Hi Becka!
You can't even imagine how glad I am you got interested in Moldova. You see, our country is so small and unpopular that sometimes, when a Moldovan is abroad and asked where he is from, he doesn't know what to say, because not many people heard of such a country. Especially it refers to Americans. I've even found an American game, called "Where is Moldova?". It sounds very sad and offensive to know that you live "nowhere".
I believe our country is poorly promoted, and needs a little PR.
Now, in regards to your questions.
That's not a river, it's a lake. Yeah, it looks beautiful and all, but experts don't recommend to swim in it, it's not so clean as it appears. One of those buildings (where you see the sign "Jumbo") is one of the numerous malls we have. Other buildings on the picture are simply blocks of flats where people live.
Interesting things to do? There are plenty of them. Actually you can do whatever you want, I think our city is as modern as almost any European cities. Yes, we have a lot of festivals, different concerts (dedicate to many events) spent in the center of the city.
Sports? Well this chapter is less developed. Still, you can watch a football game on a nice stadium
...or play tennis, bowling etc.
You don't need to learn Cyrillic alphabet :lol: because our state language is Romanian. Many speak Russian here.
To me, our city, particularly, and country, generally, look beautiful during the summertime. You're gonna love our nature and people.
Still, wintertime is not an exceptions. A lot of concerts, festivals etc. are spent namely between 25 December and 15 January. A nice winter atmosphere you'll find here!
uper