United in Music
Was anyone really expecting me to post those albums that same day as I wrote my last blog? I am not sure if even I did… I do (as always) have a valid reason though: Monday afternoon, I was invited to a presentation by IOM on a pilot project that they have managed together with the Government for the past year or so. It was a very interesting project linked to the large flows of remittances in this country and on how to improve the recipients’ capacity to make optimal use of these additional incomes. The pilot was very successful and similar projects are now being implemented in other parts of the world. (It is always inspiring to see successful projects!)
After the presentation, there was the usual reception which I went to, to catch up with some people (and to grab a bit to eat – they served excellent cheese!). When I was just on my way to go back to the office, my colleagues at IOM invited me to come with the project team on a guided tour with dinner and wine tasting at Milestii Mici – the largest wine cellar in the world. We were a very odd group of people that came on this tour. In addition to my colleague from IOM and a couple of foreign consultants on the project, there were representatives from the Ministry of Economy and Trade, the Central Bank, the deputy CEO from one of the largest banks in Moldova, and me. Apart from being a bit of a strange combination of people, we did not have one single language in common between us. When we, after an interesting drive around the wine cellars, on underground roads with names such as Cabernet and Codru, sat down for dinner the conversation was a bit slow. Polite exchanges were made and some attempts were made to get small conversations going, but without any real results. Then the savour came in the form of two musicians. A violinist and an accordion dressed in Moldovan folk costumes began to play not only Moldovan music, but also Russian, Spanish, Italian and Swedish songs, according to our nationalities. I was very impressed, especially by the violinist and we were all caught up in the music and joined in, in the singing. At every attempt they made to leave, someone in the group talked them in to playing a few more songs until the dinner was over and it was time to go back to Chisinau. So perhaps we did not have so much to talk about, but at least we could enjoy the music together. And in the end, it was a really nice evening!
More than 50 km of wine cellars in use
Collection wine
