Best tour ever!
My day tour with Kat Pro (Ecaterina) was easily the best tour I've ever had. In fact, I wouldn't call it so much a "tour" but instead a great day out with a really good friend who just happened to know lots of fascinating history and local information.
I've tried to think about the best way to describe the day, going through a few rough drafts, and I think the best way is to describe the special touches Kat provided, those things that go beyond the expectations of the average tour and make the experience truly memorable.
I originally booked my tour a few months back for a trip to Bender Fortress and Tiraspol. Naturally, Kat met and exceeded those expectations. She brilliantly recounted the events at Bender: Suleiman the Magnificent, Charles XII of Sweden, Baron von Munchausen, et al. Likewise, in Tiraspol, she took me to the key sights and explained their significance: the tank monument and memorial to those who died in the Afghanistan and Transnistrian war, the Suvorov monument, the cathedral to Christ's birth (Christmas Cathedral), the House of Soviets, etc.
But, again, it was the extra touches Kat provided that made it a fabulous day. For example, en route to Bender we stopped to buy watermelons and fresh grapes from roadside vendors; we went shopping at the Sheriff Hypermarket; we explored the different neighborhoods in Tiraspol; we took lunch in the very stylish Hotel Russia restaurant; and we made an impromptu stop at the impressively elegant Mimi winery. We talked about travel, life and a mutual affection for cats. Again, this was more a grand day out with a good friend than a purchased, scripted tour. I might forget that the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent built the Bender stone fortress in 1538, but I'll always remember chatting and munching on grapes by the roadside and searching for a cat themed mug in the Sheriff Hypermarket.
It was a great, full day made magnificently memorable by Kat. Many thanks.
Reviewed by
Nelson Franks
• October 04, 2019