The Grandeur of Odessa

Odessa, Ukraine, 5/21/17 5 PM

A perfect Sunday in the Grand City of Odessa.

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.

The capstone for, and a  perfect ending to - - -

A perfect Sunday in Odessa.

Thanks for reading!

Solo But Not Alone

It was long ago and far away.

Around 1993 or so.  On a street corner in Sydney, Australia.

My memory of this encounter is vague.  But I think I'm right in recalling he was with his family and we were waiting for a bus when he spoke to me.

He had a broad Australian accent, was missing quite a few teeth and my impression was they were visiting from the Outback.



I'm sure he asked me where I was from and I know he asked me the next question.  One I get all the time when I travel :

"Are you alone?"

I know this because I clearly remember the next thing he said was --

"Couldn't get anyone to come with you eh?"

Well he was being friendly and joking, but in the midst of acclimatizing myself, having recently landed from a 15 hour trans-Pacific flight and suffering the disorienting dizziness of sleep deprivation and jet lag I found his comment a bit disturbing.

And also, if truth be known, I was a little uncertain about traveling alone at that point in my life.

That uncertainty is now, however, long gone.  I love traveling by myself.  Why?  Well because I can do whatever I want to do whenever I want to.  Or not.  No compromising with another human being.

And my focus is on my surroundings. And I meet people I would not otherwise meet, having no one else to engage with.

Will this change with age and growing fragility?  Perhaps.  But on the other hand the need to sleep-in or rest-up increases too and having the flexibility to deal with whatever happens more than compensates.  Or so I've found to be true.   At least so far.

I much prefer the spontaneity of having the day's events determined without a plan. Often on the spur of the moment.  Some of  my best experiences were totally unplanned and unexpected.

Like wandering down a narrow street in Lviv, Ukraine, hearing music from a building, entering and discovering musicians practicing in the hallways of the school which teaches the great classical performers I was hearing in this city, the cultural capital of Ukraine.


Traveling with a group on a guided tour does not appeal to me.  Except were I to travel into the remote mountains of Pakistan like the woman whom I met on a flight to Istanbull.

She told me about the members of the group with whom she was traveling. Amazingly diverse in age and homelands.   I imagine that could be as interesting and perhaps on par with the experience of meeting locals which is far more likely when you travel alone.

Speaking of Pakistan, last night my Uber taxi driver was from that part of the world Nepal as was the Pakastani Restaurant manager where I had lunch today.  Both very nice guys who got into this country, I guess, before Trump is in position to drop the iron curtain.

I had interesting conversations with both of them. I learned from the Driver that Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital, is very crowded something I probably wouldn't enjoy in spite of its alluring name.  And from the Restaurateur that their language Urdu is easy to learn once you learn the far different alphabet. I doubt that's true tho I'm certainly going to check it out.

The restaurant guy told me that his son whom you see in this picture doesn't speak Urdu at home even tho his father and mother do.  No doubt the greater influence of TV. But when they visit Pakistan for a couple of months the boy does speak Urdu.

The Restaurateur tells me that one of the great things about learning Urdu is that, with it, you can
communicate, verbally at least, with Pakistanis, Indians, Arabs and Iranians.  A part of the world that I have yet to explore.  A really huge part of the World!

I love learning Ukrainian in large part because it uses the Cyrillic alphabet which to me is visually beautiful and intriguing.  This is, I think, good for aging brains.  Learning a foreign language is supposed to guard against or postpone the onset of Alzheimer's.

And what a delight to have the light bulb go on above my head when in Ukraine I sound out a sign in Cyrillic and recognize the word is the same word in English as sometimes happens.

Like a door opening into a hidden world.

It's a bit tricky.  You have to rewire your brain (through practive) to have it sound "N" when you see "H", "V" when you see "B" and "R" when you see "P".

Some of the letters are really cool.  At least to me.  A backwards "R" ("Я") (pronounced "ya") is  the letter for "I" as in "I go to the store".

And one of my favorites the elegant "Д", an "A" on stilts is pronounced like a "D".

And there's  "Ч". "У". "Ш". "Щ" which look like English "Y" and "W" but are not at all the same, while the Cyrillic "K" and "M" look like English  "K" and "M" and indeed are the same.

And there are a bunch more interesting letters as you can see from this colorful chart. A total of 33 vs the English language of just 26.

One of the (many) reasons I continue to go to Ukraine is to get a return on my effort to learn the language.  It feels like I've come a long way and at the same time like I have'nt gotten very far. I think both of these statements may be true.  The alphabet and several hundred words and a bunch of phrases.  Were I to spend a year in Ukraine I think I could become quite fluent as the Pakistani Restaurateur says people become in Urdu who spend a year in Pakistan.

And although I don't expect to spend a whole year there, each time I do go, I learn more and see I've grown in capability from learning there as well as from studying at home.

As we get older, make an effort to hold back the clock, stay young or even possibly reverse aging it seems to me learning is a fine way to achieve growth the very opposite of decline.

And I believe that learning in itself has great valuein terms of health and well being whatever the subject and whether or not there is an economic or environmental need . Most important it can and should be fun.

While I travel solo, I am never alone.  Or at least not for long because I write this Blog.

Without the Blog I would not enjoy traveling alone, away from home.  At least not for long periods of time as I do. Typically 6 weeks or so.

As I travel I am commenting to you in my mind and later when I write.  About what I see and experience,  So this sharpens my attention and gives a purpose to my journey, that it would otherwise lack.

And these ongoing conversations with you make me feel I am not alone. Not at all.  Except when I haven't blogged for a few days.

So I really appreciate the comments I got to my last Blog post.  The emails and especially the comments made in the comment section of the Blog which are there for all to read.

And to those who urged me to continue writing I say Thanks!  You too!

Keep writing those comments!

And to those who haven't yet.  Give it a try.  Just think. Your thoughts can and will be read by readers all over the world.   Say whatever is on your mind.  Just click on the link at the bottom of this post and write whatever you're thinking.

Thanks for reading.  And thanks for commenting!

It's not who we are.

Lviv, Ukraine, 11/13/16, 9:40 AM

I woke up at 3 AM. feeling creepy.  That happens. Although more usually its 4 AM.

I was having second thoughts about my last Blog Post.   Well I often do.  Once you've written to the world, not that the whole world is reading, but it is out there and you can't take it back.

I'm a pretty private person and like to believe I'm not a narcissist like Donald Trump although I notice this seems to be all about me and I've started three paragraphs with the letter I.   So let's get to the point here and try to make this about us not just about me.

OK?

What made me uneasy is I hadn't heard from any of my readers.  So I was wondering, as I always do when I don't hear for a while, what did I say that I'll now regret.

Thus it was with more than a little trepidation that, when I got up this morning, I opened my email to see what I was to be told. How absurd was what I said.  Or how boring.  Or useless?

Or worse.  Nothing?  No emails?  No responses?

Whew!  Much to my relief.   I got some nice responses.  More importantly they were helpful in dealing with "Recovery".   Election Recovery that is. From the recent Presidential election in the United States.

I'm an American in a far away distant land all by myself with strangers I can't much talk to given the language difference.  So it may be I'm finding this Recovery thing more difficult to deal with than it otherwise would be.

But I'm feeling better now.  What helps?

Knowing we are not alone,  A lot of people are going through the same thing and sharing,  So here are some thoughts that may help that were shared with me.

A reader friend writes that Maureen Dowd (of the NYTimes) says that knowing Trump as she (Maureen) does,  no one was more surprised than he (Trump) that he won, And we all know he doesn't mean half of what he says, (says Maureen) and hopefully the good side of him is what we get.

Another reader friend writes she "was determined to go cold turkey and avoid all news but it draws me back like an addict or one mesmerized by a train wreck".

I'm experiencing the same thing.  And I've found it's better not to try to block it out, but let it flow as there  are some good takes on the whole thing in the press and hearing what others have to say helps.

Both David Brooks of the NYTimes, and documentary film writer Michael Moore (who predicted Trump would win back in July) say Trump won't last his full term. He'll resign or be impeached.  True?  I have no idea.

And Matt Tabbi writes in rolling stone how he and everyone else in journalism was clueless as  to the seriousness of the problems out there in the heartland being ignored by the press and the elites.

And it is serious.  There is the corruption of the government.  My personal peeve is and was that Obama's department of justice failed to prosecute the biggest fraudsters of all time.  The Wall Street CEOs who committed blatant fraud and caused the 2008 meltdown.

And he and his Attorney General, Eric Holder, did nothing about these crimes  while presiding over a system which filled the for-profit making jails with petty offenders of their own race who couldn't buy their way out of prosecution or even in many cases get a fair trial.

And there has been globalization and crony capitalism enriching the elites while decimating employmet in the heartland.

So maybe this is some kind of wake up call, albeit an extreme one. But could it have come any other way?

Bernie Sanders saw the problems.  But Obama and Clinton didn't. I'm not saying they are bad people, There's a lot I admire in both of them, That's not my point.  But I think its fair to say they were clueless or unconcerned.

A friend of mine,  a Trump supporter, told me, months ago, Trump is like taking Chemo.  It may kill you but in this case it's necessary. He felt things were that bad being ignored by the government and the elites.

I don't know about that but it's worth thinking about.   I personally think Trump could make things a lot worse with the K street lobbyists and the special interests, especially his own personal special interests gorging as never before so I don't think this "Trump Chemo" is a good idea.

During the campaign The Huffington Post ended all their articles about Trump, with the following statement:

Editor’s note (from the Huffington Post): Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.


Is there really anything good you can or should say about all this?

And just consider this --
For a guy famous for his lack of self control isn't it astounding he will not only be President, the most powerful man in the world, but perhaps the most powerful President in history. 

Trump will  appoint the deciding vote in the Supreme Court.  

He will have both houses of Congress under his party's control and it is his party now.  He owes them nothing. Most of them didn't want him.  They wouldn't stand up to him as a candidate and certainly won't as President.  So it will be his government. 

Can this really be true?  He will be the most powerful man in the history of the world? Donald Trump?

One of my reader friends writes she is terrified.  Another writes she is devastated. 

So how does this make you feel. Better?  Not me.

But maybe there is a purpose in all this.  There are serious problems and they weren't being addressed and wouldn't have been if things just continued with "business as usual".   

Maybe this is a wake up call.  If so it certainly isn't being ignored.  The kind of soul searching that is going on might not have occurred any other way.

Two long (or so it seems now) weeks ago I talked with a young Ukrainian acquaintance in Uzhhorod. He told me he thought, unlike Ukraine , the U.S. has a strong Democracy with checks and balances to prevent a President from doing too much harm. 

I hope he is right about this. But there are no checks and balances on the President's authority to launch a nuclear attack. 

And yet while Trump may be the most powerful man in the world -- ever.  He does lack one thing. Maybe a critical thing --- a mandate. Hopefully that's still important in our Democracy.  

He managed to edge out his opponent, but only edge her out with the electoral vote.  And his opponent was deeply unpopular and I believe he would have lost big time to either Senator Sanders or Vice President Biden. And he did lose the popular vote.


So Trump is not what the U.S. and it's people want. He is just the chosen of two choices that most voters really, really didn't want to have to make. And I hope we all remember this and especially our friends in other countries who are as shocked or even more so as we: 

The majority of Americans did not and do not want Trump as their President.

It's not who we are.

Years ago I came to the conclusion that there always seems to be benefit to be found in things that go bad. You just have to search for it and focus on it. 

So here's one way to look at all this.  The U.S. has serious problems that aren't being addressed and wouldn't be by the elites running things.   After all they were all doing just fine.  


Now everyone knows we have serious problems.  I don't think the "Trump Chemo" we got is the answer. But maybe Brooks and Moore are right and we'll get off this dangerous drug and on to dealing with the underlying disease in a healthier way now that we can no longer ignore it.

Anyway that's how I decided to think about all of this today,  As my personal way to deal with "Recovery". I'm not perfectly happy with this solution.  It's just the best I've been able to come up with.   For me.  So far. 

And yet thinking further, a concern is that what's happening in the U.S. is part of wider world trend towards authoritarianism.  Russia, Turkey, France, Poland, Hungary and India as described by Pakaj Misha in an article in today's NYTimes.  So as much as I'd like to believe Brooks and Moore are right that Trump's reign will be brief I'm not convinced.  

Most importantly if, as I believe, most Americans don't want Trump as our President what do we do about it,  I have some ideas but that's a Blog post for another day,

What I would really appreciate is your taking just a couple of minutes telling how you/re dealing with this matter.  Wherever you live in the world.  And, if an American, no matter who you voted for or didn't. 
  
This is a time for all of us to hear eachother.  Even more so if we disagree.

Please leave a comment in the spot below or email me.  It only takes a minute and I'm sure you have thoughts about it if you've read this far.

Do Share.  Please. Thanks! 

It Seems Surreal

Lviv, Ukraine Friday 11/11/16 9:30PM

I went to a concert at the Lviv, Philharmonic and I was sitting in my chair in the best place in the balcony overlooking the stage waiting for the concert to start.

My very favorite seat is #36 the one at the very edge of the balcony up front on the right side overlooking the stage and closest to the performers. The concert hall is small and intimate and I’ve been here before when I found myself unnerved to be making eye contact more than a few times with the pianist as she performs only a few feet below me on stage.

Tonight I had seat 35 the next best seat. But no one was sitting in seat 36. And then just before the soloist came out on the stage a young woman sat down there next to me.

After three presenters talked for what seemed like forever, introducing the concert and perhaps future ones, (my Ukrainian is not that good yet so I was lost) I began to the think the piano was just a prop for these lecturers when finally they finished talking and out came the soloist

He was wearing really long hair. But that wasn’t the most notable thing. The shoes he wore were as unusual as the conductor in Uzhhorod described in my last Blog Post in her high heel stilletos.  Only more so.

Like he wore no shoes at all. No socks either. Just bear feet. Well I’ve never seen that before at a formal concert in a grand concert hall. And its quite chilly in the concert hall this time of year.

It seemed surreal.

During his performance he put various items on top of the strings in the grand piano (a Steinway of course). I  observed strings of beads, a book, some kind of metal thing. All of which did some weird things to the sound. 

Now you could think this is all just gimmickry to make up for a lack of talent and create an interesting performance and impress us.

Not so.

My take on this?  This guy is so good he could do whatever he wanted to. He is a real gifted natural talent.

He was totally absorbed in his work and  paid little attention to the enthusiastic response of the audience. Until it was all over. Really doing his thing.

Here’s a Very brief (1 1/3 minute) video to give you a bit of an idea. Do click it and watch his foot work.

When it was all over I asked the young woman sitting in my “usual” seat “who is this guy??”.

Well it turned out she indeed knew. He’s a Polish star pianist, an extraordinary talent. And as it turned out she and her friend sitting in back of us with a slightly older woman are violinists from Poland who will be playing here Monday night with the Lviv, Philharmonic.

Needless to say I told them I will be here too watching them (in seat 36) or as close as I can get when I go first thing tomorrow to get my ticket.

What followed was the chance nice discussion you can have here. They were interested to know where I was from. Mercifully there was no discussion of what just occurred in the United States with our election. We didn’t get to that but I’m sure we would have if there had been more time.

The big news here like throughout the world is about the U.S. election and what it all means. But especially here where Ukraine’s future is so dependent on the U.S. to balance Russia. And of course the concern here is that Trump will trade Ukraine because of his ties to Russsia of which we know so little and have reason to fear so much. 

One of the benefits to traveling in the world is to realize what an important responsibility and place the U.S. has in it. I feel that especially when I am here. It has made me very proud to be an American.

And now like a lot of Americans I am processing what has just occurred and what it means. More than once I’ve thought maybe this is just a bad dream from which I’ll be relieved to wake up.

In my last Blog Post I said that there was a real risk that what happened could happen. But, it’s still a shock.

We are in uncharted waters and anyone who tells you they know what is going to happen is lying or deluding themselves.

It all seems so surreal.

A Tale of Two Cities

Mukachevo, Ukraine. Train Station, 11/2/2016 3:30 PM

I've spent the last three weeks in two beautiful cities tucked away in the southwestern corner of Ukraine.  Both have rivers running through them and in this picure you see a fisherman with his very long pole reaching out into the Uzh river from which this city of Uzhhorod gets its name.

Uzhhorod is one of the finest places in the world to take a walk along the side of a winding river.

Its "Linden Alley" is the longest in Europe,

And as the leaves scatter in the cool crisp breeze of a perfect fall day it is hauntingly beautiful.


While in Uzhhorod I celebrated the eve of my birthday with which I've now entered a whole new decade.

I did so by going to a wonderful concert featuring a world class Ukrainian violin soloist.

Conducting the orchestra was a woman who has, for a conductor, an unusually expressive warm smile and whose performance was notable not only for its precision but for the fact she was in motion on the podium with the stilleto high heels the women love to wear here.


















There is much to see in these towns of architectural note,  Here are the town hall of Mukachevo and one of its Orthodox churches.

And with all their many cafes with great coffee and chocolate, they are wonderful places to hang out and drop out of sight, yet stay connected as need be.

Since my first visit a couple of years ago this station  in the city of Mukachevo where I'm now waiting for my  train to Lviv looks more prosperous to me. It could be my growing familiarity or a new coat of paint which I observed being started on my first visit. Probably both.

Today I may be traveling 3rd class, a first for me here in Ukraine. The regular coach class I usually take leaves an hour and 10 minutes later and takes a half hour longer for the trip for some reason getting me to Lviv late at night.

Recovering from a bad cold I’m anxious to get on the road and more importantly off the road as soon as possible. This earlier train will do that but at what price in comfort? I have no idea.

Mysteriously this 3rd class train shows (online) most of its seats empty, over 800 of them. My plan is to reserve a ticket on the later train and to buy a ticket and board the earlier 3rd class train and then jump right off if it looks too grim.

There’s plenty of time to do that as this train originates here and so should be in the station with lots of time to check it out and get on and off if necessary. The downside? Only $1.50 or so for the ticket if I have to eat it. And all this for a 4 hour train ride. By comparison the 10 minute cab fare to the station seems expensive, but was only $1.20.

The Hryvnia (local currency) has been pretty steady over the last year at about 25 to the dollar (after losing 2/3’s of its value in the previous couple of years). It continues to make this place an amazing bargain for travelers with dollars.

I hoped to get some assistance from the ticket clerk, getting her advice. having her pick me a good seat but she just wanted to know the train time and date and spoke no English and was one of those people that has patience only those with fluent local language. Not those struggling to improve their skills and be understood.

Yesterday I had a chance meeting with a businessman from Turkey (all the tables were occupied when I came down to breakfast and he graciously asked me to join him). He’s involved in manufacturing and I told him how impressed I was when I traveled across his country by bus, a few years ago, at the tremendous growth in industry that I witnessed. His concern is that it might be slowing with the unrest in the country given the turmoil associated with the recent attempted coup and its aftermath.

He told me wages here in Ukraine are ½ what they are  in Turkey and we discussed what a tremendous future this country would have if the people were allowed to grow and prosper without the external problems with Russia and the internal problems with corruption of the government.

And now a third threat appears to possibly loom for the country from the U.S. should Trump win the Presidential election, given his Bromance with Putin. Only a week ago this seemed very unlikely but the tightening race in the last few days makes anything appear possible.

I met a young guy on the bus traveling from the city of Uzhhorod to Mukachevo. We had a nice chat, limited as he spoke no English. What started the conversation was his excitement on seeing the ID tag on my suitcase indicating that I was from the U.S.

He shook my hand several times in delight. They like us here. A lot. I hope we don’t let them down.

Whoops.  I think my train is now in the station so I must go. Can’t wait to see what I find. But before I leave --

Here's a statue to a living every day hero in the center of Mukachevo.

The guy is a chimney sweep, in his 70’s, still working. He rides around town on his bike (a prevalent form of transportation here for both young and old) with his cat. 

Everyone knows him and likes him.

To honor him and his service to the community and his important work the city decided to erect this statue to him.

Note the cable on his right shoulder the main tool of his trade.

Note also his cat at his feet looking up and forward optimistically as does he.

Also note the cat’s head is shining.

I am told for good luck what you should do is pet the cat’s head.

And yes. Of course. I did.