CanadianDavid

Yes, it has taken me a few days to add the final blog entry. I think that once this entry is complete and published, that indicates the end of this trip. I enjoyed this trip so much more than I expected, met some absolutely incredible people, experienced a beautiful Country, and honestly, just did not want this trip to end! I admit that I briefly thought about the implications and trouble I'd be in if I "accidentally" missed my flight home! The return flight home Weather: Ok, so it DOES rain in Ukraine! Leaving Kiev 2:00am - Wake up to meet my driver for the drive back to Boryspil Airport Weather - it's POURING!! Driver arrives at 2:40am. This is the same driver that picked me up from the airport upon my arrival! Arrive at the ... read more

Day two in Kiev, second visit. Last day of Ukraine :o( Weather: It's feeling a bit cool today. Well, the coolest day of the trip so far. Overcast; looks like it could rain today *crosses fingers* 7:30 - up, out of bed. Going to shave and shower, and go downstairs to Coffee House to start the day with a coffee (first time LOL). Leaving at about 9:30 to make my way to the statue to meet Oksana. 10:00 arrived at Maiden Nezalezhnosti statue. An hour early, plenty of time to find a nice cappuccino, and hopefully a flower shop before 11:00. Really nice kafe house around the corner from the statue. Go in, sit in the patio to have a few smokes, a couple of cappuccinos (16 hryvnia for two cappuccinos .. roughly $2.50US!!!! Damn I'm ... read more

Kiev: Day one of second visit Weather: Warm and a bit muggy out there today. No jacket - wondering why I packed it!! 6:30 alarm ... *argh* 7:05 - showered and out the door to hail a taxi. 7:30 - yeah, call Helen (Olenka) to let her know that not one damn taxi stopped for an English speaking fare!!! Gave her the address to grab a taxi from the rail station to meet me here. 7:40 - Olenka steps out of the taxi. Wow! Not at all what I was expecting. Another beautiful Ukrainian woman! What is in the freaking water here????? Head up to the apartment so Olenka can get freshened up from the overnight rail trip before we start off our day. The car will be here at 11:00 to relocate me to the ... read more

Kharkov to Kiev Weather: another sunny, beautiful day! Got very little sleep last night. Fear of missing my train, I suppose. Got out of bed for the last time at 4:30. Showered, packed, and ready to head out the door by 5:30. Decided to go downstairs and have a smoke while waiting for my driver. Got down to street level at 5:50, he was already there waiting!! Showed him my rail ticket so he knew where we were going. He loaded my luggage, and went. We arrived at the rail station at approx 6:05 (my train doesn't leave until 7:06!!). The driver unloaded my luggage, wheeled my suitcase, and brought me right into the train station, looked up the track, and walked me right to the train! The people around here are amazing. The train didn't ... read more

Day four in Kharkov (Last day here before returning to Kiev) Weather: Another beautiful day! Weather network says 18 degrees with a relative humidity factor of 52%. It feels a lot warmer than that (and it's only 10:00) Was up at 6:00 this morning. Watched the city wake up. Nice way to start the day, my last day in Kharkov. Received an email last night from a fellow North American traveler, Brett from New York is currently in Poltava. He found and read through my blog, and wanted to say hi. Hi Brett!! I will email you when I get home. I hope you're having a terrific time in Poltava. You didn't mention if this was your first time to Poltava or not though. If it is, I'm happy to hear that you are having a ... read more

Day three in Kharkov Weather: Another beautiful, sunny day! Jacket may be left in the apartment today. It's about 20 degrees with the odd cloud in the sky. Up at 7:45 this morning. Was watching TV last night, and heard some bangs coming from outside. Checked the window, and was treated to a beautiful fireworks show going on over at the northern edge of town. No idea what the occasion, but it looked great from here! Today was spent window shopping, and exploring in the other direction from the apartment from previous days. Very cool shops along Pushinska Street! Found an MTC store relatively quickly. Topped up the phone with another 50 hryvnia. I managed to figure out, through my broken Russian and his broken English, that any balances remaining on the phone (pay-as-you-go) don't expire ... read more

Day two in Kharkov Weather: It rained overnight, and quite chilly this morning. Sun is trying to get out. Got up this morning at 6:45. Overcast and chilly, so I'll go lay back down for a bit. The down time here is needed, but it also feels like wasted time. Got back up at 8:30. The sun is now shining, and the streets are drying up. I finally heard from Inga. She's gone for the weekend with her girls, so we will meet on Monday. I'm looking forward to meeting her. I got the hot water issue resolved yesterday within 10 minutes of sending the apartment manager an SMS message. I guess it was something they had not turned on from their side. I had hot water quickly. It looks like it's going to be another ... read more

Day One in Kharkov Weather: It's warm out today! I'm wearing the jacket only for the zippered pocket thing I mentioned yesterday, but without that, I would NOT be wearing a jacket today! Out of bed about 9:00 this morning. I can definitely feel the walking of the past week in my legs this morning! Today will be a rest and take it easy day. No hot water for a shower. Not sure if it's just no hot water, a shared hot water tank, or if I have to turn something on around here to have hot water. I'll have to email them to find out. Went for a quick walk along the main streets to get my bearings for around town. Other than this apartment, the area is very nice. Walking the streets, I don't ... read more

Final day in Poltava Weather: It's warm, but still comfortable enough for the jacket. I'm getting used to wearing the jacket, mainly for the security of keeping my passport, travel documents, and a bit of additional spending money in the inside zippered pocket. Svetlana showed up about 9:15. She apologized for not being available the day before. She is feeling better, but had a bad temperature the day before and wasn't feeling well. She was happy to hear that I found my way around the city, even with getting lost, I did have a good day, but missed having her with me. We went for breakfast about 9:30. After breakfast, we called a cab to take us to the bus station. I bought a little statuette for her at the bus station. She assisted me in ... read more

Day Three in Poltava Weather: Another warm, beautiful day. The people of Poltava are wearing jackets and sweaters again today. The wind is a bit chilly, so I'll wear a light jacket today, just in case. Got out of bed around 6:00. Went for a walk, then returned for breakfast about 8:30. Called Svetlana around 10:30 to find out where she was. Her mobile phone is not on. I continue to walk around town .. returned to the City Centre, and walked along a street with a lot of street vendors. Very cool. I finally got an answer on Svetlana's mobile about 11:30. Her mom answered and explained that Svetlana was in bed, sick. She had a fever and was not feeling well. She would not be able to join me today, and wished me a ... read more