UKRAINE May 2014

UKRAINE May 2014





May 20


Oh my. Here we are. The border into the Ukraine. Will it be difficult? First through the Polish customs and then through the Ukraine customs and check point...it takes a lot of time. The facilities are new, not quite finished. Please, can we see the person in the back seat, we need to see your face, as the officer compares it to my passport. “Why your going there?” He has an incredulous look on his face...like...Are you nuts? And still another window to wait in line for...car papers. All the usual questions...but he tells us that he is from Philadelphia... “Have a safe trip.” We have a short visit with a German fellow who speaks American English. He is escorting some traveling young Americans into the country... two missionaries from Chicago and Texas, stationed in Germany. “We feel like God is leading us here for our week off.”





So we have made it into the Ukraine. Gas is a bit over $8 per gallon. We have no money and relying on our credit card until an ATM shows up. There are some very lavish religious grottos by the road. We pass an old couple traveling by horse and cart...clippity cloppity down the road to the tune of the horses shoed hoofs.


Scotch broom, it seems that it grows everywhere with a vengence. Pea patches and sheds in a big field...with fully growing gardens. An old man and his wife lead their black and white goats through a glade, packs on their backs and staffs in hand. Much of this ride to the closest city of L'Viv is through forest on a very straight and new highway. We can't read road signs. Absolutely no English. Field crops are in orderly strips. Churches are tall and domed with gold, the gate and bell towers are separate. All the folks are out in their sunny 6:00 pm gardens.





A sign points to L'Viv. But another sign points in a different direction. Maybe it doesn't matter. It is a city of 820,000. Cobbled streets. Is this the city's old town that we have heard about? Yes! We are near a scrumptious catherdral. Tall. Tall. Tall! We find our sleep spot on a shady residential street, a nice big chestnut tree protecting us. Let's ask that fellow across the street if it would be okay to camp out here. He is the owner of a yellow 1985 VW van that has a sticker on it...CAMEL ARIZONA. “Yeh, yeh. You can park here.” The neighborhood folks look as they are moving about in a normal manner, but what are they thinking? Putin fooling around with their progressive country. This area used to belong to Poland and lots of Poles still live here. We walk the main street close-by and end up seated at an ourdoor cafe with a beer until dark.





May 21


This neighborhood is a good place to call home. The days are very warm. I change to sandals, a T-shirt and roll up the cuffs of a pair of light weight pants. As we start out for the day of exploration, a grandmother and her granddaughter walk past us. The little girl is singing to her grandmother, a lovely little voice. She has a long reddish ponytail, her skinny legs dance under her short skirt. It makes us smile. We are excited for this day to unfurl itself.





We walk all day. What a wonderful city this is. We pass St. Christopher's Church and the Polytechnical school on the way down the hill. The streets are busy with young people. We take a short cut through a big old park. The terrain levels out as we walk toward the old town and stop at the Ethnographic Museum. It is a museum devoted to illustrating the basic life of the Carpathian people; farming implements, clothing, wood carving, furniture etc. We stop at the inticing museum shop and begin to talk with an employee. He tells us that the people of the Ukraine are Slavic; not Polish, not Russian! We talk of problems the country faces today. It is his opinion that the Crimea was never Ukrainian...he can live without it! “But we must keep our country. We lean toward Europe. We do not belong with the Russians.” There are many hand-decorated eggs in the merchandise, a tradition of 1,000 years. One of these eggs is very large and sits in a spot where it can be seen and reached easily. In this country's history there is a legend about a nasty man whose spirit was put inside some special eggs that were decorated with symbols designed to rid evil. Citizens would touch the egg and at the same time wish for the disappearance of this person. He did disappear! The egg is back! Putin is the target! We put our hands on the egg and wish as hard as we can! There are other hand-made treasures in this shop. As I look up I see a little blond ceramic angel flying happily, smiling at me. Oh my, that is Deb! I must have it. David agrees!





We now enter Rynok Square, the very center of town. The plaza runs around the large city hall, Greek style fountains at each corner. Two sides are wide and popular hang-outs. On all four sides there stand historical buildings “like a rich layer cake of neoclassic architecture; rococo, baroque, Renaissance and Gothic”. It is so spectacular that it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1998.


It is impossible to find any soviet essence anywhere!





Lunch time and we choose a shady spot, away from the sun's hot rays. We are across the street from the Gothic exterior of the Latin Cathedral. Parts of this church remain that are of the 14th and 15th century. We note the cannon ball that hangs on a chain off a corner of the cathedral roof...it failed to penitrate the walls during an historic battle. Foot traffic keeps us entertained, an excellent traveler's amusement.





Our guide book is pretty excited about the 14th century Armenian Cathedral so we head there. It sits in the Armenian Quarter just off the square. WOW! A completely different take on a church interior. A soft, wonderfully colored space. Art Nouveau decoration and wall paintings, simple and beautiful. A place to sit and be still. Outside the sanctuary is a placid private courtyard of archways and short buildings, giving off energy of another time. Very special. I am so glad I came here.





We step into St. Georges, to a mass in session. A nun is singing in a soft, fragile, sweet voice. A voice to make you pay attention, with a bit of a feeling of awe. This is not the voice of a professional, but the voice of a simple woman, doing her job for this day.





A woman stops us in the street. “Where you from? You know our country has big problem. We are very worried.”





Another cold drink. We are thirsty and tired. We hail a cab that looks like it might not make it a block, but it chugs slowly up the hill like 'the little engine that could'. 50 uah...about six dollars. I am pretty sure we paid more than the locals. He let us off on the main street because we were not sure where our car was parked. It took us a few blocks of walking round and round to find it. 6 pm. Still very light in these long days of late spring.





May 22


Today, we leave this fabulous city. We did not expect so much beauty, history, industry and culture that is kept alive and well:


Economy...machine-building, instrument engineering, chemical industry, light industry, glassware, chinaware, timber industry, printing industry and tourism.


Education...8 National Academy of Science Institutes, 40 Research and Engineering Institutes, 17 higher Education Institutes,


Culture...9 theatres, 20 museums, 119 libraries, art galleries, philharmonic societies, organ music hall and circus.





Most streets are still cobbled. Bump, bump, rattle, rattle. Sidewalk markets, mostly selling produce. The goods are layed upon the sidewalk. Just find your own place and sell... no permits! Ah, the good old days. We are lost in our attempt to get out of town. Gypsy is of no help. We stop to ask...only Ukrainian language. Some scruffy but friendly tire guys draw us a map. They try hard. So sketchy. Useless to us. But, “Thank you.” More folks gather to try to help. It is all so useless. But Gypsy comes through with a pink road! No other streets or roads...just the pink one...so we follow the rolling ball.





Little children are adorable. Beautifully and carefully dressed. Hats and polished shoes. Flowers in girls' hair.





Now we stop to ask for a gas station. On a piece of paper a fellow draws a cute little gas pump with the name WOG beside it. 2 km with an arrow pointing. There are lots of street cleaners, both hand and water-truck. Old equipment is in working order. We head north on highway 17. Flat lands and low rolling hills. We are watching for signs to Rava which should take us to the Polish border. Gypsy tells us that it will take us 2 hours and 15 minutes to get to the Polish town of Lublin. Isn't that remarkable! Travel made easy. Sunny skies. Coolish breeze. Ukraine has proven to be a place to come...lots of smiles and thumbs up and shaking of heads in disbelief... our camper and its American licence plates. Otherwise we would be traveling unnoticed and many special connections would never happen.





We are now on E372. It is a good road. Country ladies in their everyday skirts are peddling their bikes to market. Back into those great little villages. Ooops! Cop stop. “Are you from Canada? USA?” Big smile. “Go ahead.”





So many Russian monuments show up along this route. Apartment buildings that might have belonged to coop farming. A stork walks along the roadside...seems a bit out of context. The dreaded border is not far away. Time to fill up with gas and do a little shopping to get rid of our 'uah' currency. I cannot find bananas in the store. In this area of not much English being used, it helps to draw the item so they know what you want. Their faces change from confusion to big eyes and smile. We notice a posting on a telephone pole in Rava...'Young girl wishes summer baby-sitting'. As we are close to leaving the Ukraine a sign pops up in English...SEE YOU AGAIN!





THOUGHTS and OBSERVATIONS:


> Historically, modern Iran was Armenian.


> Anteka means pharmacy in the Ukraine.


> A drunk comes up to us. “I'm an artist- can you spare me one American dollar?”


> A boy is trying to sell some tiny fresh perky wild daisies that he has picked and craftily bundled in twine...into a short thick round bouquet, quite attractive.


> “Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.” Albert Schweitzer.





> Many Europeans answer the phone with “Hello”.