Happy Victory Day!

May is chop full of holidays in Kiev.  May 1 was Labor day, May 5 Orthodox Easter & today we are celebrating Victory Day!

Victory Day marks the day when Germany surrendered from WW2.  Today it means no work, no school, a parade & veterans around the city.....

(In Soviet times, attending the parade was mandatory)   

We headed to the Motherland statue - the base of which is a WW2 Memorial - to check out the  festivities 

The place was packed with people honoring those who fought

Giving veterans flowers.....

(With the dwindling population of veterans, flower givers often had to wait their turn)

And outwardly showing their spirit....

But like anything in Kyiv, there was no clear dress standard & the range of outfits was wide.  2 I enjoyed....
Sexy Lady look:

Expressive Man look:

(bad shot - but his t-shirt reads "BEDucated" in English!)

3 cheers to Victory Day - here's to a world with no weapons & using our words to solve problems.  Peace out!

Insiders Italy

Last minute (once my passport was released from the residency permit process), we booked a trip to Italy for Spring Break - prompted by our goal to get to our friends' (the Belli's) house near Bologna.

Flying on Hungary's low cost carrier - Wizz Air (think Southwest without the friendly personnel) - got us to Milan directly.  A few hours later (not short hours - I suspect the shorter your kids, the longer the car hours), we arrived in their village of Marola.  

Having only been in urban Italy before, I was surprised how lush & green is was....

We had a fab time hanging out with Clara, Paolo & Gio and so enjoyed an 'insiders view' of their area.  

Highlights included, a trip to the Parmigiano Regiano cheese factory.....

(the kids distracted by the cheesy smell!)

A hike around an amazing lake....

(We weren't entirely prepared for the snow still on the ground - I'm not sure my lecture 'now you will listen next time I suggest you pack layers' sunk in - but one has to try)  

And some fantastic meals...including these amazing donut like things served with cheese, meat etc

And pizza I can't stop dreaming about....

(Zoe guarding 'hers')

Best of all was the fun hanging out....jumping...

worm & bug catching.....

Housing their new friends in construction vehicles....

A whole fleet of them....

(Thanks Belli's for showing us good times & guiding us to more Italian adventures)


From there, we road tripped to Florence & a small coastal town (Follonica) with a quick stop in Pisa along the way.

Among those, Quincy reported Pisa was his favorite due to the allure of the leaning tower.. 

We were pleasantly surprised to learn that you CAN climb up it again (was closed for ~12 years to stabilize).  The boys & I headed up.....

(while Xavier can pass for 8, that's a stretch for Zoe)

And dang - you could really feel the tilt in the climb!

Zoe & Xavier reported their favorite was the beach - likely due to the time to just screw around...playing in the sand.....

hurling sand balls at each other....

(yes, our boys who consider sweat pants both clothes AND pajamas, also wear them as beach attire)

and burying one another....

(kind of a scared looking happy, no?!)

With fond memories, pink cheeks & slightly smaller clothes, we returned home with a load of Italian delicacies......

As well as a taste of home to get us through to summer....

(Yes, we have LOADS of crackers here, but 'they just aren't the same' according to Q.  Considering our frequency of hauling brownie mix, frosting & cake sprinkles, we can hardly protest)

Here's to Spring Break & hoping the worm & bug catching passion didn't make it back with us too

Kyiv Stay-cation & another typically random day

It has been a few weeks since I've posted - during that gap I can't claim a cohesive theme has emerged.....the random highlights: 


"Asses Up"
We were in town during the kids' spring break week 2 weeks back - with loads of snow still on the ground we focused on indoor entertainment - e.g. the local water park.  The boys spent a lot of time in the water football pitch.....

My favorite part was the water slide attendant (after hearing us speaking English) instructing Quincy & I "asses up"!


Train Rides like old times 
We've been wanting to take a train journey after both nostalgically talking about trips across Europe (me) & Russia (Logan) full of card games, bread, cheese & beer dinners some 20 years ago.  We took a 5-hour express train to Lviv (west side of Ukraine) for a weekend - the card games & beer took us both back.....

....sadly, I fear our grandkids will be nostalgic about iPads on trains

Terrorizing Tourists
Lviv was a quant little town - small enough to get around on foot - and with a friendly Western European feel to it.  

The kids wildly weaving in & out of the many pedestrians on the main square didn't appear to bother anyone - and was a definite highlight

(spot the 3 wild riders?)

Art, trips, spa services & the M&M dude
Last weekend, our school had a benefit gala.  I organized the auction portion - can you tell?

(Among other things, we 'won' a trip to a wine chateau in Moldova!  Auction winning could be considered a 'core competency' for Logan and I)

A day in Kyiv: random delights
Other than that, we've just been doing regular stuff around town.  That said, the cheap thrills are plentiful.  Today's points of interest....

A smoldering garbage can no one gives a second glance

Scrappy hauling  & a Bentley on the same 5 minute drive.... 

And yet another random cause for a traffic jam on our street.....

(a crane loading a rusty old boat - why not?!  I swear, we ARE on a residential street!)

Lord knows what in our yard....

(supposedly it is fertilizer - but the gardener was wearing a mask while applying it - safety measures are NOT the norm here - and advised we keep the kids off the grass for a few days.  Must be some toxic sh@*)

A Chicago like festival near our house - and of all things - to celebrate Earth Day....

(food vendors, a band stand, hand made crafts for sale - honestly, I was starting to wonder where I was)

The 'play structures' in a nearby park...

And an 'assertive' sign on the neighboring house to one of our friends...

(ah, yes, we ARE in Kiev!)

So here's to stay-cations & finding the entertaining in the neighborhood