Sep 22, 2018 - The end of the adventure

We were up at 3am, got washed and dressed and were in the lobby for our cab at 3:30. The drive to the airport took half an hour; no problems. We got checked in, boarded our flight and left for Charles De Gaulle (Paris)close to on time. When we arrived at CDG we had less than an hour to make our connection to MSP but were able to do so just fine. We had a delayed start of about 45 minutes but other than that, an uneventful flight back. I watched 3 movies: A Wrinkle in Time, The Shape of Water and an ancient Chinese one :) We arrived in MSP...

Sep 21, 2018 - Chernobyl--and a birthday celebration!

Happy birthday Jef & Lisa! Another early morning so we could have breakfast and be ready to leave on the tour at 8am. Jef was serenaded with Happy Birthday by the group as we gathered in the lobby! A nice way to begin his birthday tour. Dris was staying behind on this one; he waved good-bye (a little too cheerily) as we boarded the 16 passenger bus with Tania (our guide) and Pasha (the driver). The drive to Chernobyl (or as the Ukrainians spell it: Chornobyl) was about 2 hours. Along the way, we watched a fascinating video documentary on...

Sep 20, 2018 - Surviving the train; reaching Kiev

Dris came thru and knocked on the door at 6:30am for a first wake-up call. We all got up, unmade our beds and got ready to disembark. Margaret(70, Australian) had been able to change bunks with one of her cabin mates so she was happy about that. Once off the train, we hiked thru the train station to an overpass, allowing us to cross a busy road and reach the small bus Dris had hired to transport us to the hotel. I'm sure we were all a bedraggled looking group, everyone was tired and Nyarie was especially not happy about having spent the...

Sep 19, 2018 - A free day in Odessa

It was nice to be able to sleep in a bit today. Check out was at 11 but since we are spending the day in Odessa and taking the night train, Dris had booked 2 rooms as day rooms for us to use. We had breakfast and then Jef and Glen went out to find a SIM card for their cellphones. At 11, we dropped our backpacks off in one of the day rooms and walked down to the Black Sea, about a mile from our hotel, down a steep hill (why is everything so steep in these countries??). It was a lovely day and plenty of people were on the beach and in the...

Sep 18, 2018 - Odessa & the Black Sea

Time to leave the thriving country of Transnistria and head to our last country, Ukraine. We all met in the lobby of the hotel at 9:30, packed and ready to taxi to the local bus station for our bus ride to Odessa. Remembering our last foray using separate taxis to get somewhere (Bucharest, where we lost 3 people for an hour), we got in with trepidation but it was a fairly short, direct distance so we all arrived. Dris had reserved seats for us on a public transportation bus--the good: it was bigger than the 20 passenger bus we'd used from...

Jan 27, 2018 - Stonetown Zanzibar

Zanzibar - what an image the name conjures: the aroma of spices, Arabic merchants' houses crowding in on narrow mysterious alleys overhung with a myriad of electric cables, finely carved ancient doors with rows of brass studs around which a builder would construct the rest of the house. Possibly the least architecturally pleasing house is the one in which Freddy Mercury grew up, a yellow 1930s style block of apartments but still a shrine to devoted fans of course. Control passed from the Portuguese in 1698 to that of the Sultan of Oman...

Aug 21, 2017 - Kiev, Ukraine - Babi Yar and city tour

We had planned to fly to Kiev from Vienna, as we wanted to avoid Aeroflot and any Ukrainian/Russian border disputes in the final week of our trip. But, because of weather or something, it looked like that flight from Vienna would be canceled. We got early word of this and so we were able to book a flight through Munich. It meant spending four hours in the airport, but at least we were moving toward our destination and, in fact, we did arrive that evening for dinner at our hotel, The Intercontinental on Velyka Zhytomyrska Street. It was...

May 29, 2017 - Best Riga Tourist Attractionuntitled

You land in Riga and you find yourself surrounded by azure blue skies and a historical atmosphere stretching from the Middle Ages to the still visible spectres of the Soviet Union. So warm, welcoming and beautiful, one can effortlessly slip into the easy camaraderie and laidback ambience of this exotic haven. Nevertheless, don't let go of the explorer in you as Riga has much to offer in terms of its sights, attractions, adventure, and cultural activities. Riga continues to increase as a popular destination for a city break with much to...

May 29, 2017 - 5 Worth Seeing Kiev Top Tourist Attractions

Kiev, the capital of Ukraine has lot more to offer in the form tourist attractions, due to its versatile cultural history. The city has got everything that may lure a traveller; so everyone can feast upon a site of his special interest by exploring this magnificent travel destination. Religious buildings, churches, monasteries, historical museums, statues, lush green parks, gardens, overwhelming natural scenes on the bank of rivers and lakes, make Kiev stand distinguished in entire Europe. Here are the worth watching sites that a tourist...

Sep 14, 2016 - Ukraine ... Berehovo

Ukraine in a day? Since we were somewhat close to the Ukraine, we decided to cross the border for a quick visit and spend the night. (Also just to say we've been in the Ukraine). No pictures to show the crossing, but believe us when we say it was complicated and took a long time. All borders have line ups ... But this line moves so slow people park the car and pull out the picnic for lunch. You first have to go thru the Hungarian border to get out. A million questions, car search, passports taken into another building ... Wait, wait, wait...

Jul 21, 2012 - Kijow

Sobota, 21 lipca - Kijow Dzis ostatni dzien wiec juz po 8 wyruszam. Najpierw pieszo do Zlotej Bramy (Zolotyje Wrota). Odwiecznej bramy grodu Kijowskiego zbudowanej jeszcze w 10-tym wieku na wzor Jerozolimy i Konstyntanopola. To na tej bramie wg. opisu Galo Anonima mial Krol Boleslaw Chrobry wyszczerbic swoj Szczerbiec, czyli miecz koronacyjny krolow Polskich lezacy obecnie na Wawelu. Bylo to w roku 1018 czyli prawie rowno 1000 lat temu. Kilka ulic dalej od bramy jest polozony Sobor Sw. Sofii. Nastepny po Lawrie obiekt swiatewej klasy wg....

Jul 20, 2012 - Kijow

Piatek, 20 lipca - Kijow Z rana (okolo 9) znow wyruszam na miasto. Najpierw do Muzeum Pamieci Glodu. Tu bardzo ciekawie zrobiona prezentacja tych tragicznych wdarzen. Na podstawie niewielu zachowanych zdjec probowano urealnic cierpienia, w ktorych zmarlo nawet do 5 milionow ludzi. Prezentaja wywoluje na mnie (jak i pozostalych) duze wrazenie. Potem kieruje sie do Lawry Peczersko-Kijowskiej. To ogromny kompleks uwazany za serce prawoslawia w calej Europie Wschodniej. Wejscie zdobi 11-wieczna cerkiew zbudowana nad brama wejsciowa - Zlota...