Independence Parade

So after a week of parade rehearsals finally we had yesterday a real thing. Following tank unit rehearsal last Tuesday on Thursday some other military machinery made on Kiev streets for rehearsals with some military orchestras. I was more interested in making photos of musical instruments. See photos at http://picasaweb.google.nl/gordie26/ParadeRehearsal
Unfortunately my mum could not watch the parade as she had to leave on Saturday. My dad does not feel well and she decided to leave Kiev earlier. I just said goodbye to my mum on the airport, and few minutes later I greeted Kathy - my good friend from Seoul. Last time I saw Kathy was March 07 in Seoul. She will spend a week in Ukraine.
So yesterday Kathy and I walked towards Khreshchatik and faced huge crowd. We could not see much from a parade but people watching was great. Leaving the parade crowds and going home I saw a lovely doggie. I looked at the doggie and tried to guess the owners. I approach a couple with a kid and in Russian asked if the lovely dog is theirs. The lady answered in Russian but than asked a husband in English to help her with some difficult word. They are Americans living two years here and gave me recommendations for two vets. So I'll check these vets out.
Following the parade I decided to take Kathy to Chernihiv - a very old city about 140km from Kiev. On the road we saw military trucks from the parade. On Thursday during rehearsals soldiers were warning people that they should not be close to the street as trucks are "dangerous". Well - why the same trucks are than without any special escort driving along main regional road???? Danger or not - this was a great opportunity to make some interesting shoots. See the parade and "road parade" photos at http://picasaweb.google.nl/gordie26/KievParade

Today I decided to take Kathy to Pereslav - a Cossack village about 100 km from Kiev. According to my guidebook this place has a nice 18th century church with a bell tower. Close to Pereslav is a nice open air Museum. The drive there is quintessential Ukraine. Flat fields. Poplar trees on horizon. Blue sky with low woolly clouds. Very picturesque. We were the only car on the road. In Pereslav we found the church and the belltower without any difficulty. However - Soviet times die hard and this beautiful baroque church is a church only from outside. During Soviet times the religion was forbidden. Shortly after revolution churches were destroyed but I guess it was hard work to level to the ground all churches across Soviet Union. Although bolsheviks did their best to destroy as much as possible, some churches remained but the Soviet government turned them into museums. In Pereslav case into the museum of "1943 Battle for Dniepro river". The museum was closed but next to the church entrance door there were same remnants of a Soviet tank. Kathy and myself read the bulletin board in the city and found announcement "buying natural hair". Hmmm...
As there was not much in the city to explore I started to look for a way to the open air museum. I asked a lady on the street and showed her my Ukrainian guide book. She never heard of a place. I usually do not ask men for instructions as they are usually not helpful. Either they are embarrassed a woman ask them something or they are embarrassed to tell a woman they do not know something. However it was around lunchtime. Not many people on the street. So I asked a guy for a help. And he was VERY helpful! Not only he knew about the place - he knew how to give directions and wanted to draw them for me!
Following helpful guy's directions I was soon on a road outside the city. After one curve I saw a pile of old Soviet military machinery - tanks, plane, military boat...All left there in the field to rust since WWII. I had to stop and make a photo. Among rusty tanks there was a couple on a date. "Meet you by the 4th tank" would sound bizarre to me but this military graveyard might be the best Pereslav can offer to lovebirds. See photos http://picasaweb.google.nl/gordie26/Pereslav
To ensure I am on the right road (Ukraine is short of any traffic signs) and encouraged by experience with a very helpful guy I stopped again and tried to ask a young man a question. I got a blank, stone look. My theory about helpful man being an exception confirmed, I drove on to babushka's selling veggies. Bought some watermelon and carrots and got perfect directions again. Thank God for for women on the road!
The open air museum is more like an ethno park badly needing some maintenance. There are nice buildings around. Some even have a board in Ukrainian about what the building is about - but nothing in English. But it's a nice park with lovely flowers and orchards. There was a museum of Ukrainian "rushnyk" a ceremonial towel representing feminine strength, vigour, and fertility - but in the museum there was no explanation about towel symbols, age of towels, how long it took to make one, stitching used...So frustrating.
Kathy and I were hungry and decided to look for some food. We asked the guy at the souvenir shop if somewhere close is a place with a good Ukrainian food. He told us "Smerekova hata" is a place to go. We found a place easily and it was a lovely place on a lake. The place was not too busy - but the waitress was avoiding us. Kathy and myself tried to make a contact and order some food but after 20 min I decided it's a time to go. If after 20 min I cannot order a food I might wait for an hour to get it and within an hour I am in Kiev. Nice place, but I hope next time I visit the place again - staff will be trained.

Doggie vaccinations, dirty tanks

Igor is expected to move to Ukraine around Sep 20th. Since June every two weeks I send an email to Ukrainian Embassy in Den Haag inquiring about required doc's for doggie import to UA. Not one email got a response. I also sent emails to the State Customs Office. No feedback. Few vets I visited in Kiev with a question about how to get a doggie in UA have not been of much help.
Last week I found the number of the Veterinary Inspection at Boryspil Airport. I called yesterday and spoke to a man with a sleepy voice. The guy had not spoke a word of English. I spoke Russian. He told me about vaccination requirements and regulations I have to read. I carefully wrote down every word he said. He dictated a long list of vaccinations. I also went to the website he suggested http://www.vetcontrol.org/ and found Article 71.15 about import of dogs, cats, foxes, rabbits and other animals. The regulations states doggies imported to Ukraine need vaccinations against following diseases:
- pseudorabies - Aujeszky's disease;
- rabies;
- TBC;
- tualremia
- distemper;
- hepatitis;
- canine dermaptophytosis;
- canine viral enterities;
- parvo virus;
- adenovirus;
- leptospirosis;
This was almost identical to the list written down during the phone call with the "sleepy voice" of the Airport Vet Inspection. Looking at the list I wondered if a small doggie can survive such a vaccination cocktail.
The next requirement is that a vet's health certificate has to be legalized by the Dutch authorities and translated to Ukrainian by authorized translator. As I knew where I can get official UA translation I have not worried about it.
What worried me however was a vague statement about the quarantine. But first I wanted to sort out the vaccination list. Some illnesses I recognized but few I never heard of. So I contacted Sandra and Maria and asked if the list makes sense to them. They contacted the vet in the Netherlands who replied:
- pseudorabies or Aujeszky's disease is a disease for pigs; there are no vaccinations for dogs;
- TBC - no vaccinations for dogs;
- tularemia - not known disease for dogs in the Netherlands;
- canine dermatophytosis - kind of a mite common for cows, no vaccination for dogs.
Furthermore Sandra and Maria wrote that the Netherlands and Ukraine officially signed a treaty about animal imports which clearly stipulates all "normal" doggies vaccinations.
So I called Boryspil Vet Inspection today and asked them why a doggie needs vaccinations for pigs, cows and humans. I spoke to a different person today. Not to a "sleepy voice". The explanation was that instructions from yesterday must be my misunderstanding. Hmmm - I recall the guy dictated to me in his sleepy voice all diseases...God knows what he was dreaming.
I asked the person today about the quarantine and the answer was if a doggie has a health certificate - no quarantine. So Igor will fly to Kiev.

My mum is here and today I decide to come home earlier. However the traffic was horrendous. It took me 1 hour to drive home while normaly it takes me 10-15 min. As all streets around my house were jammed mum and I decided to go for a walk. We walked towards the main street and what a sight - the street was jammed with tanks, carriers with rockets, military trucks with some cylinders... What a sight and I am without a camera.
On August 24th Ukraine celebrates the Independence Day so I suspect they had today a "rehearsal" for a military parade. The trucks and tanks looked like from old Soviet movies. Than tanks started to roll. All these tanks and trucks generated such a thick black cloud of smog I thought I would suffocate. I lack words to describe the blackness and acid taste of gases generated by tanks. Due to the heavy black smog the visibility was so poor - if it was not for a thunder of tanks rolling I would think these are some dirty construction machines and I would heavily complain about the carbon footprint. The tanks left the main road completely ruined. I hope it will be patched soon.
With what is going on in Georgia I can understand Ukraine want to show what they have. Perhaps thick black cloud of pollution is a kind of a new strategic weapon.

Last weekend I was in Crimea. Lovely place. I also understand better why my Ukrainian colleagues worry about Russia. But about Crimea - next time.

Traffic Police

For the last six months I have not been stopped once by police when driving. Since last Saturday I have been stopped three times. On Saturday I drove to Chernigiv - one of the oldest cities in Ukraine about 140km from Kiev. I went there with Olimpia, a Romanian colleague who is here for two months. I did not have GPS and with no or very little road signs it took me one hour to find an exit to Chernigiv. Chernigiv is also closest city to Chernobile - but I had no intention of going there. The road to Chernigiv is straight, no potholes and not much traffic. The best road I drove so far in Ukraine. Customary for Ukraine - the highway passes through the villages. There are no signs indicating max speed when entering a village. There are some red stripes on the road before entering a village but I had no idea what they mean. Until I got stopped by the police. A polite policeman informed me I drove 95km/h while 50km/h is max allowed in a village. My defence was "there are no signs". "Of course there are - the red lines on the road". "Ohhh - that's what they are. Where I come from we have round metal signs with numbers." The policeman asked for documents which in my case consists of:- POA from the bank that I am allowed to drive the bank's car;- copy of insurance policy;- technical licence;- driving licence - in my case Croatian international and Croatian original driving licence. He looked at the pile and said he has to check them and started to go towards his car. I had no idea if it's a custom in Ukraine to get out of the car and follow him or to stay in the car. In Russia you get out of your car. I opted to stay in the car as I had to call a colleague and check what's the going rate for over speeding. I decided to walk to a police car once I know the rate. Alexey told me the going rate for overspeeding is between UAH 20-100 which in USD is between USD 5-20. The policemen returned and told me doc's are OK but I breached a speed limit. I asked if UAH 20 is enough. He said yes. I gave UAH 20 note. He returned doc's. It felt great to be in emerging markets.
On Sunday I went to veggies market to buy some of babushkas fresh garden produce. I go there weekly. As usual I parked the car on the more or less same spot. Other cars were parked around. About 30 min later with bags full of fresh tomatoes, yellow peppers, sweet peaches, raspberries, etc walking towards the parking spot - I could not find my car. For a moment I feared the car got stolen. Than I saw a truck on top of which was my "Ravche". Next to the truck was a policeman who told me I parked the car on a wrong spot. Telling him I usually park here and showing him parked cars around did not help. He asked me for documents. I told him they're in the car - which is on the truck. In order to get my car off the truck I should negotiate with guys in the truck. I called Alexey again. Going rate for improper parking is UAH 200-1000 - depending on the car. I offered UAH 150 and after some negotiations we agreed on UAH 250. Once the car reached the asphalt policeman asked me for docs. So I give him all doc's but noticed in my international driving licence there is no original Croatian driving licence. I panicked as I should always have the original licence next to the international. The policeman looked at my international driving licence which is falling apart but still valid and asked me: "So you are US citizen?" "No - I am Dutch citizen". "But this is not Dutch licence?" "No it's Croatian International licence." "And where is the original?" "Well - here!" was my response and I gave him a Korean driving licence I always keep in my wallet. I told him "Look its written here "driving licence"- the only inteilgible text among hangul. The policmean was very cool. He carefully examined both my driving licences - and than I noticed for a first time that they both have the same photo. He shaked his head, said "OK" and than let me to go. I counted my blessings.
Today in the city I have not stopped on cross road as for the last 5 months I know I have a way of right. About 50m from the crossroad a policman stopped me and asked why I have not stopped as I do not have way of right. I argued I have. He told me they changed signs some time ago. The signs hang high above the road. Well I truly have not noticed as I watch the road not skies when I drive. The policman told me he will write a protocol and I will have to go to the court. "No - I would like to pay now. How much I can pay". "The rule is to write a protocol". "Yes I know that but I would like to pay now". "The rule is to write a protocol." "Do you really want to write a protocol?" "That's the rule". "I know that's the rule, but I would like to pay now" "But the rule is to write the protocol"". Obviously I will not win this one. So I said "OK. As you are sure you want to write a protocol and this will take at least one hour - let me call my secretary to cancel my next meeting in the office". I called and started to explain I am tied up with a policman who needs to write a protocol. After I finished my phone call a policeman returned me doc's and told me to go. He also advised me not to brake rules in future and pay attention to signs". I profusely thanked him on such excellent advice but quickly drove away before he starts to charge me for his advices.

Tibbies weekend

Last weekend I went to the Netherlands. The purpose was to meet Sandra and Maria and see Igor. I arrived on Friday evening and bought some fruit salad in the shop on Schipol. Went to my apartment and was greeted by blooming lavender on my terrace. Had great time on a terrace with my fruit salad. Then decided to check if Ylona’s in her place. She emailed me that she will be in A’dam for few days before going on with her and Eleni’s busy summer schedule.
Eleni answered the bell but could not open the door. While we chatted over the interphone Ylona jogged in….I was very, very happy. She and Eleni had a flight to Greece at 2.30 am and we chatted for few hours. It was great to catch up with Ylona over few Campari’s. She showed her new place – which looks great. We shared miseries of unpacking and finding things. We discussed a possibility she visits me in Kiev. I hope that will be possible.
On Saturday morning I have note felt good but about two hour drive awaited me to meet Sandra and Maria and Igor who live in Nieuw A’dam. During my two hour drive I started to feel worse. I found Sandra and Maria and was greeted by their warmth and doggies excitement when seeing a new face. Sandra and Maria have 11 adult doggies – ten tibbies and one lassa. And of course six puppies. Doggies where in the kitchen and I tried to guess some names. I got all wrong but next to doggies excitement my stomach got excited too. Instead of being a normal guest and play with Igor I stretched on the sofa and slept there the entire Saturday except for the moments when I had to rush to the bathroom. I guess I was not a type of a guest Sandra and Maria expected. In the moments when I felt slightly better I tried to cuddle Igor and other puppies. Puppies are fantastic. There are two who are very dominant, two who are a bit weak but try to catch up. Igor is a not dominant. He is cuddly and sweet. I hope we will go well together. On Saturday afternoon in the moment when I felt better Sandra and Maria put puppies in a stroller and we did a village round. The village is very nice – with a lot of trees and a nice main canal. It was nice to walk with a stroller and watch people’s facial expression change from serious to soft and smiley once they realized there puppies in a stroller. On Sunday I felt better and I tried to make some photos. Unfortunately most of them have not turned right. In any case photos of puppies are on http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/MyDayAndJustLivingMyLife.
Sandra and Maria try to socialize puppies as much as they can. Thus they take them for a walk in stroller, drive them in a car, take them to the market, and doggies look so nice a relaxed. They showed me a fundle bag – a sling for a doggie. It’s a fantastic soft bag – comfortable for a doggie and a carrier. I checked a label to remember it when buying and I saw “Fundle.co.kr”. I was in a disbelief – I have not seen such a bag in Seoul! The one Korean product I would definitely buy would be this - and I had no clue about it! Never saw it at Dr. Kwon or “Pet Toy”. I checked “fundle” on the internet and it is a company from Daejeon. I immediately ordered a bag (was lucky it was on a sale!). The bag is really great for smaller doggies.
In short I spent a great, relaxing weekend. Being with Sandra and Maria's tibbies I realized how much I miss one and I am looking forward to getting Igor very much.
This weekend I am just relaxing. Reading books and sleeping. I do not have warm water – but about this – next time.

Alexandria Park

I was so impressed by Sophia’s park I spent most of my free time researching about Countess Potocki. As usual research turned out some surprising findings. In this case I found out there is another park close to Kyiv created by a woman. The place is Belaya Tserkov about 80 km from Kyiv. The guidebook said that Barron Branicki created a park for his wife. As years of the park creation were close to one in Uman a thought that Russian aristocracy was not immune to “keeping up with Jones’s” crossed my mind. But after doing my research the statement that husband built the park is wrong. Alexandra Branicki’s true passion was horticulture and during her 84 year long life she created two parks at the houses where she spent most of her time. But I tell her life story later.
I went to the park yesterday and prefer it to Sofiika in Uman. First it is more "low key" - no sculptures, grottos, lakes are smaller etc... Alexandra’s park has more depth as vistas are expansive and there is strong sense of vast space. Being surrounded by over 350 years old trees without many people around is an additional bonus. Photos of the park are on: http://picasaweb.google.nl/gordie26/AlexandriaPark
Now about the lady who created the park. Main source is again S.S. Montefiore.
As a niece of Prince Potemkin, Alexandra “Sashenka” Vasil'evna Engelhard (born in 1754) was presented at the court in St. Petersburg in 1772, when she was eighteen. She immediately became a favorite of the Empress Catherine and accompanied her on many of her travels. At 21 she was appointed as maid-of-honor to the Empress. Stories later circulated that Alexandra was Catherine's daughter by Potemkin. These were put about in the later years of her life by French writers without proof, but it is fairly well-documented that she was Potemkin's mistress as well as his niece which at that time was kind of tolerable within Russian aristocracy or at least in Potemkin’s case who slept with all his five nieces.
Alexandra’s portraits show a slim brunette, high cheekbones and blue eyes. She was an able business woman who made millions trading grain and timber. In 1779 Potemkin’s intense relationship with Sashenka ended, but they remained closest of friends and he died “in her arms”.
In 1781, Alexandra married Count François-Xavier Petrovich Branicki, of an old and powerful Polish family. Trained as a soldier and diplomat, Count Branicki held several posts before being sent to St. Petersburg. He became great friends with Stanislaus Poniatowski, who had been Catherine's lover. Branicki enjoyed the favor of Catherine and Potemkin and after supporting Russian suzerainty over the Sejm, or Polish parliament, he was awarded vast estates in Belaya-Tserkov after the province was ceded to Russia after the Partition of Poland in 1793.

When Alexandra married Branicki he was 49. The accounts state he was “good natured, self-made and ambitious ruffian” who made his career as King Stanislas-Auguystus hard man. He new Casanova and dueled with him in Warsaw for insulting Casanova mistress – an Italian actress called La Binetti. Both were wounded – Branicki seriously but became friends.
While her spendthrift husband did his best to lose their fortune, Sashenka increased it prodigiously. During her entire life she was close to Potemkin and Catharine the Great – though she lived mostly at her Polish and Belorussian estates. She was widely respected. Contemporaries emphasized her good morals – which is something remarkable for these days, especially when she was married to an older Lothario with whom she had a large family.
After Potemkin’s death “Sashenka” retired to her estates and became so rich she could not count it. She lived majestically and royally. She was a woman of contrasts – her love for rich and splendid is exemplified by her collection of art and precious objects. However these were housed in rooms paneled in plain wood. (no need to waste money) She was much loved for giving villages to peasants and endowing them with their own agricultural banks to finance their farming. She was appointed as the “grand mistress of the Russian court” and even 20 years after Catharine’s death she held her special status at the Court.
While she knew Countess Sophia Potocki and they might be friendly they are very different and this is reflected in their parks. Alexandra all her life knew world of privilege while Sophia was shrewd survivor using her beauty and intelligence as main resources. I think that’s the reason why Sophia’s park is full of “props”. Sophia joyfully celebrated her life achievements in creation of her “Odyssey” and Ithaca. She was proud of her life and was not shy to show off.
Alexandra did not have a need to show off. All her life she was conscious of her privileged status and money and she created a park for her comfort only.

Sophia's Fairyland

My sister and her husband came to visit. The first weekend we visited Odessa. The highway from Kyiv to Odessa is fantastic: gentle rolling hills draped in gold of wheat fields offset by blue sky. Some green sunflower fields (sunflower still have not open) distract gold-blue monotony.
We had Ukrainian GPS to help us getting around. In the city GPS is a trusted friend. But in wide open it got us lost among ocean of wheat fields. Later in the office I learned that GPS is not complete – it will have the smallest street in any of the big five Ukrainian cities but regional roads remain "work in progress". I do not complain about being lost in the sea of gold….
To make up for Odessa let down we went to Belgorod Dniestrovsky which has a famous Turkish fortress. But more than a fortress Ana and Kristijan enjoyed swimming in the Black Sea on a wonderful white sand beach of Zatoka.

For me the highlight of the trip was Sofievsky Park in the city of Uman. Uman is half-way between Odessa and Kyiv. A guidebook mentions a lovely park build by a Polish Count for his wife. While this was intriguing enough for me to visit it, I was totally unprepared for a fairyland I found in the park.
Uman is city of Khrushchev-Brezhnev building style mix: gloomy, gray and decayed. GPS could not help us there but nice, friendly young people got us to the park. The park has an uninspiring Soviet name “'Sofievsky' Uman State Dendrological Park”. But in fact the park is an ultimate romantic neo-classical monument belonging to the times of absolute grandeur. What make the park so special are not its size (150 hectares) or trees and flowers, spectacular cascades of natural lakes and waterfalls, antique sculptures and fountains etc. What makes it special is the park's purpose: it is designed as a memorial to one woman’s beauty and given to her as a birthday present!
The lucky woman is Sophia, the “Beautiful Greek” - one outstanding adventures of 18th century. Her life story is amazing. As she was Poteminkn’s mistress there is a reference to her in S.S. Montefiore Potemkin biography:
Sophia Glyavone was born in 1760 in a poor family of Anatolian Greek¬Roumeliyts in the town of Bursa, Turkey. She also had the Turkish name Dudu (in Turkish parakeet). Over years the family took up its residence in Constantinople, in the Fener residential area. Her father went bankrupt and died. Dudu’s mother traded vegetables and one day she sold her daughter (at the age 12) to the Polish Ambassador in Turkey Karol Boskamp¬Lyasopolskiy who procured girls to King Stanislas-Augustus. Dudu’s equally fine sister was sold to a senior Ottoman Pasha. (That’s important for later.)
From then on, every time Sophia was bought, another man fell in love with her and outbid the first. On her way with the ambassadorial baggage, Sophia was spotted by Major de Witte, son of the Governor of the Polish fortress Kamenets-Podolsk, who bought her for 1000 ducats and married her in 1775 age 15. Major Witte sent her off to Paris to learn manners – and French.
La Belle Phanariot or Beautiful Greek bewitched Paris. She is described having blond curls, a noble Grecian face and violet eyes. In Versailles she had a reception with the Queen Maria Antoinette and the King Louis XVI. Soon she conquered almost the whole royal Europe. She was received at the court of the Prussian king Friedrich II, who went down in history as “The Great”. Allegedly the Austrian emperor Joseph II was in love with her too. Joseph II patronized not only Sophia, but also Mozart.
Back in Poland when Potemkin’s War began, Mme Witte husband, now governor of Kamenets was the linchpin of the Prince Potemkin’s espionage network in southern Poland. Major Witte smuggled spies into Khotin (Turkey) hidden with the butter. But most likely it was Major’s wife – Sophia who provided the information as her sister was married to the Pasha of Khotin. Sophia first became the mistress of the besigiging general Nykolai Saltykov. But then she was introduced to Potemkin in Ochakov. Potemkin appointed the complaisant husband to be the governor of Kherson. Allegedly she was not only Potemkin’s mistress but also his secret agent among the Poles and Turks. As a public acknowledgment of her service to Russia, the Empress gave Sophia a pair of diamond earrings. After Potemkin died in Jassy, Mme Witte hooked up with the Polish magnate Earl Felix Pototskiy one of richest dukes in the Russian Empire. Mme Witte dumped her husband and two children and moved with Earl to St. Petersburg. Sometime later when Earl’s wife died they got married in 1798.
In St. Petersburg Pototsky was a member of Catherine the Great inner circle. In short Sophia rose from a teenage courtesan in Constantinople to one of richest countesses in Poland. For forty years she astonished and scandalized Europe with her “beauty, vice and crimes”.
Sophia, with close connection to royal courts saw many royal gardens and had a dream of creating her own paradisiacal corner.
Sophia's dream was ancient Greece and she chose “Odyssey” by Homer as the source of inspiration for creating her "dream garden".
Her task oriented husband started to build the park in Uman in 1792. In five years, thanks to the efforts of thousands of serfs (her husband owned 130,000 serfs), a fantastically beautiful and unique park was laid out on the uninhabited bank of the river. Every day for five years about 800 serfs worked on fantastic grottoes, waterfalls, lakes, antique statues and picturesque cliffs - all in effort to create a romantic gift of love. The park has its own Isle of Lesbos, a terrace of the Muses, red poppy Elysian Fields, a Cretan labyrinth, and an underground stream called Styx. A lot of trees were brought from exotic countries. They say when the park is viewed from a plane a foliage makes a name “Sophia”. The unfinished park was presented to Sophia on her birthday in May 1802.
Shortly after presenting her with the park the Count uncovered an affair between his son from his first marriage and Sophia. Brokenhearted, husband grew seriously ill and died in 1805. Four years after her husband died Sophia threw out the son and built up a fortune for herself. She died in 1822.
There is a novel about Sophia’s life by Eva Stachniak. The novel appears under two titles “Garden of Venus” or “Dancing with Kings”.
The fact that a freak earthquake pushed Sophia's graveyard out of the Uman churchyard has the locals convinced that she was a witch. In any case she was an amazing survivor.
For photos of a park see http://picasaweb.google.nl/gordie26/Sofiika

Angels in Kharkov

I fell for Kharkov the moment I landed. When you see the airport building you will know why. I went there knowing only the city is about 50 km from the Russian border and it is more Russian than Ukrainian. I had no idea Kharkov is a cradle of soviet constructivism with the unique square build only in constructivist style. The sculpture of Lenin hovers over the square now called Liberty Square. Many buildings in Kharkov (as in Kiev) were built by German POWII. The day I arrived the city had a “birthday” and there was a huge party on the main square. There was energy and buzz in the city. City's many parks had their old linden trees in full bloom. The city was wrapped in a sweet linden smell. Before joining a concert at the city square I went to the Theatre - a truly ugly building from 70-ties. They had Carmen Suita/Pahita ballet and tickets for parterre seats were UAH 13 (about 2 EUR) and I could not resist not chicking it out. In the Theatre in the raw behind me were about 15 soldiers and next to me a 6 year old boy. All spellbound by a ballet. I have not spoke to soldieries but kid told me it’s his first ballet. That evening the orchestra was a bit naughty - I got impression they were in a hurry to watch Holland - Russia match so the ballet ended up quickly. I watched the match too with some young students. As the game progressed these kids took pity on me and tried to cheer me up with vodka shots. I am not sure if vodka is the reason I saw angles walking in the city http://picasaweb.google.nl/gordie26/Kharkov