Wishing to wander more often, to try new things, to go more places, with changing faces. Have a car, but will travel by plane or train too; have a violin, will perform for food and couch. Wish to help out? Donate to my food fund. Write me a comment. Would love to hear from everyone!
I spent two weeks between a small town named Malyn about two hours outside Kyiv, a few days actually in Kyiv, and a few more days in Lviv in the south western region.
Malyn was nice for a respite from the bustling cities I've been touring. It was a very small city with a lake and a town square basically. Families would go to the dam to play in the water or fish or ride bikes. The town square was a meeting for all the buses. Malyn is an old city that hasn't been rebuilt. The buildings destroyed or rundown are still in states of decay. Lots are overgrown and sidewalks are uncobbled. But there is an old charm to be had. The people were helpful, friendly, and smiling! None of them spoke English so I was fortunate to have a translator with me :)
One of my favorite encounters was with a shoe repairman. My heels were coming badly apart and I didn't want to fix them in Hungary or Austria, so I had waited till Ukraine. One morning, my friend and I went to the town bazaar and the shoe repair guy. What a trip he was! A row of gold teeth on the top, skull belt buckle and rings, tattoos everywhere and wild unkempt hair. But he was grinning and happy and helpful and when he found out I was American, he wanted to repair my shoes for free since I was the first American he'd encountered. He wanted me to bring him back so he could repair shoes in America!
My new friend, the shoe repair man in Malyn.
I don't have many pictures from my time in Malyn. Mostly I went to doctors to get check ups that I could now afford and had the first experience ever of a dentist telling me my teeth were perfect. They didn't need cleaned!! (I haven't had a teeth cleaning in over a year so I'm going to get a second opinion on that). At the end of my time in Malyn I recorded a couple of videos with my new friend, pianist and sister. You can watch them here and if you know anyone interested in hiring us, please send them our way!
After Malyn I took a small vacation to Kyiv to see the sights. Kyiv is a great city and very large. I hadn't been in a city so big since leaving the US. I'd been learning Ukrainian while I was in Malyn so I got to put it to good practice as I took buses and trains around the city (it was far too large to walk).
Independence Square
My new favorite costume!!
Panorama of a very small part of Kyiv
Dreaming of the ocean.
Panorama looking over the Dnieper.
Statue of the Motherland
A life size scale of a mammoth bone hut at the Natural History Museum.
After Kyiv, three of us trekked to Lviv for a mini holiday; my friend, pianist and sister, Nataliia and a dancer friend, Richard.
It rained or was cloudy and cold the whole time we were there. Didn't enjoy that but the city was lovely. Walked around and around and around as Lviv is much much smaller than Kyiv. It's similar in size to what I am used to for European cities.
I wasn't hungry or I would have totally tried the black bun burger. The third one is green, although it's hard to see in the picture.
This elderly lady stopped by the statue for a moment to cross herself and pay homage. It was a touching photo.
Nataliia's new "baby"...a 5 month old puppy at the string instrument shop.
The opera house in Lviv. No opera was playing while we were there so we didn't get to see a performance, but the hall was beautiful.
We went to a cat cafe. Unlike Japan, the cats and human food are in the same place. Nataliia had a very interested party in her food choices lol!!
Reaching for her share of Nataliia's plate.
I have so many more cat pictures but I'll refrain from posting them
all in the blog and make an album separately.
Some fabulous shots, funny, beautiful, and downright laughable.
I finally got to see an organ concert. Was disappointed when it was electric, but it was a nice program. No, I did not use flash to take the picture.
Found a statue platform with no statue so naturally....
What a grand time was had in Lviv!!!
Despite the weather in Lviv, I had a grand time and I look forward to my next trip to Ukraine. Besides, I had just started getting the language down so I can't stay away too long or I'll forget everything!
I'll write soon of my following adventures in Krakow Poland.
The last two days of Japan were reserved for the enormous city of Tokyo. Just picking a neighborhood to stay was daunting. Do you pick a traditional neighborhood, a party neighborhood, a centrally located neighborhood, a touristy neighborhood? Tokyo has them all and even multiples. And since Tokyo is so huge, the neighborhoods are fairly spread out so it's a fairly big deal if you don't want to hotel hop every night.
The neighborhood I chose was Shinjuku. It's a party neighborhood that is located in the northwestern part of Tokyo and also is very close to the world's busiest subway station in Shinjuju.
Much time was spent wandering around through markets, getting lost on the winding streets and window shopping at interesting stores. But one of the things I really enjoyed was visiting one of the popular cat cafes. You pay a fee for the time you spend and can also buy coffee or tea and desserts as well as cat treats to lure the cats to you since it is only allowed to pet the cats, not pick them up or hang on to them. There were two floors in the cat cafe that we visited. After getting a badge, you removed your shoes and washed your hands before walking into the cat room. There are lots of different kinds of cats and lots of toys to play with them as well as couches to relax and drink your coffee while you watch the kitties.
There are two towers in Tokyo, the Tokyo Tower and the Tokyo Sky Tree. The Sky Tree is listed as the world's tallest tower. It's used as a broadcasting tower but with obvious tourist attractions on a few of the higher floors as well as a plethora of shopping opportunities surrounding the base. I visited the tower at night and it was indeed breathtaking. The sparkling city lights of Tokyo stretched as far as I could see in every single direction I looked. It was jaw dropping gorgeous, really. Photography is quite difficult due to the bar placement around the windows and the interior light reflections at night though.
I sampled sushi, soup, dumplings, fish dishes, bakery delicacies, and amazing handmade ramen. The food was superb and I miss it intensely.
Japan was a truly amazing country and someday it would be fantastic to return and see more of the islands and countryside and also see it during cherry blossom season. But until then, the memories I made are wonderful and lasting. I hope you enjoyed my tales and pictures. This was the send off I received at the airport...fitting don't you think? :)
I've already begun another travel adventure; not for work mostly, but for play. Watch for a new entry soon detailing the beginning of my most recent trips!
