Blogs from Ukraine, Europe - page 41

In terms of Ukrainian distances, we are very nearly in Kiev (the Ukrainians like us to spell it Kiyiv, but I'll stick to the more familiar version) - in a relatively nomal city called Zhytomir about 140 km west of Kiev. The few days in Lviv were spent mostly wandering around the compact city centre. We did visit the Lviv City Museum but all the exhibits, though very interesting, had explanations in Ukrainian so we were able to understand very little. Our evening entertainments consisted of going to see a ballet and a concert of music by Lithuanian composers, the latter of which was grossly underattended, even though the orchestra was of a much better standard. Both turned out to be very enjoyable. The ballet took place in the Lviv Opera House, a very grand building ... read more

I used to know this friend, Henry since college back home. He lives in Ukraine. Did not think much of setting up a meeting before I left home because of sporatic contact. Yet, I managed to call a friend in Hawaii who confirm her sister's phone number. Her sister lives in Dalat where my friend's extended family live in. I got a hold of my Henry's sisters who I met when I was in Vietnam visiting them 16 years ago then I got my friend's contact number in Ukraine. I could not tell which city He lives in now. The last address I had was that he lived in Odessa. Yet, the phone number I was given isn't Odessa city code. I tried to call, and the call did not go through at first then got ... read more

Today we are in Kiev and we leave tonight for Moscow. We have been unable to write as often as we would like due to the fact that there are few internet places available. We were in the mountains the last we wrote. Yaremcha is supposedly a ski resort, but we are not sure how any industry such as that would survive there. Certainly no where near Banff or Jasper. But the food was excellent as was the vodka. We ate in a smoke house that really was! We were almost black when we emerged, but didn't care much because the shishkabob, fresh mushroom salad and corn meal with cottage cheese dinner was fantastic. The next day as we drove to Lviv, we stopped at the very center of Europe! North, South, East and West. Our ... read more

Hello! We are in a little town called Uzgorod just across the border from Hungary and Slovakia. OUr hotel is wonderful and right in the town center. The women are dressed up as much as they can and with their bodies, they are quite capable of it for the next year of their life or so. Our dinner last night was huge, Paul and dad had breaded veal that had things rolled inside and they were HUGE. Dinner for all four of us with drinks was about $20 and we were in a restaurant on the river Uzh. The topilet paper are rolls of uncolored crepe paper that we would hang for decorations. No kidding! Mom and I just bought a lipstick each and the cost was $2 total. So, things in this little town are ... read more

Day 51, 21st July. Stepova - Kamjalka - Odesa We sat tight in the tent because the mozzies were waiting en-mass outside hungry for our blood! At about 10am, when it had warmed up somewhat, we packed up quickly but still got bitten quite a lot before getting onto the open road. There was a horrendous headwind and the temperature registered 42 Celsius on Rory’s cycle-computer! Scott was in a bad way again and needed to rest very often in the shade. It was a hard 40 miles before we were negotiating the outer suburbs of Odesa. Just before the centre, I changed DM100 into Hryvna, the unpronounceable Ukrainian currency, and then we headed along the leafy streets and found ourselves at the Potemkin Steps. In Mick O’Neil’s Irish Bar a pint of Guinness went down ... read more