighborhood\u201d due to the events organized here. From time to time, people gather here and cook fish soup or barbeque, they play some music, dance and party.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n