ukraine: izmail

the beginning of may is a time of holidays in ukraine, i get to travel a lot :)
for the 4 day weekend that included 1-2 may, i decided to go south...i booked train tickets to/from odessa, and made the effort to see a couple new towns around odessa...
my train into odessa arrived at 0500...it was nice to be walking out of the train station and watching the colours of the sky change as the sun came up...beautiful, and since it was so early, very quiet...
i had a hard time figuring out where to find a bus station from which to catch a bus to a town called izmail, but eventually i did figure it out...i was happy when a tram driver let me on the tram i needed to the right bus station (as opposed to the wrong bus station, which was close to the train station) even though i wasn't at the stop when he pulled away...

thankfully, once i got to the bus station, it was easy to hop on the best bus to izmail...it was a 3 hr ride, and really pretty...at several points i looked out the window and realized i was looking at a living ukrainian flag...blue skies, fields of yellow...beautiful...if only i'd been able to stop the bus to get out and take a couple photos...(one of the few reasons i'd love to have a car here in ukraine)...
the hotel in izmail wasn't anywhere near the city center, i felt like i was on the edge of nowhere! after dropping my bag, i headed back into the city...

izmail is a border town, there isn't much there...it once had a big protective fortress, but nothing remains...
while walking, i passed a park and decided to walk through...quiet and peaceful, with a memorial of some kind in the middle...on the other side of the park was a pretty church...
i continued walking, eventually making it to the city center...i found a big blue church that looked different from what i'm used to seeing...the main part of the church looked normal, but the front had a set of big columns...nifty :) ...i wish it had been open to visitors...

not far from that church was a the suvorov museum...a small place, with good displays, and quite a bit of information...some even in english :)...there were old uniforms on display, maps of battles fought, paintings of people important in the history of the area, etc...in a money/energy saving effort, the lights in each room are only turned on when someone walks into the room...
as i continued walking, i found a statue of lenin...this surprised me, as i know most statues of lenin which used to be in ukraine have been torn down since the madness of maidan...then again, this is in the south, which has always been closer to russia...

the WWII memorial in izmail is different than most...it's a ship...probably not quite full size, but it's plenty big...if i'd been able to get to the top of this memorial i probably would've been able to see the river, as it wasn't far away...
i got to the river and since it isn't big, i could see the other side...in other words, i was looking at romania...(if i had been able to figure out how to cross just to get the passport stamp, i would've done it...but now that romania is in the EU, it isn't quite that easy)...that being said, there are river cruises, or it looked that they were available...maybe i can go back?

i meandered back to my hotel, walking through another area of town...nothing exciting, just another area of a random town in ukraine...
izmail doesn't get many tourists, ukrainian or otherwise, since it isn't close to anywhere...
the next morning it was a bit of a challenge to figure out how to get to the bus station...i didn't know where it was, since i'd gotten off the bus the day before before it got to the bus station...it was fun to use the little bit of russian i know to get myself sorted...a couple locals helped me out, yay! ukrainians are friendly, it's awesome...

ukraine: glibivka

easter is a national holiday in ukraine...the holiday is sunday, and everyone gets monday off as well...to celebrate easter, ukraine follows the orthodox calendar (for those in the west who are catholic, i don't know how it works, or maybe they celebrate easter according to the catholic calendar, then get another easter a few weeks later?)...most years this means we get a day off a few weeks after 'western' easter...this year, western easter and orthodox easter fell on the same day...i don't know how often that happens, but it probably isn't very often...it was a bit odd for me to see facebook posts of friends about easter and it matched up with 'my' holiday weekend...

i'd made plans a few weeks ago to travel with a couple girlfriends, we bought train tickets...our original plan was to go east, to dnipropetrovsk and zhaporhysia...unfortunately, political events made that travel plan seem like not the best idea...so we cancelled those tickets and figured out another idea...of course, we waited until the last minute to do this, so there weren't many options...
one of the girls found us a room in a cottage in a resort complex along the kyiv reservoir, a bit north of kyiv...there are a bunch of these resort complexes along the reservoir...they all have recreation options, conference facilities, etc...

saturday morning i was running late to meet the girls, i felt horrible about it...they'd booked a taxi for a specific time...the taxi took us to a complex about an hour from the city centre, near a town called glibivka...the town isn't known for anything, it's just a town...there are a bunch of these resort complexes in the area, all along the water...they offer  bike rental, horseback riding, sauna, massage, table tennis, etc...we checked in, and immediately scheduled massages and sauna time...
the weather was crap, so we sat on our porch, drank tea, and had snacks until it was time for our massages...

the massages were short, but felt sooooo good...the experience was not what i expected, but i would still do it again...when i walked into the room the massage therapist told me to get ready, and hop on the table...he worked on my back the whole time, it felt sooooo good...:) the girls each had their turn after i finished...
after massages we picked up the key to the sauna...we had our own private sauna for two hours, how awesome is that?!?! we tried to stay in the sauna for 15 minutes each time, then cool down out in the sitting room for a bit after each 'session'...i didn't bring enough water, i was a bit worried about getting really dehydrated...i love sauanas...after the sauna, i felt like a queen...

we had dinner in the restaurant of the complex...nothing noteworthy, nothing awful...the only bit of note was that the service was rather slow...all of us were tired after dinner, we all crashed early...
the next morning we'd planned to go to an easter service at a nearby church...we thought a service started at 0645 or so, the complex said they would transport us...it turned out we got the time wrong, we missed it by an hour...which means we woke up at 0600 on a holiday weekend for no good reason!!
instead of going back to sleep we made tea and took it to benches near the water to enjoy...the sun was showing itself beautifully behind clouds, everything was lovely...

eventually we decided it was time for breakfast...since it was a holiday weekend, and this was the holiday, this breakfast was included in the price of our room...easter breakfast...it ended up being quite a bit of food...i definitely ate more than i should've...
after breakfast we had another cup of tea out by the water, then figured out where to go to rent bikes...
after adjusting for size and adding air to my tires, we took off down the road...i think it was about 3 kilometers to the town of glibivka...nothing remarkable about this town, but susannah and i love seeing a 'normal' town...maryna must've thought we were crazy each time we got off our bikes to take pictures...

we saw an unfinished church, a giant wood pile, revolution street, chickens, tulips, wells, etc...as we rode over a bridge we saw lots of men fishing...
2 hours later, we rode back to the complex and turned in our bikes...another cup of tea out by the water to relax...then we went for a walk in the woods across the highway from our complex...maryna told us the woods are really really old...you can see plenty of places where trees have been cut down to be used for someone's dacha, but most of what we saw had been there for a loooong time...you can almost feel the history, it's awesome...i wish we'd had more time...

we loved the atmosphere...at times it was totally silent, at times we could hear various birds...awesomeness...
after we came back to the complex we decided to use the sauna again...this day was warmer, so susannah and i had a much more challenging 2 hours...we did 15 minute 'sessions' again, but it was much more difficult to cool down in between...we ended up turning down the temperature of the sauna, and even then it was really hard to stay in the sauna the entire 15 minutes each time...i think we figured out that we did 6 15-minute sessions...my face was sooooo red!

dinner was again at the restaurant, and again nothing remarkable...
the next morning we showed up for breakfast thinking it was included in our price again...unfortunately, it wasn't...oh well...
after breakfast we had another cup of tea and enjoyed some of our last moments of vacation...we had an extra hour, so after packing up our stuff, we went for one last walk in the woods...
after our walk a taxi took us back to kyiv...

ukraine: vinnytsia

i booked train tickets to vinnytsia because i'd never been there...after i booked the tickets, i learned the frontrunning candidate for the ukrainian presidency came from vinnytsia...the train ride was about three hours, so i started my trip early on a saturday morning...
i walked all day, as i usually do when i travel...my first 'sight' was a big market full of clothes stalls, there was a small produce section as well...as i got to the market some of the vendors weren't there yet, and others were just starting to set up, so the atmosphere was a little different...it was a chilly morning, so nearly all the vendors had coffee or tea with them in thermoses...

while walking down the main street of vinnytsia i entered a MEAT market...it wasn't huge, but it was intense...two ends of the room, each had a ring of counters around an 'island'...next to each island were men with really strong arms who were doing all the cutting...they had what looked like small axes to make the cuts into each animal...i know that's how butchers work, but i'd never before seen anything like it...i even saw them split a couple skulls! the counters were covered with all kinds of meat, you can probably get any kind of cut you want...

i crossed a bridge over a river, i could see fishermen out for the day...i wonder how long they fish, and what time they start? near the river was a rocketship looking church...
walking further i found the water tower on one side of memorial park...it's a unique looking water tower, not at all like what we have all over the midwest in the states...across the sidewalk from the water tower was a mosaic with a soviet theme...a soviet flag, musical instruments, lots of red and yellow, a few people in 'patriotic' professions, etc...i wonder how long it has been there, im sure it was put there in the 50s or 60s...

as i've mentioned before, it seems that every city/town/village in ukraine has a memorial for WWII...most are quite large...along the other side of the part was a memorial with all the names of people from vinnytsia who fought and died...there was also a large statue of three men, and a 'sign' with the years of the war listed, and the name of the park/memorial...
back on the street i walked past the old central synagogue...(ukraine used to have a large jewish population, most of which 'disappeared' between 1937 and 1945...hitler wasn't the only evil leader)...i don't know if this synagogue is still used or not, but i found it fascinating that the sign was in ukrainian and hebrew...

walking along, i came to the 'maidan' of vinnytsia, complete with the yellow and blue painted piano...
continuing my walk, i explored a bit of the big park...i liked the areas with birdhouses perched on top of poles...very colourful, i liked the feeling of cheeriness...
from there it was a LONG walk to my next sight...much longer than i expected, made even worse when the numbers on each side of the street don't match up...the name of the street was pyrohova (a name which likely only means something to ukrainians or those in the medical community)...finally i got to the pirohova estate and museum...he was a soviet scientist in the 1800s, who lived at least 20 years in vinnytsia...he pioneered the use of anesthetic if i understand correctly...he was also a pioneer in other aspects of medicine and science, but i can't remember any specifics of what the guide told me...ooops...(i really should've written it down)

i giggled to myself when one tour guide assumed i had a basic idea of who the guy was...sorry, the history we learn in the US growing up does not cover accomplishments by soviet folks...the estate had several buildings visitors could enter, including the pharmacy, but it wasn't easy to figure out what was what...i'm pretty sure i didn't see everything i should've, oh well...
from the estate it was another 1.2km walk to a church...the church isn't anything unique or impressive, it's visited for another reason...in the mausoleum under the church, the embalmed body of pirohovo is displayed...(so i've now seem lenin, ho chi minh, kim il-sung, and pyrohovo)...

the tour guide told me he is re-embalmed every 7 years or so, (is it the same person who does this, or is it a different person every time?) he looks a lot better than lenin, who was embalmed quite a few years later...pyrohovo's body has been embalmed for more than 130 years! it was his second wife who decided to have this done...not surprisingly, there are no photos allowed in this area...
from there i walked ALL THE WAY BACK to the train station, and from there to my hotel...the hotel wasn't very homey (no tv, no wifi) but it was cheap, and it was nice to have total silence...
the next morning i walked back into town a bit, and wandered through a couple neighborhoods i hadn't seen the day before...
a lot of towns in ukraine still use well water, i saw several old folks getting water from wells as i walked along...this struck me as 'quaint' since it doesn't really work that way anymore in the states, even for families who are dependent on wells...

i saw a beautiful old church, and walked along one branch of the river...i saw a couple other big churches, and saw the old walls of a monastery...this day was more about soaking up the feeling of the town and wandering around rather than looking for specific sights...since i'm clearly a foreigner, and not afraid of wandering through non touristy areas (not that there are a huge number of touristy areas anywhere in ukraine) i am used to being stared at by locals...as long as it isn't by a creepy guy, i don't much care :)
eventually i went back to the train station and went back to kyiv...

 i wouldn't mind going back to vinnytsia during warmer months, as there is a huge fountain in one bend of the river, it apparently puts on quite a show!

germany: hamburg

since one of my cousins had visited me in kyiv in january i felt it was only fair to visit her...so i booked flights to hamburg over a long weekend...one advantage to an early morning flight is the total lack of traffic on the way to the airport...the taxi ride was fast :)...on the way i could see the remains of roadblocks that had gone up during the madness of Maidan...
my cousin picked me up at the airport in hamburg, then we rode a couple different s-bahn trains, and walked a little to get to where she has been living...she told me the home was once a rowing club, but was purchased and renovated by the family into a private home...it's fantastic!!

after dropping my bag, we went to the supermarket to get lunch: warm pretzel rolls, salami, butter, frischkase, cheese, etc...i love these kinds of lunches
after lunch we started walking...tyra has had a few visitors, and has worked out one and two day tours of hamburg, hee hee...we crossed a canal or two on the way to one end of the big lake...she pointed out some of the huge houses along the canals, wow...these homes stay in families for generations, and often have multiple generations living in them at the same time...

hamburg is the 2nd largest city in the country, and does not have enough housing...
since we were out walking earlier on a friday than tyra normally would've been able to do so, we came across a fleamarket she doesn't normally get to see...stands with yummy food, yahoo...of course i bought too much, i figured we could have snacks a few times through the day :)
walking around the lake we stopped a couple times to eat the snacks, and enjoy the view...something about relaxing in or near water always makes me a happy camper; if only i could do it more often...

we weren't the only people out by the lake, it must be one of the most popular places in the city...plenty of people out running along the path...as we passed one gelato stall i bought some, even though tyra said it was too cold...(i live in ukraine, it's never too cold for ice cream!)
after walking most of the way around the lake, we made our way over to a main shopping street...postcards are crazy expensive in hamburg, argh...lots of people out strolling, window shopping, enjoying each other's company...

we saw the rathaus, a very complicated building...there is no place to get a good photo, it obviously wasn't built with photographers in mind, hee hee...maybe someday i will get to go to the top :) ...the roof is green, and was obviously not always that colour...
it rained a bit as we made our way home, stopping at a supermarket again...i bought cereal and ritter sport bars to take with me back to ukraine...(ukraine is sorely lacking in the cereal department)...even though we'd already been in one supermarket earlier in the day, i was still happy to wander all around this one...

dinner was a family affair...tyra and another girl living with the family made risotto, and did a fine job considering they hadn't made it previously...i added hot sauce...it was nice to chat with the mom and the roommate...
when i took my socks off that evening i noticed splotches of red on the insides of each ankle...i have no idea where it came from, or what it was...it didn't itch, or feel anything at all...i fell asleep as we were watching inglorious basterds...(i fell asleep in the middle of the movie again the next night...is it that bad, or was i that tired?)

the next morning i was the first awake in the house, which didn't suprise me at all...(i'm a morning person, and i normally live an hour ahead of germany)...when tyra got up we had tea and yogurt for breakfast, then got on our way...
i got a haircut! the first time since argentina the previous july...i needed it...i know i could get it done in kyiv, but i'm always worried about translation...
we walked a lot again this day...after the haircut we walked to a justice looking building, with an exhibition in front...i think it was an art exhibition?

the weather was awesome, i was thrilled...this was really close to brahms platz...another side of the platz had a theatre, and yet a third side had the building in which tyra works...one of the entrances has an elephant on the side of the building...
we visited st michaels church next...a big church, with a great open, airy feeling...lots of light pouring in through the windows...not far from the church was an apartment residence building, it looked a bit like a ship...given that hamburg is on a lot of water, it made sense...i love the feel of the variety in architecture in the city...traditional, but modern at the same time...

we visited an alleyway that used to be where wives and children of sailors would live when the men were out at sea...it's a tight alley, and was the sight of a disease outbreak at one point because of the close quarters...now it's a touristy area, with cafes and tourist shops...i bought a coffee mug...
we walked to a waterway which was actually pretty big...along the way we passed 4 scandinavian churches! one of my family members is obsessed with the swedish side of the family, so of course the scandinavian churches were a point of interest...

i bought my first (and so far, only) fisch pushkin...basically a fish sandwich...there are fried and 'raw' options available...apparently it's a very hamburgian food...i didn't love it, i didn't hate it...
walking along the waterway, tyra pointing out that some of the boats are public transport, how awesome is that? just like a trolley or bus, but on the water...we walked down a lot of stairs at one point, and walked through a tunnel all the way under the water, and up the stairs on the other side...(i was breathing hard when we came up)...a nice view over to the side on which we started...after soaking up the view for a bit, we went back down and under...

tyra then walked us over to the speicher stadt...it's her favourite area of the city...the old warehouse district...i can't describe it, but there is definitely a feeling to it...picturesque in a way...it was neat to see how everything used to work in terms of shipping and delivery in the city...some of the old warehouses have been renovated into modern apartment buildings, i didn't like any of those i saw...not really my style...
we briefly walked into another church, neither of us thought much of it...so we walked into one of many branches of balzac coffee shop...several hot chocolate options, yay!!

dinner that night was another family affair, with ellie and tyra cooking again :)...the next morning was sunday, and apparently brunch is extensive in this house...everyone gathered around the table again, including a couple more living in the house...lively conversation, and i got to tell what i thought of the events in ukraine...
then i flew back to kyiv...

maidan madness

anyone who is connected to world news heard about what happened in kyiv, ukraine during a week in mid february..the protest camp that had been set up since the end of november was growing, political demands were becoming more and more clear as days went by...i don't know why everything happened on these dates, but the short way of saying it is that maidan went mad...government forces started to make moves, opposition protestors fought back, fires were set, snipers shot at people, etc...specific details still aren't known, and likely never will be...by the end of everything, the (ex) president had fled the country, 70-100 people were dead, and the middle of the city was burned...tragedy...
one of the churches near maidan became a makeshift hospital, the bells rang a lot during the violence...the entire complex of the church became a staging point...you can see materials for molotov cocktails...there was a press center, there were canteens set up, fire areas to keep warm...
one of the biggest points to make in everything that happened was that the people of ukraine supported each other...they came with supplies...when they didn't have supplies, they donated money...when they didn't have those, they came themselves to do whateva they could...
the main post office on maidan was taken over as a makeshift hospital, so were several other buildings in the area...(i still don't know how to get mail out of the country, as that particular mailbox has not returned to its previous location...but mail is getting to me from europe and the states)since maidan is close to where i work, and the entire city metro was shut down during the three plus days this all happened, i did not work...i was safe in my flat on the outskirts of town, bored out of my mind...yet at the same time, i was super stressed...i barely moved all day, i was glued to my computer and phone...not speaking the language was tough...i watched live streaming of a lot of what was happening, despite the face that i couldn't understand a word being said by the commentators...

rumors were flying, the worst one being the threat of military control being asserted over the country...i was terrified phone and internet would be cut off, thankfully that never happened...the week after, i walked through maidan...it had become a large memorial...flowers EVERYWHERE...pictures of the fallen, EVERYWHERE...the burned out hulks of busses and other vehicles...bricks taken up from the streets still ready to go in case violence erupted again...even two weeks later, you can still smell smoke/fire, and the buildings are still black...who knows when any of them will be fixed or torn down...there is an unreal sense of sadness and disbelief that everything happened...
these photos were taken after the violence of 19-22 feb, in the first couple weeks afterward...