Moldova

I really liked Moldova.  The Moldovan people were nice.  I stayed in the capital, Chisinau.  The hostel was a new experience.  The owner was very nice and organized really great tours.  However, I think I would describe the hostel atmosphere as ... "different"?  Moldova is definitely not on the typical tourist trail, so the other people staying in the hostel were pretty experienced travelers, and some of them seemed almost competitive.  Yes, some people view travel as a competitive sport.  Sitting around the kitchen table, drinking the local boxed wine, and people talking about the obscure places they've been...  I got mansplained on American politics by a talkative French woman, met an Australian guy who retired in his early 30s from a career in programming and was now traveling the world, met another Australian who views America as a developing country because we don't have trains or universal healthcare, and shared a toast with some flirty drunk Russian diplomats at a local restaurant.  A guy from Catalonia was biking and needed to find a cardboard box to ship his bicycle home.  A woman from Catalonia was denied a visa to enter the US because she had been to both Israel and Iran, so there was a waiting period to enter the US.  A guy from Italy was riding his Vespa around eastern Europe.  it was an eclectic group of people, and definitely different vibes than other hostels I've been to.