ukraine: kirovohrad

kirovohrad is another oblast capital...lonely planet doesn't list the city at all, but then again, lonely planet ukraine doesn't list a lot of places in the country...the most recent volume of lonely planet ukraine was published with a date of may 2011, i wonder when they'll publish a new volume...three or four years is the typical time, but a lot has happened in ukraine in that time, and the country still isn't settled...yet an update is needed...hmmm...
i took a night train from kyiv, which arrived really early saturday morning in kirovohrad...bright and early at 0505...needless to say, i didn't get enough sleep, but that's normal on a night train...

since the sun wasn't yet up, i hung out for a while in the train station...i knew nothing would be open, there is no point in wandering around in the dark in a city i don't know...i think i ended up staying in the train station until 0845 or so...
i walked down the street in front of the station toward the city centre...i think this particular street was called revolution street...lined on either side with apartment buildings, some of them quite big...some of them were more colourful than others...i saw a few banks, random shops, supermarkets, etc...

before crossing a bridge, i went left, following a road along a river for a while...i walked past a small park, at least it was labeled that way on google maps...i found it ugly, and not a place i'd want to spend any time...looked like some yardwaste had been dumped there, yuck...who wants to be in a place that has grass/weeds gone wild and a nothing nice looking?
this took me to a roundabout (in the shape of an oval), and since it was saturday morning, there was a weekly market going on...if i was reading the signs correctly, there is a co-op around the oblast, and all these vendors were part of the co-op...there were meat stalls, dairy stalls, and fresh produce stalls...

i ended up having breakfast in this market...some fried potatoes, with an egg and part of a rib...yum...fried food isn't healthy, but it sure smells and tastes good :)
after eating, i kept walking, taking a right not too long afterward,..this took me over a bridge, painted blue and yellow just like the other bridge i hadnt crossed...im guessing the painting happened in the past year, as it has all over the country...
just over the bridge, on the other side of the river was a giant memorial statue...think soviet realist type, i don't know what it was all about...i've seen so many of these big statues in this country, i love them, but i don't pay as much attention as i should anymore...

further up the road i thought i saw my hotel, so i walked in...it turned out i had the wrong place, but the front desk lady told me where to go...i found my hotel, but they said my room wasn't yet ready, so i needed to kill some time...
i walked through the big supermarket that was in the same building as my hotel...nothing special, but i wanted to check prices...some things were definitely cheaper, there is an advantage to being away from kyiv :)...by this time it was about 1100, i saw an 'asian' restaurant across the street...i'm always happy to have sushi rolls, so i stepped in...

after eating and relaxing, i went back outside and kept walking...i stepped into a nearby church, there was some sort of service going on...this was saturday morning, so i have no idea...its palm sunday in the states, but i don't know in ukraine...since it was a different service from what i am used to seeing, i didnt stay long...i didn't want to interrupt...
i found another church not too far away, another service was going on there...hmmmm...
i went back to my hotel, and was able to check in...i ended up taking a nap, which i hadn't originally intended...i also got to take a shower, yahoo...

after relaxing, i went back out to the streets...my weather app was telling me it was going to start raining in a bit, i wanted to see what i could before the weather got crappy...i found the remains of fortress walls, they were earthen and overgrown, just like in kherson...
in the middle of the area which the walls encircled, i found a large memorial area...i saw two walls with the dates of 1941 and 1945, as well as a whole lot of grave markers with the word hero...red stars everywhere...i'm guessing they referred to people fighting for the soviet union?

i walked further, and walked past the building that used to be the barracks for soldiers manning this fortress...it didn't look like much, especially since the building has been kept up fairly well...
i exited the fortress area on the other side, and followed the street for a while...it took me past more apartment building blocks, these were all drab...i did like the playgrounds i found in the middles of all the buildings...i also found a lot of what looked like chimneys coming out of the ground...i have no idea what they were, does anyone who reads this know?

i found yet another war memorial, listing the dates of WW1 and WW2...i don't know why it was in a different location from what i'd seen in the middle of the fortress area...
further up the road i circled back around to my hotel...instead of going inside, i kept walking, even though it had begun to rain by that point...i followed this main street for a bit, i think it was called karl marx street...i came to a few large governmental looking buildings, one had a large platz in front...in the middle of the platz was a pile of gray bricks with candles and photos on it...this memorial was to those who fought during the craziness of maidan last year...there was a sign saying the platz was now named something like maidan heroes platz...

i found a pedestrian street and walked along it for a bit...i don't know if it was the season (sorta spring, but not great weather) or what, but there wasn't anyone else walking there...hmmm...i ended up circling back around to marx street, and walking back in the direction of my hotel...
i had miso soup for dinner at the same asian restaurant i'd visited earlier...yum...and a nonalcoholic mojito, making really really sure there would be no alcohol in the drink...
since it was now raining very steadily, i had no motivation to continue walking...back in my hotel i edited photos on instagram, updated my daily travel journal, and read for a little while...then slept...
ukraine changed it's clocks in the middle of the night, we are now on DST...

the next morning i woke up early as usual, but it was still raining, argh...normally i would go for a walk, but since i hate rain, that didn't happen...instead i used my phone to get caught up on news around the world...
eventually i did pack up and check out, a little after noon...i bought water at the supermarket, then started walking toward an area of town i hadn't yet seen...the name of the street is now dvortsova, but it used to be called lenin street...some streets signs list one name, some list the other name...
i found the local history museum, and though it didn't look open, i opened the door and found people inside...the lady at the desk looked at me with a sortof "what are you doing here" look...i don't know if that's what she was thinking, but it's certainly the impression i got...i paid my entry fee (only 10 griven, less than 50 cents of an american dollar) and walked into the first room...each room represented a different set of years in local history...

it wasn't a big museum, but i thought it was really well done...there were sets of clothing, weapons, military medals, etc...i also got to see money as it has been in this area through time...rubles, griven, even some german stuff...very cool...i saw household goods, and photos of families...most of the displays had information in two languages, i wasn't expecting to see english but was thrilled to have it available...
i followed the street back in the other direction, passing by former privately owned mansions...very cool architecture...the city centre was full of nifty looking buildings...

eventually i came to a park with yet another memorial...from there i headed north, eventually coming to what felt like the millionth war memorial i'd seen in the city...this was also dedicated to WW2...names were listed on a long wall...a sad spot, but i'm glad to see the names are remembered...
i kept walking, and made my way to another church, and went inside...it ended up being one of the most simply decorated orthodox churches i've seen...there was an iconostasis, but not nearly as much painting on the walls as ive gotten used to seeing...just outside the church grounds was the co called 'guardian angel' of kirovohrad...pretty...
i followed another street, and found a cafe with wifi and a decent menu...relaxing, warming up, and snacking...yum...

i continued walking along, just following streets for no reason in particular...i like doing that...while i was in the cafe i'd found two more places i wanted to see listed online, so i wandered around until i got to the first...it was a church...church of protection of the holy virgin...it was closed, unfortunately...i found it interesting because it was sortof squashed into a courtyard between three apartment buildings...normally churches have a bit more space...
i also found the synagogue, also closed...i don't think it's at all active anymore...i don't know if there is an active jewish community in the city anymore...
not long after dark i got back to my hotel, where i'd been able to leave my backpack during the day...i grabbed it, then went to the asian restaurant for my third visit of the weekend...yum...i was there for a couple hours, then walked back to the train station...a couple hours there, then i hopped on my train back to kyiv...
i think i've seen all of kirovohrad, i don't feel the need to go back...but i very much enjoyed the weekend...

estonia: tallinn

I finally got to visit my third Baltic capital city, yahooooo!

I flew to Tallinn, Estonia on a Friday evening, on Air Baltic. The connections were tight, but lots of people fly from Kiev to Tallinn/Vilnius, so the later flights usually leave a few minutes late as they wait for people from the flights that first land in Riga. My flight landed before midnight, and it was a quick and cheap taxi ride to my hotel in the city. I think this taxi ride was cheaper than I'd had in either Riga or Vilnius.  Score a point for Tallinn already!

My hotel had 24 hour reception, I wasn't waking anyone up to checking, yahoo. The lady gave me all the information I needed about the hotel, and let me know where I could find maps and brochures about the city. I'd already realized Tallinn has done a great job of making things easy for visitors, providing information everywhere. Plus, it seems people speak three languages: Estonian, Russian, and English.

The next morning I woke up earlier than expected, considering I hadn't fallen asleep until after 0100. The only downside to my hotel is that weekend breakfast wasn't served until 0900, which is a bit late if you want to get out of the hotel and spend as much time as possible wandering around the city.

Instead of waiting for breakfast, I went for a walk. One of the brochures/maps listed two things I wanted to see that looked to be nearby: a fish market and a bakery. (I always visit a bakery soon after arriving in a new place. I figure it's important to find out as fast as possible if I'm going to like baked goods in any particular location.) The brochure said the bakery opened early, I wanted to see what they offered. Also, the fish market was only supposed to take place on Saturdays. I read the entire brochure, this two things were the closest, best options, but there were others that sounded interesting.

I was shocked when I walked out of the hotel. It was snowing, and windy. I was NOT mentally prepared for either of those, even though i'm pretty sure the weather app had mentioned snow over the weekend. Wind is the tougher of those two types of weather, my hair flies everywhere, and dries out my skin.

Sadly, I ended up being disappointed in both the bakery and the fish market. It turned out the bakery didn't open until 0900 on weekends, (that is definitely NOT early) and when I found the location of the fish market, there was nothing there. ARGH. 

I probably could've walked back later in the day, but I didn't. Instead of those spots, I continued walking. I walked through a small part of the old city, which is the main tourist area of the city. Those streets are completely deserted at 0730 on a Saturday morning. (not a surprise.) It was fun to walk and see the beauty of the area without heaps of people everywhere. I got to take a few photos, and take my time finding the right angles :)...by this time it had stopped snowing, in fact the skies were totally clear...but it was still cold, so my fingers were having a hard time working the camera...
side note: i'd be the first customer for any company or person who invents a camera that isn't so susceptible to cold...lithium ion batteries are great in that they're easily recharged, but they lose their energy rather quickly when it's cold (even when it's at just 0C/32F) so you have to carry extra batteries, and keep them warm...i do a fair amount of traveling in freezing (or colder) weather, i would be so happy if dying batteries weren't such a concern...wheneva i see national geographic photos of cold places, i always wonder how many extra batteries those photographers carry around, and how they deal with the problem...

I found another bakery on my way back to the hotel. This bakery was open, yippee! I took a while making decisions, there was so much that looked so yummy. Estonia is definitely a country I want to return to, for the bakeries if nothing else!! Even though I knew I was going to be eating breakfast within 15 minutes or so, I bought a few pastries. YUM.

The hotel breakfast was a buffet. I've had better, I've had worse. It's always nice to have the meal included in the price of the room. There were cucumbers and tomatoes, cheese and meat slices, tea/coffee, hard boiled egss, etc...

After breakfast I relaxed in my room for an hour or two, then went out again. I walked around the other side of the old city, around the bottom of Toompea hill. Very pretty. I saw a few statues along the way, I don't know what they were memorializing.

It didn't take me long to get to my first destination: the Museum of the Occupations. It's similar to what I've seen in Riga, and Vilnius. There was a lot of information, about the time from the first Russian/Nazi invasions, through the fall of communism, in 1991. Information about all aspects of life, and those who were affected by everything that happened.

There were a couple cars on display, I think they were made in Estonia. There was information about Germans, Russians, Ukrainians, Jews, Roma, Latvians, and more. There were displays of the money through all those years. There was a display of doors from various prisons during those years. There was a selection of technology during those years, radios and the like. It's not a big museum, but it's definitely possible to spend a lot of time in there if you read and look at everything. It can also be overwhelming if you read and look at everything.  People during those years lived through a LOT.

Along the way to my next stop, I found Freedom Square. There is a big memorial to the War of Independence, which happened during WW1. I must admit it was a bit strange to see something big that was not related to WW2.

It took me a while to walk to my next stop. A palace/park area a bit out to the east. (It was an easy walk, straight down a street, but it wasn't close.) The park wasn't that great, probably because it is the end of winter, and spring hasn't really shown up yet, so it's just empty. Behind one palace was a landscaped garden, it's probably very pretty when everything is blooming. Not too far behind that is the office of the President of Estonia. (or is it prime minister? I don't remember).

I made sure to follow a different street back into town, just because.

When I got back to the old city area of the city, I simply wandered. My first stop was another bakery/cafe, this one totally different from what I'd visited that morning. I ended up eating a small chocolate, a cakey sort of thing with fruit, and a chocolate cakey sort of thing. YUM. All for less than 5 euro, woo hoo.

I found the town hall, and the open platz right there. It's pretty, and probably packed with chairs and tables for cafes during warmer months. I was surprised to see quite a few chairs and tables outside, all full of people. Even though the sun had come out by this point, it definitely wasn't warm. At all.

I continued wandering, looking at restaurant menus, and stepping into souvenir stores. (Remember my fascination with postcards.) Eventually I found what I wanted for a place to eat dinner, and postcards to buy for a reasonable price.

I walked up the so-called 'short leg', the shorter street leading up to Toompea hill. It's steep, but not bad. Immediately I saw Al

exander Nevsky Cathedral, an Orthodox cathedral. It's pretty, I found the exterior more interesting than the interior. You can tell there are plenty of tourists here, as there were a number of signs telling people to be quiet, not to take photos, and I've forgotten what else. The iconostasis was pretty, but the ceiling wasn't as decorated as I expected.

I looked at my map, and saw that it showed several different lookout points. They were supposed to offer nice views over the city. I found three of them, looking out in three directions over the city. There were pretty clouds, and still some sun, so I think my photos turned out okay. I had a hard time getting a selfie, as the wind was still crazy, so my hair was going all over. Argh.

My iphone shut down because it was so cold, (remember my side note earlier in this post??) and my mapmyrun app had just told me this walk was already 15km long, so I went back to my hotel to warm up and charge the electronics. After an hour or so, I headed out again, and found the restaurant I'd noticed earlier. I was craving steak. It ended up being okay. Not great, not awful. It did take care of my craving, so I was happy.I ordered a non-alcoholic mojito (I'm allergic to alcohol,) but when the waiter brought it to me I could tell there was alcohol in it from the smell. He made the switch, thank goodness. (Alcohol sets off my asthma badly, and I had no desire to speak time in another hospital.)

Instead of going back to the hotel straightaway, I went back up to Toompea hill, I wanted to see the lookouts at night. Pretty, but not stunning. The city isn't lit up as much as I expected. From there I went back to the hotel. On the way back, a guy asked for money, then followed me for several hundred meters, continuing to ask for money. He was drunk. When I said no, for the 5^th time, rather forcefully, he called me a b—ch, then stalked off. Really? Did he think that hassling me would make me give him money? Argh.

The next morning I was up early again, I decided to go for another walk before breakfast. This time, I didn't have any plan as to where i was going.  I walked around the edges of the old city, and found a statue of two frogs, sitting on a fencepost under an umbrella. I'm sure there is a story behind it, which of course I don't know, but I thought it was cute...

Not too far away was the opera house. It was nice looking, and the exterior colours were different from what I'm used to.  Green and yellow. 

From there I cut back into the old city.  I finally got out my map and took a look to see what else I wanted to see. I know it sounds silly, but I was a little excited to be using a real map, not google maps. It doesn't happen so much anymore.  (Partly because I haven't had a guidebook, and therefore no map, for my out of country trips recently.) Then my fingers told me "it's cold!" Another sunny day, but also cold.

I found what I was looking for, a small street called st catherine's passage.  I think back in the day it was a 'regular' street.  There are still small arches made of grey brick over the street, very picturesque. 

There are small workshops of artists, and since I was there early, only one was open.  An older man was working with glass, very very cool to watch for a few minutes.  

This street took me to the walls surrounding the old city.  I found an entrance that allowed me to walk up to a second level, and follow along the walls for a couple hundred meters in each direction.  (After paying a small entrance fee, of course.) I liked looking over the roofs of the city, the views were pretty.  Nothing outstanding, but very nice.

Back down at street level I followed that street, to a few others,
(I was surprised to still be finding new streets to wander in the old city, as the area isn't that big) and eventually walked past another Orthodox church.  This one was smaller than Alexander Nevsky church, but had the same slightly touristy feeling, even though it was an active church.

From there, I weaved through streets again until I got back to the bakery I'd visited the day before.  This time I bought more, I wanted some tasty items to bring back to Kyiv.  YUM.

Breakfast back at the hotel was the same as the day before.  YUM.

Another hour relaxing and packing up after breakfast, then back out to walk for a couple hours.  I don't remember anything specific, I was just happy to be outside, walking around a pretty city.  

When I got back to the hotel, the front desk lady called a taxi for me, it arrived a couple minutes later, and 15 minutes later, I was back at the airport.  This trip was way too short, I definitely want to come back to Estonia!

ukraine: kherson

I'm still trying to visit all the oblasts in ukraine, and while I know it probably won't fully happen, I'm doing my best 😀...
Kherson is the capital of an oblast...lonely planet barely mentions the town, only saying that there are tour companies offering excursions to  various nearby areas...kherson isn't far from odessa, it's in the more russian speaking half of ukraine...
It was a long train ride to get there, around 12 hours...when I got off the train I headed to an ATM, since I'd forgotten to bring cash with me from my flat the night before...that's when I remembered I didn't have much left in either of my bank accounts, after emptying them while in Kazakhstan the previous weekend (I was able to get dollars easily there, so I took advantage)...ooops...

then I realized the debit card from my american account was expired...bigger ooops...fortunately I found a few dollars in my wallet, and was able to exchange those for griven...not to self: don't forget to take money with you when traveling!
I started walking down the big street in front of the train station...it was still Saturday morning, there weren't many people out...I saw laundry hung out to dry, a couple churches, newspaper/magazine kiosks, etc...I saw the place where a Lenin statue used to be located...I saw the platz where kherson might've had its own version of the Maidan encampment...
Eventually I came to a pedestrian street, and decided to follow that...I noticed a few people setting up their stalls for the day: some knick knacks, a few souvenirs, etc...it didn't seem like a big market type of area though...

I found the address to my hotel, and noticed it only had the name of a spa/gym on the building...I walked in and asked (in russian) where the hotel was located...the lady at the front desk looked at me like I was an alien, then picked up the phone to call her supervisor an told her a foreigner was at the front desk and she didn't understand what that person was asking...(I don't speak or understand as much russian as I'd like, but I can understand some)...I asked the supervisor lady (again in russian) where I could find my hotel, and she gave me directions...it turned out to be on the back side of the building...I never figured out whether I didn't speak correctly to the first lady or if she simply hadn't known how to respond to me, an obvious foreigner...

the hotel let me check in a couple hours early, yay! My room was big, and breakfast was included in the price...good wifi too...the lady at that front desk showed me the list of options for the spa, they were cheap...despite not having that much cash, I asked her to schedule a massage for me...(it's hard to turn down an hour massage for less than $10!)
I relaxed in my room for an hour or so, then headed out again...more wandering, following a general street grid...I saw more churches, including one that looked as if several people had started different styles of renovations, then stopped...the land around the church wasn't being cared for, but the interior was lovely...
I found a bakery, and took a chance on what I thought was cheesecake...not as good as I'd hoped...why do i keep trying stuff in ukrainian bakeries? it's very rarely as good as i want it to be...

I found a couple parks, one of them very small...I found a bus station, and the surrounding market, on a cul-de-sac...I looked at possible destinations, but nothing jumped out at me...I'm guessing the towns were mostly small...
Eventually I wandered back to the pedestrian street, and into a sushi restaurant...(there are a lot of sushi restaurants in ukraine)...I ate too much, but it was my first actual meal of the day, at 1500, so I didn't feel too bad...
After eating I wandered more, just taking in the feel of the town...it was very quiet, but patriotic at the same time...lots of benches and fences painted yellow and blue, flags flying, etc...entirely too many empty an abandoned buildings...I love to take photos of them, as they have a certain type of beauty, but I also know they don't mean good things for a local economy...

I got back to the hotel not long before my massage...AMAZING...a deep tissue massage, it felt wonderful...I was sore afterward, but it was sooo worth it...I drank heaps of water afterward, and feel asleep early that evening...
The next morning I was up early, and decided to go for a walk before breakfast...I found the Greek Orthodox Church and stepped in only briefly, as there was a service going on, and I always feel awkward in that situation...I always want to take photos and look around, but not in the middle of a worship service...aesthetically I couldn't see any differences between this church and a ukrainian or russian Orthodox Church...does any one of the three people who read this blogs know if there are style differences? Or are the differences just theological?

From there I walked toward the water, and found a monument to sailors...big, which didn't surprise me...it was super windy by the water, and chilly...during the summer I suspect there are plenty of boat tours, but not in mid March...
I made my way back to the hotel for breakfast, which was ready and waiting...(this is one of the places where you choose which breakfast you want the day before, and what time you want it served)...the restaurant was closed, so they served it in my room 😀
I relaxed for a while after breakfast, cleaned up and packed up, then checked out...I left my bag at the front desk, then went out for another walk...
At this point I was convinced lonely planet had missed writing about this town...I'd already seen spots equal to other places they write about, and I planned to see more that day...

I walked through Lenin park, which isn't big, but has a very small church, a few amusement park type of rides, and a burned down theatre designed like a castle...the fact that it had burned clearly didn't deter people from exploring, I could see rubbish everywhere...
I exited that park, followed the street for a while, passed another theater, then finally came to what was left of the former kherson fortress...earthen walls, a couple big gates...the area in the middle is mostly empty, and has been turned into a a park...st Catherine's church is in the area, there is a chair inside the church from a visit by Elizabeth...(embroidered letter E on the chair!)...it seemed to be both an active church with some history on display...just to be sure, i had a scarf over my hair...

The walls of the old fortress aren't very high, (were they always this height? or have they shrunk due to years of normal weather?) but it was nice to go walk along the tops...(have I mentioned the weather was awesome?)...this entire area was called Lenin Komsomalya park...(why are there two parks named after the guy?)...across the street is the so called alley of heroes...a pedestrian zone with memorials to those who fought in a number of different wars...there are quite a few memorials, and one end of this alley has big steps and decorated walls...quite impressive, but somewhat out of sync with the general atmosphere of the town...I still like it...
I went back to the sushi place again for another late lunch...as I was eating, a random guy came over and brought a plate of dessert sushi for me, his treat...then he sat and watched me eat...it was a bit odd, but I appreciated the compliment...

After lunch I went back to the hotel, charged my phone a bit, then walked back to the train station...my train left on time, at 1848...12 hours later I was back in kyiv...
I would definitely go back to kherson, I want another massage, and I'm curious where some of the excursions go...

kazakhstan: almaty

As soon as Anaya and her family moved to almaty, Kazakhstan, I knew I wanted to visit...
note: each time i refer to mom or dad in this post, i'm refering to anaya's mom or anaya's dad...
I was able to get flights that gave me five full days in almaty...it turns out to be a town not worth that much time, but it was great to catch up with friends...
My flight arrived at 0500 Thursday morning...not a great time, but it was a direct flight, and I got a full row of seats to myself, so I wasn't complaining...when I went to the airport ATM to take out money I realized I was able to withdraw US dollars as well as Kazakh tenge...($1~185tenge)...I withdrew some of both and decided to clean out my bank accounts when I left...(US dollars are quite difficult to get in Ukraine)...
I took a taxi to the Anaya's flat, her dad came out to greet me and help out with change, since the taxi driver didn't have any...

It was great to see friends again...I miss them in kyiv, and it turns out they miss life in kyiv too...Anaya woke up at some point, and I think it was a nice surprise for her to find me there 😀...
We chatted in the kitchen for hours, pausing only when the driver took dad and Anaya to drop Anaya off at school...
Sometime around noon mom and I went with dad to a mall to pick out gift baskets for all the women in his office...women's day was on Sunday, (8 march,) so gifts were handed out on Friday, and Monday is a day off work...it turns out there are a fair number of big malls in almaty, filled with expensive and foreign brands...I don't know what (if any) industry there is in Kazakhstan...

After buying gifts we went to lunch at a sushi place...they'd already described Kazakh food to me, it didn't sound good...(boiled horse and sheep meat anyone?!?)...the description made me think of Mongolian food...no thank you, especially when there are other, far better options available...
After lunch the driver took dad to work, and me home with mom...I got out of the car just before we got to their apartment complex, I wanted to go for a walk...
So I walked...I walked to a nearby Islamic center, at which I didn't stay long after a security guard asked why I was taking photos...(the buildings were pretty)...I told him I'm a tourist, I don't think he understood why someone would want to take photos of a non touristy place...further down the road was a mall, not as big as where we'd been earlier, but fancier...prada and the like, but the food court was not so high class: Burger King anyone?

I kept walking, and followed a dry waterway to its end, then went around the other side and walked back up the slight hill...back to the mall and back to the flat...I arrived not long before mom went with the driver to pick up Anaya from school...(I would've gone along, but I'd already felt motion sickness in the car at lunch and didn't want more of that)...
Dinner that night was yummy indian food at home...(have I mentioned this is an Indian family?)
The next morning I slept till 10, which is a lot later than normal for me...on the other hand, 10 in Kazakhstan is 6 in kyiv, which is when I normally wake up, so maybe I just didn't adjust...but I did sleep ten hours, almost solid, and that's rare...if only i could have long sleep nights like that more often on weekends instead of waking up at 6 or 7 saturday and sunday mornings...

Anywho, I had chai (YUM!!) for breakfast, I didn't need any food...around noon the driver picked up me and mom, and took us into the city center...we started at the post office, where mom had found out was a good place for me to buy sets of postcards of the city...it was a good place for that...
The next stop was the green market, or ziliony bazaar...it's a big market, with a lot of different sections: dairy, meat, (with various types of meat listed: horse, sheep, cow, etc,) as well as pickled food (I found kimchi!!!) and clothes and dry goods and more...it's easy to think you've seen everything, then find a whole different section...I ended up buying some kimchi, yogurt, and dried apricots...I didn't really want the dried apricots, but when I was taking photos of the market from a second floor the vendor at a particular stall kept saying I should come to his spot...why not? He gave us lots of tasting portions of different things he sold, some I liked, some not so much...

The next stop was 28 Panfilov heroes memorial park...(longest name ever for a park)...there was an Orthodox Church not far from one of the entrances...as we got close, the exterior decoration of the church made me think of candy land...the interior was very nice...frescoes on the ceilings, chandeliers, iconostasis...as always (to me anywho,) the interior didn't seem as big as it should be compared to how big it looked from the outside...
From the church we walked toward the memorial area...there are monuments to several wars in which Kazakh soldiers have fought...Afghanistan (remember the Soviet Union fought there for years and years) and what I know as WW2 and what I know as WW1, and more Im pretty sure...there were blocks of marble (I think) with names of cities in which big battles had taken place...many of those cities have different names now...

We played with the panoramic photo function on my iPhone for a while, and managed to get a photo with three of me in it...(can there ever be enough of me? 😃)
We exited the park through a different entrance and crossed the street to a cafe, to have drinks...but this place was out of tea, and my second choice as well...ARGH...so we found a different cafe...
After that, the driver picked up mom, she had to pick Anaya up from school...I decided to walk home, as the weather was nice, and I'd figured out it wasn't a complicated walk...I walked straight up Dostuk avenue, looking at a few different looking buildings along the way...as I was on the main street back to the flat, I heard someone yelling so I looked...whaddya know, it was mom and dad and Anaya, being driven by the driver...I could've walked the rest of the way home, but I hopped in the car instead...they told me later the driver had seen me and pointed me out...wow...

Dinner that night was more indian food...I don't think I can ever get enough...
The next morning (Saturday) I woke up feeling not so good, a feeling that didn't go away until that evening...so much for getting out and walking around more...
Sunday I still didn't feel great, but did feel better...more chai (I ended up having chai every few hours when I was in the flat😃) helped...
Sometime mid afternoon we all walked outside, then flagged down a local car to take us to a mall...(different from the two I've mentioned earlier in this post)...it turns out that flagging down a car is a normal way to get around...think of it as a mix of hitchhiking and unofficial taxi...

Since it was women's day, and Anaya is a girl, she basically got to have a day of celebration...she got to play in happylon (play area with games, climbing, jumping, etc) for 30 minutes, while us adults walked around...after that we went to a cafe for food and drinks...yum...the mall was packed, there were a lot of families out doing the same thing we were...the mall had a marching band (very small) walking around playing music, it was fun to listen...one little place handed out mini cupcakes to every woman who walked past...dad felt left out, as mom, Anaya, and I all got one😀...
We didn't eat dinner that night, we didn't need any food...i know i could've eaten, especially if it was homemade yummy indian food, but i wasn't anywhere close to hungry...

The next day the driver picked us up, I guess it wasn't a day off for him...our first stop was the central mosque, just because I wanted to see it...we ended up being there as people were arriving for midday prayers, so we didn't go in...nice building...it looks different than the photo on the postcards; now it has gold domes, the postcards show it with blue domes...
The next stop was Arbat street, a pedestrian area...not a long street, and not very busy, since it was not warm...art vendors had a number of paintings for sale, and there was a guy walking along selling balloons...Anaya got to have one...
The next stop was an indian restaurant...I guess it was mid afternoon by that point, it wasn't a busy time of day...great food, and I ate waaay too much...
We spent the rest of the day at home, not doing much of anything...I got my stuff ready, and relaxed...

The next morning I was up at 0330, the taxi came at 0400...I was sad to leave...I didn't get much sleep at all, and my flight was delayed 45 minutes...before checking in I emptied my bank accounts and exchanged leftover currency into dollars...:)
I got another row of seats to myself on the way back to kyiv, yay!!
I want to go back to Kazakhstan, I want to explore the natural beauty of the country...if only work didn't get in the way of traveling...