Today I took the 3-hour bus from Rakhiv to Khust. You "can't get there from here" by Train.
Yesterday I spent some time trying to figure out the bus schedule. There is a nice website russticket.info where I was delighted to find all the information you need and nicely laid out.
Except it's not correct as I found out at the bus station after about an hour of trying to read the timetable board and talking with the ticket clerk. The clerk, of course, did not speak any English.
Yesterday, a little after the noon hour, I arrived in the beautiful village of Vorohkta in the Carpathian Mountains, having caught the morning train from Ivano-Frankivsk.
Now, later in the evening, as I'm writing this a train pulls into town on the track right beside my Guest House Hotel, a fabulous location as it's just 1/2 block to the train station and 1/2 block to the center of this small village and right next to the railroad tracks,
Last night I woke with a train going by and it shook the house a bit, but I don't mind. I love trains and having them near is a comfort, hearing the clickety-clack of their wheels and the low mournful sound of their horn in the night. And thinking they may be headed to the far away cities of Lviv or Kyiv adds to the romance of the time and space they inhabit where I love to be.
The trip by train from Odessa to Ivano-Frankivsk was about 14 1/2 hours. We departed at 4:37 PM and arrived the next morning at 7:20 AM. This time I traveled 2nd class which was about twice as expensive as third class but still only around 10 dollars.
I shared my compartment with a 30 something mother and her 9 year-or-so old daughter. They did not speak English but in Ukrainian, I learned they were Ukrainians headed to the last stop, Chernivtsi, 2 1/2 hours beyond mine.
I met a guy from Finland as both of us were checking out of the little supermarket. when he asked me where I was from. He lives here as an ex-pat with his wife and two little sons under 2 years old and divides his time between here and Helsinki. He's a business coach and involved in the export/import business. Like me, he was quite taken on his first visit with the magnificent architecture.
In describing Odessa he mentions its prominence in Czarist Russia as one of its 4 great cities together with Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Warsaw. It was also Russia's most important sea port. He likes the weather here particularly, I imagine, compared to Finland in winter.
As do people here in general, he speaks Russian, not Ukrainian and he speaks, unsurprisingly, fluent English.
My new friend tells me the place the ex-pats hang out is the Irish Pub. So I plan to check that out to learn more about life here from the ex-pat perspective and with the easier acquisition of knowledge with the ability to use English. He tells me that with two young sons he doesn't get to go there much anymore which I told him I can well understand given the time my son and his wife devote to caring for my two young grandsons.
We exchanged cards and he asked me to contact him so we can talk some more as he had little time this day because of an impending flight to Helsinki. I assured him that I would if, as I hope, I return to Odessa.
And I do hope to come back. When I arrived, I planned to sleep for a few hours to catch up on the lost sleep on the train but as it was a sunny day and the forecast for coming days didn't look that good (actually the weather has been wonderful). I made myself take just a short nap after a shower all of which made me feel like a new man and I hastened out to walk about and get some photos in the bright sun.
As I walked and saw the grandeur of this great city and its magnificent architecture I wondered that I had not come earlier. Well, my reasons are it's a bit of a hike from my Lviv base and the language they speak here is Russian, not the Ukrainian which I have tasked myself with learning.
Here is a picture of Odessa's most famous building, the Opera House.
Today I walked to see and photo the St. Sophia Cathedral. St. Sophia is a big deal in this part of the world with the major cathedral here being named after her as are the main Cathedrals in Ukraine's capital, Kiev and across the Black Sea in Turkey's capital. Istanbul.
Then I walked down to the Philharmonic Symphony Hall. For some reason, they don't publicize their concerts on the Web or at least I couldn't find them so I decided to walk over there just a few blocks (as is everything) from my hotel.
Much to my delight, there was to be a concert this very evening and using my limited Ukrainian I was able to get directed to the ticket office and purchase a ticket.
Following that, I walked down to and along the harbor where I was surprised and very happy to be able to see the famous Potemkin Steps, famous for the iconic scene in the Soviet propaganda movie "Battleship Potemkin" which a friend told me I must watch when I told her I was coming here.
and I'm glad I did and for the suggestion, as it gave an appreciation and understanding that I would have otherwise lacked.
On my walk the day I arrived, I had been greatly disappointed that I had not been able to see the steps from the walkway above as the view is completely boarded up due to construction.
What's so interesting about the steps is their width decreases from the bottom to the top of the staircase so if you are standing at the bottom the top of the stairs looks much farther to climb than it actually is. Also if you are standing at the bottom of the steps the landings are not visible from that perspective as they are in this picture due to the elevation of my position across the road.
It was hot in the sun particularly as I had walked several miles and so I removed 3 layers: jacket, sweater, and down vest.
Then I thought about returning the way I had come as I was quite tired. Pressing onward would take me farther from my hotel and mean a longer way back and I didn't know if there was another way to get up to the city with the Potemkin stairs being closed off for the construction.
But, I wanted to see what I might find so on I went and saw a trail leading upwards. I thought it might be a dead end leading possibly to a private mansion or something and didn't see anyone on the path. But I decided to try it anyway as it was definitely leading up in the direction I wanted to go and it was nice and cool.
And so I found myself walking in a narrow tranquil forest, a very pleasant peaceful respite from the busy port to my right and the busy city to my left. In my travels, I've found the best experiences seem to come from just wandering. I doubt any guide book mentions this fine walking trail.
As I climbed upward I passed a few people. So I thought they must be coming from somewhere and I would get to where I wanted to go. Eventually.
Then I came around a bend and the trail led downward. Uh oh. I certainly didn't want to have to retrace my steps down and then make the climb up again another way.
But then just around the next bend, there were steps that led upwards and I got to where I wanted to be. Back in the city.
No chairs to sit down here but a nice wall to sit on. After a brief respite, I considered whether I should return or move farther on. The farther I went the more of interest I might see but also the longer the return would be. Then I thought of Uber.
I had a difficult time with Uber here my first two times. The first, when I arrived at the Lviv airport I previously described here and what happened the second time when I arrived at the Odessa train station was that again I couldn't locate the car and in fact canceled the ride but then reconsidered when I thought the 25 cancellation charge might be in Euros (which it wasn't) and almost immediately upon withdrawing the cancellation found the Uber car and as it was driverless I called to tell the driver, in Ukrainian that I was at his car and he replied in Russian (I assume) where he was up in the station, neither of us understanding the other, but I knew he would have to return to his car and he did and all was well.
Except that on the way his car stalled out and he had to keep pressing the starter button over and over til the engine would stay running which eventually it did and we located my hotel and he indicated I should get out.
He didn't get out and instead kept pressing the starter button as his car stalled. I thought he was just wanting to get his car running and then would get out but when he did finally get it running he began driving away with my luggage in his trunk!
Fortunately, I was able to flag him down and avert a disaster. Except that thinking about it later it occurred to me that this is an advantage with Uber as I could call the driver and get him to come back. Well possibly if the language problem could be overcome.
I gave him a 125% tip for all the time (45 minutes) and effort he had earlier spent trying to find me while I was trying to find him. And lest you think that was extravagant let me tell you the fare was only around 80 cents. Yes, you read that right. Thus his well-earned tip was just a dollar.
So now, I thought, since it's so cheap going by Uber I can wander as far as my energy will take me and not worry about returning as I can call Uber and if I'm not in a busy place as in my two previous encounters, I should have no problem locating the Uber car which was the major problem in my previous two experiences.
And indeed when I got to the end of my walk I called Uber, the driver arrived in less than 9 minutes and we drove the 15 minutes to the lovely City Garden where they had this wonderful free concert.
I then sat outside at a table with a delicious chocolate drink facing the garden, a perfect place to people-watch on a perfect Sunday in Odessa and I thought of Paris and how it couldn't be better than this and possibly nowhere near as nice, all things considered.
More than enough had occurred on this fine day except I still had a concert to attend and after grabbing a bite to eat walked over to the Philharmonic Hall.
For the price of admission (less than $2) you get to sit anywhere you want in this beautiful symphony hall so I arrived a bit early and found a nice seat in the fifth row on the aisle where I took pictures.
And indeed it was a wonderful concert in a wonderful setting.
I'm in heaven. Drinking my first coffee of the day at my favorite restaurant/cafeteria in the whole world -- Puzata Xata. In Lviv, they have 2 locations where I eat every meal other than breakfast which is included with my hotel stay there but not here.
As you can see from the pictures this cafeteria is quite elegant. It has a million dollar view of the skyline and my full breakfast, which you can also see here, including coffee, cost less than $1.50. I kid you not!
I thought I was really going to miss Puzata Xata during this 6-day visit to Odessa but was delighted to find it also here and just a couple of blocks from my hotel.
My trip to Odessa from Lviv began with more than a modicum of concern as I planned to take the long 12-hour sleeper train connecting the two cities, And I also planned to travel in third class.
Third Class? Why pick a third class sleeper when travel here is so inexpensive? Well, I wanted a lower bunk and they were all taken in 2nd class by the time I made my reservation.
And, if truth be known, I wanted to see how OK or not OK it might be, having found the 3rd class day trip (just seats no sleeping accommodation) from Mukacheve to Lviv last year to be OK, although the uncushioned seats were hard, particularly so after 5 hours.
With a likely repetition of that trip in store later during this time in Ukraine, I have since purchased a plastic seat cushion which blows up to full size so it takes up very little space when packing.
The third class overnight sleeper is a real bargain. For less than $5 you get a bed for the night, a nice cup of tea and you get to be transported the725 km (450 miles) from Lviv to Odessa.
No, it's no 5-star hotel. Far from it.
But none of the 5-star hotels in Lviv offers the opportunity go to sleep in Lviv and wake up in Odessa!
In the picture, you can see my compartment on the right with 4 bunks. Across the aisle, there are two bunks with the lower bunk starting out as two seats facing each other with a table in between which later folds down to form the bunk.
Boarding early I waited to see who would be sharing my compartment. "Compartment" is probably not the right word as it is completely open to the aisle which is the 3rd reason I thought 3rd class might be preferable to 2nd class where the compartment is completely enclosed.
It seemed to me that sleeping in the company of complete strangers might be safer and therefore wiser in an open compartment.
As I waited, two 30 something guys entered the compartment and then a middle aged man. One of the guys said something to me, in Ukrainian which I didn't understand but then figured he was asking where I was from, when, with a questioning look, he used the Ukrainian word for "Polish". So I told him in my limited Ukrainian that I was an American and asked each of them if they were Ukrainian. Both said they were and we informed each other that we were all headed to the final train stop, Odessa.
At 8:40 PM, right on time as always in Ukraine, at least in my experience, the train departed.
The two guys had a lot of stuff with them including a lot of food. I moved to sit on the left side of my bench (bunk) so they could sit across from each other at the table to eat their big meal.
They invited me to join them in a drink of vodka (I think it was vodka). But, given I was still in recovery from sleep deprivation and jet lag and anticipating that with little sleep on this journey I would be in bad enough shape in the morning without a hangover, I thanked them for their invitation and with some reluctance declined
Some of the passengers made their beds right away upon boarding while others proceeded to do so an hour or so into the journey.
The conductor gave each of us a sealed plastic bag containing sheets, pillow case, and a towel. Rolled up mattresses with pillows were stored overhead at the top of the compartment. One of the guys pulled one down for me. At first, I thought it to be a blanket.
.
Surreptitiously I watched as others made their beds, not wanting to appear the greenhorn I was. At first, I made a hash of it as I got the sheet running crosswise but then figured out you simply line up the stripes on the sheets lengthwise with the mattress.
By 11 PM everyone had made their beds and were settling down for the night except for some talking on their smartphones.
Lying in bed I read a couple of pages of a novel on my Kindle but decided it didn't capture my interest and, as I was really more interested in getting some sleep, I began the effort to do so.
I knew sleeping wouldn't be easy given the strange environment and excitement of being on the train but there were bigger challenges with which to contend.
Very loud sounds of crashing and pounding came from the train's undercarriage And the train swung in wide sweeps both up and down and horizontally.
I confess I was a bit concerned about the loud banging noises. I couldn't and still can't imagine what was causing them. If they were caused by a bad track it seemed we should be derailed. The noise was that pronounced.
However, as no one else appeared to be concerned I decided there was no reason for me to worry.
And as time went by, the track seemed to smooth out and the turbulence was replaced by a gentle swaying of the train and the familiar and comforting clickety-clack of its wheels.
And so. I fell asleep.
During the night I woke up from time to time and then fell back to sleep. In all I guess I slept a total of 4 or 5 hours. While not my usual and desired 9 hours or so, I was grateful for what I did get. More than I got on the 8-hour flight from Washington to Frankfurt.
Indeed it is nice to be able to spread out and lie down flat as opposed to being scrunched up in an airline seat although my feet did extend into the aisle about an inch when I lay flat on my back and they got brushed by a couple of passengers walking by. Better placement of the pillow, however, fixed this problem allowing me to move my body so my feet were completely out of the aisle, but just barely.
Around 6 or 7 AM a few people started to get up. The sun had risen and begun pouring through the window across the aisle. As it turned out it was low enough on the horizon and perfectly placed so as to shine directly onto my face. Unable to position my cap to block it out I reluctantly roused myself, got up and retrieved my sleep mask from my backpack and so solved this problem.
By 8 AM most people had arisen. We rolled up our pillows and mattresses and stored them in the overhead rack. And we folded up our sheets and pillow cases and delivered them to the conductor.
Finally, at 8:50 AM we arrived at our destination. The final stop for the train. Odessa with its magnificent train station.
The historic (for me) trip was over.
Tired and somewhat in a daze but quite happily, I carefully descended the steep steps of the train and walked with my crowd of fellow passengers to the station.
And as I did, I said to myself ----
Mission accomplished!
Well not quite. I still had to get to my hotel, which turned out to be a more-than- expected. challenge.
It's Sunday and so downtown Lviv is freed of vehicular traffic, making it the best time to walk around this beautiful city.
Leaving my hotel I walked to the medieval town center.
There was just a slight chill in the air so I sought a cafe where I could sit outside in the Sun.
I found the perfect spot to warm both body and soul.
Earlier I had stopped at the TI (Tourist Info) and got a list of the days' events of which there is, as always, a veritable feast from which to select. (See a partial list here).
One event looked particularly intriguing although from the brief description I could only guess what it might be about.
“Tomorrow will be better” multimedia exhibition22.08.2016 - 14.05.2017
Center for Urban History of East Central Europe
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Then I noticed its last day was this very day so I decided to bestir myself and head over there.
But along the way I took my time, perhaps too much time, capturing and being captivated by what I thought might make some good photos of people and sites.
Indeed by the time I found the building housing the exhibit I found the entrance door was locked and it appeared I had dallied too long.
So, I decided to try pushing the buttons on the intercom panel next to the door omitting those with the Ukrainian word for "apartment" which I was glad I had learned. But, to no avail, until I pushed the button next to the word for "cafe" (another useful Ukrainian word to know).
A woman answered and then came to the door, let me in and showed me the way to the Exhibit.
I was really glad that I had persisted as this was a wonderful display of pictures taken by a Polish photographer Tadeusz Rolke showing life and events in Lviv in the years 1989 to 1991 during the fall of the Soviet Union, the beginning of Independence for Ukraine.
It was a small exhibition, just 50 of his 100 pictures never published before
Other than the woman at the entrance there was just one other person (apparently her son) whom I saw peeking around a corner at me til. overcoming his shyness, he gave me a demonstration of his slinky toy.
In Ukrainian, I asked the boy his name and was delighted when he nonchalantly answered as if my Ukrainian was to be comprehended without any effort at all.
In Ukrainian and English, a sign at the entrance to the exhibition captured its essence as follows:
"We can sense some anxiety and insecurity of the time, and we can see a sad and happy Lviv of 1990
and the faces of the people and politicians who were not yet sure that a new country they had often thought about was going to rise soon".
I would have liked to have had more time, but in my quick tour, I read about the renaming of Lviv's main avenue from Prospect Lenina ("Lenin Avenue") to Prospect Svobody ("Freedom Avenue"), and as described on the Web description of the exhibition "the crossroads between the still omnipresent Soviet everyday reality with empty stores, crowds of the military in the street , low quality monotonous "cooperative" bought clothes, queues, lack of smiles, but with the hope for the better, and more fair future, because it was supposed to be "our own". (Vasyl Rasevych)".
You can see a nice slide show of some of the pictures from the Web here.
One of the exhibits had pictures of 75 different people. with a clickable video for each of them
Just one of them was in English and so I made a
video of that video.
The audio is a little hard to hear on my recording so I repeat what she is saying as follows ---
"At 1990 I was just 3 years old so don't remember much, sadly .... but I'm pretty sure it was good ... it was nice and ahh, I mean we're back to the future now and so I'm quite happy. Thank you for the exhibition."
As they were about to close, I was only there for 15 or 20 minutes.
But in the short time, I was there, I experienced not the feeling of hard-to-imagine long ago and distant happenings.
But as if these events were very real and relevant to the here and now when freedom is threatened from autocrats on both sides of the iron curtain.
Earlier this evening at the Lviv Symphony Hall, I sat down and spoke briefly to my new friend who was again sitting in my favorite seat but then I had to move to the one 3 seats away when two ladies showed up to claim the two seats in between mine and his.
It was two nights ago at the Bandura concert where, unable to get my favorite seat, the one at the very front of the balcony overlooking the stage and perfect for videoing the orchestra - which amazingly they let you do here - I got the next seat and we struck up a conversation.
His English is a bit limited but as it far exceeds my Ukrainian we chose it to converse with considerable effort on both our parts.
He is an author and artist and he showed me a book he had written and illustrated and for which he became quite eager for me to buy.
Of course, it would have been rude for me to refuse and I was intrigued so we negotiated a price that was less than his initial asking price but more than his final offer which I deemed to be unfair - to him.
The only problem was the small currency I had with me was not enough and the larger bill I had was too much so after the concert we went looking for the change and on the third attempt found a store that was willing to give change without a purchase.
I offered to buy us coffee which would have gotten us change but for some reason, he demurred and so we pressed on and scored at the third store we visited.
After we completed the deal I thought we might talk some more but he was headed for home presumably to his wife whom he told me was a composer which they pronounce “Compos-EEE-tor” here in Ukraine. One of those words which I find both easy and fun to remember.
Although the book was not in English I knew I could scan it with the Google Translation App on my smartphone and quickly turn it into English. An amazing technology!
So I went to one of my favorite after-the-symphony hangouts to do just that. However, when I did, Google said it couldn’t find the Ukrainian to match the words to translate to English.
How odd!
But, then I remembered he had told me that both his Grandfather and Father were Russian Princes. So I told Google to try Russian and suddenly English lit up the screen.
Nice, but I guess this book isn’t going to help me learn Ukrainian.
Oh well.
Though of royal lineage my new friend told me he was a pensioner of very modest means.
And when I asked if he too is a Prince he rejected the thought and declared with some vehemence and perhaps a touch of humor --
I am a Democrat!
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During the intermission at tonight's performance, I noticed that my new friend had taken his bag with him and thinking he might not return to claim his seat I hovered next to it until the concert resumed.
And so, as it turned out, I got to sit down and make this video from the best spot in the house of the first movement of Debussy’s “La Mer”.
But before that video let me show you this brief video in answer to a reader's request for a video of pure Bandura music without singing.
The last thing I heard before I went to sleep was the ancient church bell tolling midnight.
And now lying awake in bed I hear the bell toll 5 times. Before that, I had heard it ring 4 times but not 3 or 2 or 1. So I figure I've gotten at least a few hours of sleep.
Since I can't go back to sleep I decide to get up and write.
Since my flight arrived Monday I've experienced sudden bouts of exhaustion occurring unpredictably during the day along with spells of dizziness. But, I'm not concerned. I know the cause.
It's Jet lag. And it's taking (or should I say ringing?) a toll.
I'll be in Lviv for 9 days and had planned to crash for the first 2. and to sleep intermittently during the day whenever I could to adjust to the jet lag and lack of sleep on the flights from Washington, Frankfurt, and Munich.
So no problem except I want to email the woman I sat next to on my last flight and arrange to meet up with her. She had told me she has lots of great friends for me to meet here in Lviv.
I'll do that but first, I want to get my balance back so I'll make a decent first impression without my mind fogged by jet lag. But time is running out. In transit on the way to Crimea to visit her Mother, she will in town for just 4 days.
A lot has happened since I arrived at the airport First of all I experienced a failed encounter with Uber, a hoped for new-to-Ukraie better way to get from the airport to my hotel, without the hassle of negotiating a taxi fare or the long wait for a bus.
Unfortunately, I found myself standing in front of the airport, in the rain, unable to find my Uber driver as my cell phone runs out of the few minutes remaining on the local sim card which I use here in Ukraine and had reinstalled in Germany and for which there is no place at the airport to add minutes and where also the attendant in the information kiosk has gone for a one hour lunch break when I return back to the airport for assistance after having endured the hassle of going again through security and where I then find that the taxi driver I had previously rejected now wants to charge an exorbitant fare owing to the sudden absence of his competitors who've been absorbed by a flood of recently arriving passengers, but just then, much to my surprise, he helpfully suggests that I take the number 9 bus which arrives unexpectedly in minutes and only charges a fraction of the modest amount Uber would have charged.
So I find myself delighted to be bouncing along in an impressively dilapidated rickety old bus heading into town, appreciating the comfort, reliability and cost effectiveness of the old low tech, common man way of traveling to the city center.
And best of all my self-esteem which had taken a hit from my poor execution of the exfiltration from the airport gets a boost as I congratulate myself on the wisdom of preparing to travel this trip ultra lightly as I effortlessly walk the 7 blocks from the bus stop to my hotel, negligibly burdened with only my small backpack.
Arriving at the hotel, the desk clerk smiles and says how nice it is to see me again and when I am in my room and answer the knock at my door I am further welcomed by a young woman who delivers a cup of tea and some tasty rolls.
It is so nice to be back home in Lviv!
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Yesterday morning when I returned to my room from breakfast I heard drums outside and noticed it is strangely quiet out on the street and square in front my hotel with the absence of the normally heavy vehicular traffic except as occurs on Sunday when this pleasant quiet would be normal.
From the hotel desk clerk I learn it is Victory Day today in Ukraine. May 9th. The celebration of the defeat of the Nazis in World War II.
Subsequently, as I walk up the long promenade to the Opera House I view the stalls with their endless selections of food, clothing, crafts etc. when I feel something brushing my shoulder.
A young woman who had brushed me with one of her huge white wings invites me to take her picture which I do and then give her the 10 Hryvnia she requests which is only fair. Nothing is free in this world although here it almost is, as that's only about 40 cents.
Then as I walk into the city center I am pleased to see the iconic historic town hall which was covered last fall for renovations is now uncloaked standing tall in all its refurbished glory.
__________
Last night I went to a Bandura concert. A unique experience for me featuring a beautiful traditional, musical instrument with the breadth of tonality from guitar to harp to viola, cello, and bass violin or so it appears to my non-expert ear.
During the concert's intermission, as I snuck a photo of this lovely musician, she graciously turned her two instruments to face my camera and gave me a warm smile
Great singing and playing by 10 or more soloists, duets, quartets etc. culminating in what I'm guessing might be the largest group of Bandura players assembled in one place.
And it all ended with the singing of a religious anthem with which I am told by my hotel's desk clerk ends every Sunday service she attends.
Very moving as Orchestra and Audience join together in song.
More has happened already on this trip to Ukraine, but I'll just mention that I was sure I had missed my flight to Lviv with the delay in my connecting flight from Munich and while I'm writing this I got locked out of my Google account and thought I was further doomed. But both of those experiences had unexpected happy endings. "
So perhaps Murphy's law needs a corollary.
How about -----
"Whatever can go right. May. When least expected."
I’m here at the Frankfort airport in transit from Washington DC and in one hour will board a plane to Munich from whence, if all goes well, I’ll catch another to fly to Lviv, Ukraine. Here’s a picture of the waiting area for my flight.
Great German interior design. Tables to work at or eat. Seats in which to wait and watch the TV screen.
The rest rooms are in the waiting area on the top of the picture on the left
At the bottom of the picture you see the head of guy at a long rectangular table (just a small portion of which shows in the picture) with sockets to charge phones and computers. You can see the first letters of the word "Work" for those who need reminding in this country of focused diligence.
And in the very center of the picture the area of small tables with my computer screen where I am writing as we speak.
All of this in one cozy place .. no long walks down endless airport corridors to get to what you need or want as in Washington's grand airport which you see in the next picture.
Before I boarded the flight that brought me here, I had an strange and somewhat unsettling experience.
Should I say something? That’s what I wondered as I waited at the boarding gate.
A few moments earlier, the security guard had asked me about the backpack sitting unattended two seats from mine. He said “that’s yours right?” I said no and put my hand on my backpack resting on the seat right next to me.
Then he turned away. Did he call someone? I wasn’t sure.
The backpack stayed there and I began to wonder .. who would leave a backpack? With all the warnings to not leave your stuff unattended.
What could be in that backpack that the owner didn’t want to be near to it?
Did the security guy call someone to come, and remove it? Should I follow the dictum “if you see something say something”. Surely he knows what he should do and is dealing with it..
Surely?
I went to get something to eat and much to my relief the backpack was gone when I got back to the departure area.
Speaking of backpacks, I’m traveling with just one 25 litre backpack. The regular carry on bag allowance is 45 litres and here you see me with my backpack. That's all I've got for 6 weeks traveling in Ukraine.
I’m pretty pleased with myself that I could get my stuff reduced to this small amount to carry.
This trip I'll be visiting a number of different cities, towns and villages. About 10 in total. A good number of them in the Carpathian mountains where I'll be climbing on and off buses and trains to get from one to another. So I need to travel light.
Perhaps not a Guiness World Record in light travel, but certainly a personal record.
The best part of the flight from DC to Frankfurt was watching the flight from all angles and seeing the plane and the territory as we flew North and East over New England, Canada, and Newfoundland and then over the Atlantic, Ireland, the UK, London and thence across the English channel to France and into Germany
You can “fly with me”, and see exactly what I saw by watching this video of my monitor. I always like watching the progress of my flights, but the technology has greatly improved since my flight last fall and is now quite captivating.
Do click on the arrow on the picture and watch this. And if you can't or don't want to watch the whole thing just click on 10 or so spots on the control bar at the bottom of the video and in a minute or less you'll get the gist of it.
I think they call this “AR – Augmented Reality”. The flight path is real and in real time using the plane's GPS. It is augmented with real movies (I think) of real flights taken over the same route and simulated pictures of the plane from different viewing angles as if a sister plane was flying above and alongside photoing the plane we are on.
The floating compass beneath the plane is a really creative way to show the plane’s direction.
This was so engaging that I got sucked in as my mind began to experience that I was seeing the real plane and the countryside passing by in real time. So abosorbed that I was a bit surprised when we raised the window shades and saw that it was still dark outside.
As we traveled through the night sky over Europe. Enchanting.
And not a bad thing as what we were seeing was largely what we would see if it were day time and we could see the real earth below and our own plane like we would if on another plane flying alongside .
We are in a Brave New world with Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence.
And yes, "alternative facts", and fake news. But, alot of the new technology is quite exciting.
Good news! As I am about to visit Ukraine the largest country in Europe some paticularly good news arrives that the French have rejected the far right candidate and the EU will survive.
This is particularly good news for Ukraine which had a revolution because of their people's desire to participate in the benefits of Union with Europe along with freedom from Russian domination.
Needless to say it would have been disappointing to Ukrainians if after all they had gone through to join Europe, the French had participated in what appeas to be an underappreciation of the Union that had brought piece, prosperity and hope to this part of the World.
More on this and alot more as the journey continues!
Today I took the 3-hour bus from Rakhiv to Khust. You "can't get there from here" by Train.
Now, later in the evening, as I'm writing this a train pulls into town on the track right beside my Guest House Hotel, a fabulous location as it's just 1/2 block to the train station and 1/2 block to the center of this small village and right next to the railroad tracks,
I met a guy from Finland as both of us were checking out of the little supermarket. when he asked me where I was from. He lives here as an ex-pat with his wife and two little sons under 2 years old and divides his time between here and Helsinki. He's a business coach and involved in the export/import business. Like me, he was quite taken on his first visit with the magnificent architecture.
Then I walked down to the Philharmonic Symphony Hall. For some reason, they don't publicize their concerts on the Web or at least I couldn't find them so I decided to walk over there just a few blocks (as is everything) from my hotel.
As I climbed upward I passed a few people. So I thought they must be coming from somewhere and I would get to where I wanted to go. Eventually.
I then sat outside at a table with a delicious chocolate drink facing the garden, a perfect place to people-watch on a perfect Sunday in Odessa and I thought of Paris and how it couldn't be better than this and possibly nowhere near as nice, all things considered.
I thought I was really going to miss Puzata Xata during this 6-day visit to Odessa but was delighted to find it also here and just a couple of blocks from my hotel.
Well not quite. I still had to get to my hotel, which turned out to be a more-than- expected. challenge.
Everyone is out walking today.
It's Sunday and so downtown Lviv is freed of vehicular traffic, making it the best time to walk around this beautiful city.
One event looked particularly intriguing although from the brief description I could only guess what it might be about.
So, I decided to try pushing the buttons on the intercom panel next to the door omitting those with the Ukrainian word for "apartment" which I was glad I had learned. But, to no avail, until I pushed the button next to the word for "cafe" (another useful Ukrainian word to know).
It was a small exhibition, just 50 of his 100 pictures never published before
He is an author and artist and he showed me a book he had written and illustrated and for which he became quite eager for me to buy. 
After we completed the deal I thought we might talk some more but he was headed for home presumably to his wife whom he told me was a composer which they pronounce “Compos-EEE-tor” here in Ukraine. One of those words which I find both easy and fun to remember.
And best of all my self-esteem which had taken a hit from my poor execution of the exfiltration from the airport gets a boost as I congratulate myself on the wisdom of preparing to travel this trip ultra lightly as I effortlessly walk the 7 blocks from the bus stop to my hotel, negligibly burdened with only my small backpack.
From the hotel desk clerk I learn it is Victory Day today in Ukraine. May 9th. The celebration of the defeat of the Nazis in World War II.
A young woman who had brushed me with one of her huge white wings invites me to take her picture which I do and then give her the 10 Hryvnia she requests which is only fair. Nothing is free in this world although here it almost is, as that's only about 40 cents.
Last night I went to a Bandura concert. A unique experience for me featuring a beautiful traditional, musical instrument with the breadth of tonality from guitar to harp to viola, cello, and bass violin or so it appears to my non-expert ear. 
Great German interior design. Tables to work at or eat. Seats in which to wait and watch the TV screen.
Speaking of backpacks, I’m traveling with just one 25 litre backpack. The regular carry on bag allowance is 45 litres and here you see me with my backpack. That's all I've got for 6 weeks traveling in Ukraine. 