Russia and Ukraine and Hungary, with my mother, August-September 1997.

Saturday, August 23, 1997 - Ottawa - Toronto - Frankfurt

Our Air Canada flight Ottawa to Toronto was delayed about 45 minutes. We were pretty worried as we then had only 45 minutes in Toronto to catch our Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt. Fortunately, our Lufthansa flight was 45 late minutes out of Toronto. We flew on a 747; mom was in seat 50K, a window seat, and I was in 43J, an aisle seat. Announcements on the flight were in English, French and German. Flying time to Frankfurt was 7 hrs. 4 min. We slept for most of the flight.

Sunday, August 24, 1997 - Frankfurt - St. Petersburg

(St. Petersburg is 60 degrees north; Winnipeg is 50 degrees north.)

We unpacked, took the Metro downtown and just walked and looked. We counted approximately 687 steps on an escalator going down to the Metro. We saw the Hermitage (outside only as it was late in the day). We went back to the hotel, showered and went to bed. It was very warm so we left the window open all night. The beds were narrow and short and the sheets were old and worn with holes in them.

Monday, August 25, 1997 - St. Petersburg

Our breakfast was included with the hotel room. We had eggs and the meal was quite good. We were scheduled for a tour of the city at 10 am. I found our tour guide, Eugenia and we set off. It was wonderful as we were the only ones on the tour other than the guide and the driver, Alexander. We went by the Dictatorship of the Proletariat Square to see the Smolny Institute, Smolny Cathedral, Vasylyvsky Island Rostrum Columns, Stock Exchange (there was a bear cub on a leash for picture taking, ugh!), Academy of Sciences, more palaces, the Admiralty, through Decembrist Square and on to St. Isaacs Cathedral. The cathedral was very beautiful; it had 48 columns each weighing 90 tons. We then went on past Palace Square, the Spilt Blood Cathedral, the Aroura and Peter's Cabin. The tour lasted 3 hrs. 20 mins.

We had a lunch of cold borscht, salad, kebob, chips, cole slaw, pickles and tomatoes in P.P.K. We then went to the Gas Dynamics and saw Vostok and a Soyuz capsule. Then to a sobor to see the burial places of Tsars, etc. There we saw the tombs of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great. There were Tsars there dating back to 1725, including Nicholas II. After that we went to see the Political Prison and the Political History Museum. At the Political History Museum we saw Lenin's office and balcony, Yuri Gagarin's white dress jacket and Siberian slave labour clothes, which included wooden shoes.

We ate downtown at a fast food place called Carrols then went home and to bed. I got up at 3 a.m. and went out to see the open draw bridges. They open nightly from 2 to 4 a.m. to let through ship traffic.

Tuesday, August 26, 1997 - St. Petersburg

We had our breakfast in the hotel and then went to the train station to buy our tickets to Moscow. We bought First Class tickets which was a compartment for two at $70.00 each.

We then went to Dom Kniga and bought post cards.

Next we went to Hermitage at a cost of $11.00 U.S. per person. There were paintings by Matisse, Gaugin, Degas, Picasso, etc.. There was a malachite (type of stone) room, War of 1812 room with portraits of generals, a grand stair case, gold room, red room and blue room.

From there we went to the Piskerevsky Memorial. As we weren't sure where it was, a very nice woman on the tram gave us directions. This memorial is where 490,000 people who died during the 900 day siege of 1941-42-43 are buried. There was a diary by Lena who kept track on an ongoing basis of her family as they starved to death. They were allowed only 125 grams of bread per day. Her last entry read - "ostalasy odna" (one left). She died shortly after. I went out later and took a picture of the house she lived in - 14/6. While we were walking the grounds of the memorial, we met a Russian man who wanted very much to talk to us. His brother died during the 900 day siege in April 1942 and he was unable to find out which plot his brother was in. For 55 years this man tried to find out where his brother was and today (Aug. 26/97) he finally found out. The reason it took so long was because of a spelling error in the man's name. The man was 77 years old and was dressed in his uniform and boots and was wearing his decorations. He told us all about his family, the war, his food rations and several times stressed the fact that he had his own teeth. When we were about to leave, he reached into a knapsack he was carrying and pulled out a bottle. He wanted to have a drink of celebration with us because he finally found which plot was brother was in. After leaving the memorial, we went to the Spilt Blood Cathedral and took pictures.

Wednesday, August 27, 1997 - St. Petersburg

There was a Lavra directly across the street from our hotel so we went over right after breakfast. Breakfast was cheese blintzes. The Lavra was built in 1710. There were many churches and several cemeteries. We went through the cemeteries and found graves of Tchaikovsky, Rimski-Korsakov, etc.. There is a section of the cemetery for revolutionaries, party members and civil war heros and is called "The Communist Plot." Cemetery was very well looked after and caretakers were sweeping the earthen paths with twig brooms. There were many cats and kittens on the grounds so we took pictures.

We went to the Central Naval Museum, which was free, and saw a dug out boat, a diorama of the storming of the Palace, an I16 plane which had 33 hits, ship models, display of Admiral Kuznetsov. The staff in the museum were very helpful.

Next we went to the Artillery Museum. This had a 360 degree cannon, lunas, frogs, and scuds, Stalin organs, lots of Gagarin stuff and Tereshkova (first woman in space). There were also exploding dogs and a piece of the U2 displayed under the rocket that shot it down. We took pictures in the court yard of scud types and INF missiles. We also went to see cabin of Peter the Great, the Aurora and the statue of Lenin in Finland Station.

We went back to the hotel and had a nap. Later we walked for over an hour, about 4-1/2 km. We ate out at the Artillery Museum. It had red plastic tables and chairs. I had a hot dog wrapped in pastry. It was quite delicious. I had a pizza. Mom also had a Nevsky beer. I bought a model kit and a Kalashnikov poster.

Thursday, August 28, 1997 - St. Petersburg

We went across the street to the Lavra after breakfast and bought an amber ring. We bought tram tickets which were the equivalent of 17 cents each. The tram downtown was extremely crowded. I felt like I'd had sex with several people. We attempted to find the wax museum of historical figures but it no longer exists. All that was available was a wax museum of royal figures. We skipped that. We went by the Spilt Blood Cathedral and I bought an amber necklace at one of the kiosks. The Ethnography Museum was very good with Ukrainian displays and corral necklaces. We then went to the fanciest grocery store we had ever seen, the Gastronome. It had chandeliers and was exquisite but you still couldn't pick out your groceries. Everything was behind a counter and you had to ask for it. We bought bread, cheese, chocolates and garlic sausage. The fish counter had a cat sleeping on it so I photographed it.

We went back to the hotel, ate and had a nap. About 7 p.m. we walked downtown and through a park with many statues. Took the tram back to hotel, packed and showered.

Friday, August 29, 1997 - St. Petersburg

We had breakfast and I went downtown while mom went back to bed. I went to 16/4 Bolshoi Prospect to photograph the house Tanya Saviche lived in. I also bought a Fabrege Egg (note: Carl Fabrege was born 1846 and died 1920) at the Naval Museum and a banner for himself. I then walked through Palace Square where 300 - 18 year olds were taking their military oaths. I came back to the hotel to meet mom, and we bought a 2 litre Fanta and took the Metro downtown. We went to Gostintsa Dvor (shopping centre). The front of it is 220 metres and the side is about 1/2 km. We were walking down a street and I spotted a Yarmarok ... just like my grandfather used to talk about. It was all locals, no tourists because it was in a spot that had just a small entry way and most people would miss it.

We haven't had any rain since we arrived in Russia and the weather has been hot.

We walked to Palace Square and then to the Fabrege Store and mom bought a frog. Now she has a Fabrege Egg and Frog!!!

We walked by the Gastronome again and the cat was back on the fish counter. We next went to the Astoria Hotel; very, very fancy. The rooms in there run approximately $300 per night. We used their washrooms. Then we bought bread, cheese and something to drink and ate in a park. Later we went to the Grand Hotel. The front entrance has detectors just like at an airport.

We noticed only two pregnant women the whole time we were in St. Petersburg. The streets in St. P. are still swept with twig brooms.

We went to the Railway Station and there were no chairs; we sat on the floor while waiting for our train. Our train, the Red Arrow Express, left for Moscow at 23:55. What a wonderful surprise when we boarded. We had first class tickets and for this we got a private compartment with 2 beds already made up with fresh linen, a little table in the middle all set with a prepackaged breakfast of buns, pastry, sliced sausage, cheese, yogurt and butter. The compartment was air conditioned and just beautiful. We were each supplied with a towel and package of toiletries. The bathroom was down the hall. Our door had a lock on it and the car steward provided everyone with an extra security lock. It was a no-smoking car.

Saturday, August 30, 1997 - Moscow

About half an hour before arriving in Moscow, our car steward, Galina, came in with a pot of hot water for our tea. I have never had such a wonderful train trip. The cost of the trip was $70 U.S. each. We arrived in Moscow at 8:20 a.m. Moscow has a population of 10 Million people.

We took the Metro to the Izmaleva Hotel, which has 10,000 beds. We were on the 25th floor of building D facing west. This hotel was built for the 1980 Olympics. Check in for meals was slow; people don't rush to serve you. The room was okay and clean; we unpacked, showered, did laundry and had a few minutes rest. Then we caught the Metro and went downtown. We went to a Bazaar and I bought korali for mom. She bought an amber pendant. Then we went to an Airplane Museum - Khodynka. We had some trouble getting there as no one seemed to be able to give us directions even when we were right in front of it. There were two uniformed men and they didn't know the museum was directly behind him but behind a building. It was like an airplane graveyard. I took many pictures. I sat in the cockpit of one plane and mom took my picture. I gave the man at the entrance booth a CAF roundel and the man promptly stuck it on the booth window. That was nice of him.

After the museum we walked to the Dynamo Stadium where mom used the bathroom. It was beyond belief. She had to crawl up on the toilet and squat; which reminds me, I went to the toilet at the Airfield and it was just a hole in the ground.

At Dynamo I had a shashlik and mom had a beer. We then went to Red Square but it was closed because of preparation for the 850th anniversary of Moscow, however, we could still see at a distance Lenin's Tomb, St. Basils Cathedral and the Kremlin (where Yeltsin has his office). We heard the 7 p.m. bells chime. We went to GUM Department Store; it's quite fancy. We then went to the tomb and eternal light of the Unknown Soldier. It's a tradition for all wedding parties to go to the tomb for pictures.

Much building and preparation was going on for the anniversary next week. There was a brass band playing in one of the squares and people were dancing. Went back to the hotel and shopped at the kiosks out front and bought orange drink, water, bread, sausage, tomatoes, bananas and oranges.

Sunday, August 31, 1997 - Moscow

Sunday was a pleasant and sunny day but we got off to a bad start with breakfast. We got only 1/3 glass of orange juice and they refused to give us more. We took the Metro downtown and went to see Lenin. He's been dead for 74 years and is still on display to the public. He is in a glass covered coffin with many armed guards around him. We also saw the Kremlin wall with plaques for Andropov, Brezhnev, Frunze, Chernenko and Stalin; quite by accident, I happened to spit on Stalin's grave!

We then went to the Kremlin, Kuftia Tower and noticed a sign that James Brown will be performing at the Palace of Congress. We inquired about ticket prices and they were $125.00 U.S. each.. Then we went to see Cathedral Square, Czar Cannon, Bell, Armory, diamond thrones, diamond crowns, carriages and fabrege eggs. The Armed Forces Museum was mainly WW11 stuff. I took many pictures. We went to Pushkin Square and saw the first McDonalds in Russia, also the Isvestia Building.

We did notice that Russian men have extremely bad manners.

We went for a walk on a pedestrian shopping mall. It was lined with many quaint shops, one of which was called Krokus - or Crocus in English. Mom got a chuckle out of me trying to pronounce it in Ukrainian and then realizing it was Crocus in English.

We walked to the Arbat where we bought 2 amber necklaces. The Arbat had shops, kiosks and all types of entertainment. They had monkeys, horses and an eagle that you could have your picture taken with. There was also a spot where you could have your picture taken with look-alikes of Gorbechev, Lenin, etc.. A group of Hari Krishnas came through the Arbat while we were there. We then saw the Foreign Affairs Wedding Cake Building.

That night we ate in our room and watched a James Bond movie in Russian.

Monday, September 1, 1997 - Moscow

Our breakfast this day consisted of cheese, buns, porridge, cold hard boiled eggs, juice and tea. The day was a cold one but this was the day we were having our tour of Moscow so we would spend most of the time in a car. Our tour guide, Sonya, and the driver picked us up at the hotel and we were off to see a Chocolate Factory called Red October, Booran, Gorky Park, the spot where the people's swimming pool was being replaced by a Cathedral at the people's expense, Novodivichy, monastery and cemetery. We saw Khrushchev's grave and took pictures; also saw a group of people at a grave drinking a toast to a director who had recently died. We saw grave of people who flew Antonov over the pole, grave of Lenin's brother and of Stalin's wife who had been shot. Sonya took us to Lenin Hills where we overlooked the City and the University. We saw homes of the new rich which were fairly tasteless. Sonya had mentioned to us that most Moscow residents had summer places outside the city and spent their weekends there working in their gardens. Some of their summer homes were just shacks but it was a place to go. I asked her how many Moscovites would have summer homes and her reply was, "Approximately ... everyone." Sonya and the driver dropped us off at the Kiev Railway station after the tour was finished. She had been very obliging and helpful to us.

We attempted to buy rail tickets Moscow to Kiev but were refused because we were tourists. Clerks were actually mean to us. Mom spoke to one clerk in English and she kept repeating "Intourist" and when mom insisted she sell us a ticket she got very angry, wouldn't look at her and finally said in Russian, "I don't understand you." So mom said to her in Ukrainian, "and I don't understand you." At this point we thought she might hit us so we left. All this after we had stood in line for over an hour. We had to find the Intourist Office which was cross town to buy our tickets. There was only one Intourist Office in Moscow. We had to go to four different windows before someone would sell us our tickets. They charged us an extra $14.00 as commission on the sale of the tickets.

We bought a watermelon that day ... it was delicious.

Tuesday, September 2, 1997 - Moscow

Breakfast this day was pleasant; we had 3/4 glass juice, sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and lettuce (I peeled the tomatoes before I ate them.) We also each got a bun, 2 hard boiled eggs, bread and a pot of tea. When we left the dining room we noticed several State (Internal Security) in the lobby and they each had machine guns. Not the sort of thing you see in a hotel in Canada.

A cold day. At 9:45 a.m. we were picked up by Petty Officer Robert Murley and his driver from the Canadian Embassy and driven to Monino Museum of the BBC. Once at the museum it took forever to get our admission tickets as everything had to be handwritten in triplicate. Our admission with camera was 137,000 rubles. We saw the largest helicopter ever built, a Concordskiy, bombers, fighters, booran test vehicle, Ilyushins, Migs, Antonov, Sukhoi, Mil kamov, Mayasishchev, Tupelov, Polikarpov, Yak, Beriev. Our tour guide from the Museum spoke Russian only but spoke slowly and clearly and we understood him. He was a retired pilot and instructor. It was wonderful to spend some time with Robert Murley and speak English. After the tour we drove back to Moscow and were dropped off at the Cosmos Hotel.

On returning to Moscow, we went to the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics and saw a video tape, Gagarins suit and capsule, dogs, food in tubes, and a video on how to pee in space. We walked to VDNK which is now a shopping mall. I visited Cosmos which is now a T.V. store with all space stuff shoved to the back of the room. I had my picture taken in cockpit of a Yak 38. Then we went to Kurchatov Institute.

Our hotel would not sell us stamps. They wanted us to give them our letters or cards and they would stamp and mail them for us. We wouldn't do it.

We stopped at a kiosk in front of our hotel and bought ponchiku (small donuts covered with icing). They were wonderful.

Wednesday, September 3, 1997 - Moscow

In St. Petersburg and in Moscow we had hotel rooms with private baths. We showered daily as we never knew what the next day would hold. We also did laundry daily so we were always clean and fresh. We also made sure we had something to drink with us when we set out for the day, usually bottled water. We started out with pop but switched to water. We also had something to eat with us even if only sesame snaps.

In most cases people have been nice to us and helpful when we ask for directions. The only really miserable ones were the women at the Kiev Rail Station. These women could stop tanks with their teeth.

The Kiev Metro Station was beautifully decorated with pictures of Ukrainian dancers, field workers, sports events, scientists and engineers.

We noticed that many older people wear ther medals on their suits.

In and around our hotel was constant music and song piped for all to hear. It was all in observation of the 850th anniversary.

September 3rd felt like a real fall day but not nearly as cold as the day before. We wore our sweats and jackets. After breakfast we took the Metro to Park Pobedy (Victory Park). We went into a very depressing war memorial. There were many dioramas. One was of a woman (wearing tall felt boots ) who had been pulling a coffin and collapsed. There was a room with a couple hundred books listing names, date of birth and date of death and home villages of people who died 1941 - 1945. All rooms had memorabilia from the war.

There was a bicycle race going on outside when we left the memorial. We then walked through a forest which had an airplane display of WW11 and 1945 to present. I took pictures and of course had to pay for the privilege of taking pictures, same as everywhere else.

We went back to the Arbat and on our way we saw Yeltsin's motorcade go by. I bought a Tupelov-Ant 25 and a book on Airplane models, and another MiG shirt.

We found a Post Office and they sold us stamps at the regular price. We also saw the Victory Arch which was built to commemorate the War of 1812, torn down in the 20's or 30's and rebuilt after WW11.

We ate in a park near the Kremlin and then tried to get into the Kremlin but it was closed to the public. We took the Metro home and bought ponchiku again. Mom had a snooze and then I went to a Department Store. I returned with korali for mom, 4 key chains, an all purpose pocket knife, chocolate milk, sausage, shrimp and mushroom salad, and cookies. We then packed a bit and at 10:30 p.m. went downstairs for something to eat. When we got into the lobby there were two security of some type and they were both carrying machine guns. There was a restaurant called The Black Panther and they had a menu on the outside of the restaurant. Advertised on the menu was "Frog Paws". On the menu inside the restaurant was advertised "Frog Pads". Tee hee!! The Black Panther was very nice - but - we ordered a beer, fanta and chicken wings. The beer and fanta arrived almost immediately but it was over half an hour later that the waitress came back and said "no chicken". How annoying; when didn't she tell us sooner, so we left.

Went back to our room and packed some more as we were leaving for Kiev the next day.

Thursday, September 4, 1997 - Moscow to Kiev

Up early and had breakfast in other than usual dining room. It was the bar of the hotel and was very pleasant but being Russia we couldn't sit where we wanted to; we had to sit where we were told to sit even though we were the only ones in the place. Breakfast was good. After breakfast mom went back to the room to finish packing and I went to the Fruenze Museum. The bags were checked in the hotel and mom had a nap while I was out. Later she went for a walk among the kiosks and just looked. We met in the hotel lobby just after lunch and went downtown. Kremlin was closed to the public again. In the morning I had gone to the Fruenze Museum of Aviation and Cosmonautics which doesn't have airplanes. It has models, photos, portraits, busts and airplane things. It had a large hobby shop. The woman who showed me around had worked for Antonov and had built the ANT-124 Ruslov. I bought a small tank and a buran.

We went to GUM and Detski Mir. Saw fountains in new square near Kremlin and GUM. GUM had a wonderful lego display in their window of a dog pissing on a man's leg. We also noticed that Hedgehogs in Russia grow on trees!!!

Platform shoes are extremely popular in Russia.

We went to a Chinese Restaurant near our hotel for dinner and had soup. We each got two and a half slices of bread. We ate only half, so we gave our bread to a beggar who was just outside the door. He seemed to appreciate it.

We picked up our bags and went to Kiev Rail Station. The whole station smells like a toilet. They charge 2,000 rubles to use the toilet so I'm sure people just pee in corners. We boarded our train about 10 to 8 p.m. We had a compartment for two. The surprise came after the train was in motion and the car steward came and charged us 40,000 rubles ($6.80) each for the sheets even though we were in first class. There were three bottles on our table, beer, water and soda pop. Mom decided to have the beer. Soon as it was opened the smell of skunk permeated the whole compartment. It was awful. I quickly took the bottle and poured it down the sink in the toilet. The train left the station at 8:24 p.m.

Friday, September 5, 1997 - Kiev

We went to sleep and were awakened at the border point, ???, at 5 a.m. for customs, border control, passport check and document check. One man at border control spoke English so that made matters much easier. They even looked under our beds, but they were all pleasant. As we stood in the station waiting for border control to do their job, we noticed people walking up and down the platform trying to sell their wares, like, liquor, water, pop, fish, bread, tomatoes, cucumbers, a vacuum cleaner, cigarettes. They held up their wares to the window hoping we would come out and buy. At 7:05 a.m. the train pulled out to continue on to Kiev.

My mother said that the thought that went through her mind at that moment was: "Well, Father, I have arrived in your Ukraine."

We were however quite upset by what happened prior to our arrival in Kiev. We had a first class compartment but had to pay for our sheets and then in the morning the car steward offered us tea, which we accepted. Later another steward came around and demanded the equivalent of $5.00 U.S. for our tea. She also wanted payment for the beer which I had mentioned earlier that smelled like skunk. And this was supposed to be first class!!! We refused to pay and finally had to tell her to get out of our car. We nicknamed Ukrainian beer ?skunkola'.

We arrived Kiev at 9:30 a.m. local time or 10:30 a.m. Moscow time. We took a taxi to the Druszhba Hotel and checked in for three nights. The towels we were given were only hand towels. I went and asked for bath towels and they apologized to me and said they didn't have any, but they did give me several more hand towels. We did some laundry and then took the Metro to the Canadian Embassy to see Commander Williams. He wasn't in so we left him a message. On the next street over from the Embassy we found Vesusio's Restaurant, the pizza place run by Myron Spolski from Winnipeg. We went to see the Sofia Cathedral and found the admission for locals was 2 hrv. but for us tourists it was 6 hrv. We walked down the hill by the National Museum (cobble stone street) which was absolutely stuffed with tables selling Ukrainian stuff. I took pictures of St. Andrews Church, saw Bohdon Khmelnetsky statue and then walked a winding cobble stone road downhill to the Podil region. We went as far as the riverboat terminal then took the Finicular up hill for 30 kop. The Funicular rose 75 metres over a 222 metre span.

We walked past a Ukrainian Hall which had a Yarmarok in progress with all new goods. Saw Prince Vladimer Arch, walked by Maiden Nezalezhnosti, and statue of Olga the Great where I took pictures. We bought a torte at the Ukrainian Bread Store where there were about 40 people lined up to buy bread.

We walked to Vesuvio's and had pizza. It was delicious. The temperature on this day was +19C.

Saturday, September 6, 1997 - Kiev

We noticed that the nights were cool but the days were sunny and warm.

At 9:30 a.m. I went to visit Ukrainian Exhibit of Economic Achievements while mom stayed in and relaxed. The Exhibit had been empty. We took a trolly to a park which had a museum and a 72m silver plate statue of the Mother Land (1981). While walking up a set of outdoor steps to the museum, I noticed that we were being followed by two men. They appeared to be setting us up for a robbery as they were several steps apart and were watching us. We discussed what we should do and then casually walked back down the stairs, past the men and took the long way around, in the open, to the museum. Soon as we had descended the steps, the two men stopped, had a little chat, went back down the steps and walked away. It was scary. The museum was under the large statue and was very depressing. It was the history of the Ukraine in WW11. We saw SS20 in tank park.

We walked to the Lavra and entered through gate of Trinity Church which was built in 1108. A man in the church very kindly showed us around and told us what the paintings were. Lavra was founded in 1051 by Anthony and Theodosuis who are still there - in the catacombs. We saw the Bell Tower and then went into the caves. I had asked a woman who was working on a flower bed for directions to the caves and as soon as I spoke to her, she turned away from me, crossed herself three times, touched the ground and then spoke to me.There were 73 tombs and three churches. We had to buy candles from the Monks as the caves were not lit. They had electricity but the Monks would not turn the lights on. One cave had Nestor the Chronicler and many churches. The caves were a real maze and the bodies in their glass caskets were recessed into the wall. People prayed, crossed themselves and kissed the caskets. One woman just leaned on the wall she was so overcome with the moment.

We later went to the tomb of the unknown soldier. There were eight bridal parties there taking pictures. We noticed one group crack open a bottle of champagne and open a box of chocolates. We walked by the Upper Rada and then went to Vesuvio's for pizza. It appeared that we were being followed and watched when we went to Vesuvio's. A woman sat in the park beside the restaurant and watched us until we left. I guess when she saw that all we did was eat and not meet anyone, she left. Odd!

We went to the Post Office, bought stamps and calendars for Mary and Annie. The downtown area of Kiev was closed to traffic but open to pedestrians. There were very many people all over the place; it was lovely. We went to Tsoom Department Store, "Universal" then to Market in Beserabia Square where they had a Lenin which was put up in 1946. And then back to hotel for the night.

Sunday, September 7, 1997 - Kiev

Took Metro to the train station and tried to change some of our American money into hrevnia at the change booth in front of the station. Several change booths refused to change our money because we had U.S. One Dollar bills. One actually laughed at us and told us the money was too small and they didn't want it. She would only take $5.00 bills as the smallest. We finally found one that would take our Ones.

After we had our money we went into the train station to buy tickets to Lviv. One cashier was very helpful and told us all the times, etc., but we had to go to the Intourist to buy. Intourist refused to sell us tickets as she said she had no tickets did didn't offer us any explanation. We went to more booths and finally found a young woman who explained there were no tickets available for the 9th but might be later in the day and told us to see the Administrator. The Administrator told us tickets for the 9th would be on sale on the 8th between 8 and 9 p.m. I felt I would never want to go back to the Ukraine; we spent ever so much time just trying to buy a damn ticket. Time means nothing to these people. A sign on a booth said they open at 11 a.m. - well, they don't. And, there is only one Intourist window in the City of Kiev - and they won't sell you a ticket.

We then went back to the hotel for extra shirts and umbrellas as it was overcast and cool. We went to the Folk Architectural Museum and were on such a crowded bus the driver could hardly close the door; the bus didn't look very roadworthy either. We saw villages that looked like what my grandfather described from his youth. My mother spoke with several older woman who looked after the houses and they seemed very surprised that a Canadian could speak Ukrainian. They were very interested to hear that her Father was from Ukraine and wanted to know what village he came from. There was a Yarmarok on September 6th and 7th. There were horse back rides and one of the horses had a colt with her. We fed them apples then the colt went to where people had their goods set up for sale and started to eat woven straw head bands. tee hee!

Almost every door in the houses had a little cat hole in it. One the steps of one we saw two kittens sleeping all entertwined around each other; I took a picture of them.

On the bus going back to the city, we were the 2nd and 3rd last people to get on and the doors barely closed. I've never been so close to so many Ukrainians at one time!

We went back to the train station and again harrassed a clerk who gave us the round around in the morning. This time he actually helped us and sold us first class tickets to Lviv. What a relief! Then we walked to Vesuvio's and had bread sticks and pizza. It was our best meal and it was a no smoking restaurant. Staff even gave us hand wipes. It was a very garlicy and delicious meal. When we came out of the restaurant it was raining but not heavily so we walked downtown, caught a Metro back to the hotel to shower, etc. By then it was 9:55 p.m.

Monday, September 8, 1997 - Kiev

We slept in and after breakfast took the metro and then trolley to Babi Yar. The ravine was preserved by hedges around it. After that we went to the State Museum and lunch at Vesuvio's. After lunch we walked to the Ukraina Department Store. It has rained at night but by noon cleared up and was nice and sunny. I bought a garlic press at the Department Store.

Vesuvio's had a kiosk downtown so we had a slice of pizza.

Many people begging on the streets. We saw a one legged Afghani veteran begging. It's a very sad place.

We walked down Tarar Shevchenko Blvd. and went to St. Vladimyr Sobor which was built in 1863. A service was in progress. There was a choir of 9 young people; the accoustics in the building were superb. St. Barbara, circa 360, was there in her glass coffin. After the Minister swung the sensor and spread incense around St. Barbara, people started to go to her coffin, cross themselves and kiss the coffin. I didn't even know who St. Barbara was! After the service we walked to the Xhryszhtatik to the square.

Tuesday, September 9, 1997 - Kiev

We packed and checked out of the hotel in the morning. In front of our Metro station were many kiosks and other people selling small stuff. An Inspector came down the street and it was unbelieveable how these people quickly packed up their stuff and hid behind tents, kiosks and trees. Soon as the Inspector passed, they were back and ready for business.

We went to the Taras Shevchenko Museum and it was excellent. He was a poet, writer, composer and artist. His works were excellent and I now have a deeper respect for the man. The building the museum was in had been owned by a sugar baron. All the lights were turned off until you were ready to enter a room then the lights were turned on. Appropriate background music was played in each room.

We went back to Vesuvio's for lunch. I put a Canada sticker on Vesuvio's. We saved two slices of pizza for our train trip.

I bought a CD of Cabaret for about $3.00 U.S. We walked over to Xhreshatik and bought provisions for our train ride to Lviv. The supermarket was hilarious. This was the only place we found that had carts and goods on display to be picked up by the customer. It was a small supermarket but had seven women and one man. The man stook near the cash register and had a night stick. When we came into the supermarket they tried to get us to take a cart and when we didn't they became very suspicious and ?shadowed' us around the market. As we walked from aisle to aisle, a clerk followed us so at one point when we moved to another aisle, I motioned to one of the clerks and said, "come along, we're going to the next aisle." We did buy a bottle of water there.

Platform shoes are popular in the Ukraine but not nearly as much as in Russia. We also noticed that women will walk down the street holding hands. This is very common in Ukraine. We also noticed that very few people in Russia and Ukraine wear glasses. I would assume this is due to lack of money and not good eye sight. Another interesting observation was that clerks in stores still use the abacus in both Russia and the Ukraine but mainly in Ukraine.

We noticed all transfer points on the Metro had two names. Very confusing for tourists. All check-in counters at Hotels are glassed in with just a small slot to slip through your money and to get your key. Some stores and banks are also glassed in and covered so that everyone is faceless. All you hear is the voice.

We picked up our bags at the Dryzhba at 6 p.m. and headed for the train station at 6:40 p.m. It was crowded and our 8:04 p.m. train was not listed until 7:45 p.m. The rush to the platform was unreal. Just a solid mass of people - then there were stairs to go down and of course no lights. But, we made it and when we got there, there was no train. Finally it came and we settled in our compartment which already had beds made. Ride was okay and we had to pay for our sheets. We're starting to get used to this.

Wednesday, September 10, 1997 - Lviv

Our train arrived in Lviv at 7:05 a.m.. It was raining so we took a taxi for a pre-arranged 10 hrv. to the Sputnik Hotel, which turned out to be very nice. We unpacked a bit then I turned on the water tap and couldn't get any hot water. We spoke to the floor lady and she said there was no hot water in the hotel. Energy crisis. We had a nap and then tried the water tap again - this time there was no water at all. Again we checked with the floor lady and were advised that the water was completely shut off for several hours every day.

We ate our bread, sausage, cheese and drink and then took Tram #3 downtown. There was a young pregnant woman on the tram begging all the passengers for money to bury her children. It was awful. We walked all over downtown and then went to the George Hotel Service Bureau and rented a car and driver for Friday, September 12th to take us to Senkiw for the day. We were told it was about 300 km but the roads were very bad and it would take us about 4-1/2 hours. Cost of car and driver for the day was $160 U.S.

We walked around Rinok Square, downtown and Tzum Department Store where most counters appeared to sell the same things.

We went to the Opera House and bought tickets for Carmen for Saturday evening. Then back to the George Hotel and rented a room for Saturday night for $59.00 U.S., breakfast included. We were guaranteed this hotel had hot water. Went back to the Sputnik for a rest. Water was back on. After our rest we walked over to Univermag about 7:15 p.m. and as we approached it, we noticed all the people were swarming out. We were told the power had been turned off. So we went to a little pizza place beside our hotel and got a pizza for 5 hrv. and took it back to our room. We we got to our floor, the floor lady told us the city takes turns turning power off daily in different sections of the city. The hotel at times also loses power. I filled the garbage pail with water so we would at least be able to flush the toilet. We also did some laundry while water was available.

There were several large apartment blocks across the street from our hotel and at about 8 p.m. their power was cut off. We happened to be looking out the window just as the power was cut; soon we saw candle light in some of the windows. The power was out for about two hours.

Thursday, September 11, 1997 - Lviv

Up before 8 a.m. and washed in cold water. Went down to the restaurant for breakfast and it was great. We also arranged to have a breakfast packed for us for Friday for our trip to Senkiw as we would be leaving by 7 am.

After breakfast we took the tram to the Railroad Station and got very good information re tickets to Budapest. The clerks in Lviv were very co-operative.

We went to several museums and then went shopping for stuff to take to Senkiw. We bought cookies, candies, orange drinks, cocoa, plus we had alot of stuff we brought from Winnipeg and Ottawa. Before going back to our room we went to the pizza place, had two pizzas and went to bed early. The pizzas were good and cost only 4.93 hrv. each.

Being at the Sputnik reminded us of being at 455 Elmhurst Road (Annie's house). Listening through the open window, cars driving by our hotel sounded just like cars on the driveway on Elmhurst Road.

We noticed while in Russia and Ukraine how indispensible luggage carts were. Everyone is Russia and Ukrainian carrys some type of baggage, whether it be groceries for home or produce to sell on the street and almost everyone uses luggage carts. Most of the carts are extremely old and rusted but still in use.

Friday, September 12, 1997 - Lviv - Senkiw - Lviv - Beautiful sunny, warm day.

(This part of the diary, covering the visit with family, was written by my mother, Ollie.)

Wlodymir, our driver, picked us up at the Sputnik at 7 a.m. for our trip to Senkiw. He was driving a Fiat, aka Lada. While we were still in the city but near the edge, we saw goats, cows and geese. As we drove out of the city, we noticed very many geese everywhere; especially geese crossing the road. It was a pretty sight. We saw the Carpathian Mountains. The closer we got to Zalichiki and Senkiw, the more we noticed the mode of transport was horse and cart or horse and v-shaped wagon. All people herd their cows and goats as fences were a rarity. Very often the farmer would have only one cow.

Wlodymir had never been to Senkiw before so got lost many times and had to stop and ask directions. It took us five hours to drive out to Senkiw. We finally arrived at Senkiw and asked some women who were gardening on the outskirts of the village for directions to Kateryna Shewchuks. The gardeners knew immediately that we were relatives from Canada as I guess Kateryna told everyone we were coming. We got directions and started into the village which is on a hill on the edge of the Dnister which forms a valley. The roads are up, down and across the hilly outcrop and are just terrible. In places they were rutted to the point where they were impassible. They were probably gravelled and graded many years ago but have been neglected over the past several decades. We stopped in the village to ask directions again. And again the woman we asked knew who we were. We finally arrived at the Shewchuk house! The last person we asked for directions walked with me to Katerynas. She went into the house ahead of me and said, "you have visitors" (in Ukrainian). Oh, the excitement!

Kateryna came flying out of her house and grabbed me, hugged me and wouldn't stop kissing me and John. Sawko, her husband, came out and did likewise to us. Kateryna said she recognized us from the pictures we sent to her. Kateryna is my Father's sisters Granddaughter. She is a very tiny women with just a few silver teeth in her mouth. Soon as we arrived she wanted to feed us but unfortunately my stomach could not take it. Their yard consists of several small buildings, including two small summer kitchens, barn, pig pen, chicken coop and outhouse - all in one small yard. From the appearance of the outhouse it would appear that all members of that family must suffer from a mild case of disentery at all times. A chicken and her chicks wandered in and out of the summer kitchen as Kateryna prepared food. There were egg shells, chicken shit and a variety of other garbage all over the floor. There is no running water and there didn't appear to be any place to wash up. We told Kateryna we didn't come to eat, we came to meet the family and see where my Father was born. She would not be convinced and put several unidentifiable dishes on the table which we would not eat. We did have some garlic sausage and a piece of bread. We finally convinced Kateryna to take us to meet her Mother, Anna, who is the daughter of my Father's sistery, Mary.

Anna is 78 years old and has an excellent memory. She lives with her daughter, Wasylyna, who we also met. Anna told us that her Mother had been shot at the age of 51 or 52. The timing would appear that she was shot by Stalinists. We were able to confirm that Father had a brother, Peter, who lived in Minneapolis, one sister, Mary and a sister Annie who died at a few months of age very shortly after her Mother died.

We also met Lucy and her fiance who were getting married the following week. Lucy is Kateryna's only daughter and is very pretty. She told us she will be having 30 bridesmaids and they expect about 200 people to attend their wedding. I asked Lucy where she would live after she married and she said they would live with her parents.

We also met Kateryna's brother, Peter, and his wife, and another sister whose name I can't recall.

I have never in my life seen as much silver as I did in the mouths of the people at Senkiw! Anna had only one tooth, but it was her own.

Sawko asked me if I could send him hair clippers from Canada as he does some barbering the village and his clippers were old and pulled on the hair. He said he wasn't able to get clippers in Ukraine. I said I would.

We all walked to where my Father was born and raised. The property was completely overgrown with trees, shrubs and weeds before after my Grandmother died, Grandfather remarried and moved to another village. The property was never occupied again. However, Anna remembered and was able to show us where the house stood, where the barn was and where the garden was. I told the story of Father building a little fence around his Mother's footprint in the garden just after she died. We all cried. John picked a container of soil from the garden which I plan to spread of Father's grave in the spring.

We gave Lucy 40 hrv. as a wedding gift and I also gave her the watch I wore.

We took a box of stuff to Senkiw which we gave the relatives - panty hose, toilet paper, large bag of cookies, bag of candy, 2 large orange crush, bananas, a calculator, pens, scribbler, stickers, bag of flavored coffee, 1kg cocoa. When we were leaving Kateryna gave us 3 embroidered pillow cases and several large embroidered dresser scarfs.

We stayed in the village for three hours and everyone was most upset that we were leaving and not staying for several weeks. The only real reaction we got from them other than the excitement of our visit was their utter shock that John and I didn't live together but 2000 km apart.

We noticed apple trees and grape vines in the village. Everyone had geese, ducks and chicken but we didn't see any goats.

Our trip back to Lviv was interesting as we found out that our driver was originally from Russia and had spent 20 years at Novea Zemla at one of the atomic bomb testing sites and had observed many tests. He retired four years ago, got a pension and moved to Lviv and works as a driver. He told us he was with the KGB and did a lot of driving for them.

Saturday, September 13, 1997 - Lviv

A beautiful sunny warm day. Breakfast was very substantial. We had cheese, sausage, bread and three eggs each and tea. We checked out of the Sputnik, took tram #3 downtown and checked into the George Hotel at $59.00 U.S. and paid in U.S. dollars. At this point I was suffering from a mild case of dysentery. We checked our bags as the room would not be ready until noon. We went to several book stores, to a Polish Chapel (Boim), bought post cards, wrote to Annie and Mary, went to a rail ticket office downtown but they refused to sell us tickets; said we had to buy at the train station. Went to the Post Office and mailed our cards. Went to Lichakivsky Cemetery - very large and old cemetery but still in use. Some tombs were falling apart and we could see the caskets inside. In one tomb the vault door was ajar and we could see inside. For some reason the lid was off the casket and we could see ribs and what appeared to be a leg bone and a swtach of black cloth.

Back to hotel for a short rest then off to see Carmen at 6 p.m. at the Opera House. Wonderful building. There were ten naked ladies (statues) who have seen more than 10,000 performances and also witnessed the declaration of the unification of Ukraine in 1939. Opera was great but the odd thing was that it was in four acts and the actors took bows after each act.

Back to the hotel and finally a shower as we had hot water.

Sunday, September 14, 1997 - Lviv

It was raining when we got up. We had the usual Ukrainian breakfast of bread, sausage, cheese, tomato, eggs and tea. We went back to our room after breakfast; I had a bath and we packed. We checked out bags at the hotel and went out.

We went to a candy store and bought chocolates for aunt Annies husband, Peter. Next we went to a department store and had to walk to the upper floors. We were told the elevator had been out of order for two days. It seems they just can't afford to fix anything.

We took the tram to the Railway station to check on our tickets to Budapest. We were told again that we could buy our tickets after 8 p.m. for our 10:28 p.m. train. We walked downtown and went to Pronto Pizza. It was really quite good and cost 10.57 hrv. We gave our waitress 13 hrv. and she refused the tip; said it was too much and returned 1.5 hrv. Imagine someone refusing a tip!! As we were about to leave, a man from another booth came over and asked if we were Americans. We told him where we were from and then his wife and 3 daughters came over to our booth. We had a wonderful chat. They were missionaries from Houston, Texas, USA, and had been living in L'viv for 4-1/2 years. We spent the remainder of the afternoon roaming around downtown.

We picked up our bags and went to the train station just before 8 p.m. and were still not able to buy our tickets. We did get waited on right at 8 pm but the cashier's printer wouldn't work so the tickets were finally hand written. Train left L'viv at 10:38 p.m. and we had a private compartment. It was a first class compartment but this time we had bunk beds and had to make them ourselves.

Sunday, September 14 to Monday, September 15, 1997 - On train to Budapest

We settled in for the night and were awakened by the car steward at 4 a.m. to take our passports and let us know we would be stopping in half an hour for border control and wheel changes. The wheel changes are because tracks in Ukraine and Hungary are different gauges. The next person to come in at 4:30 a.m. was a Ukrainian Economic Customs man wanting a declaration of everything we had bought but we weren't able to read the form and he couldn't explain it to us so we put NO everywhere and signed it. He was happy with that and left. Next came someone to do a security check of the compartment. Another one came and returned our passports. Then came a Ukrainian who checked our passports and he made me put my glasses on as I wear glasses in my passport picture and he wanted to see me looking like my picture. By now it was 7:30 a.m. and we were moving and at the Hungarian border. Then some Hungarian people came, looked at our passports, said, ?Canada' and left. Another Hungarian came and looked through the compartment. We were finally able to go back to sleep and arrived in Budapest at 11:57 a.m.

Hungary immediately appeared more appealing than Ukraine. It was neat and clean. We went to the accommodations desk at the railway station and arranged for a Bed and Breakfast at a small hotel called the Carmen at the corner of Amerikai and Thokoly. We took a bus to the hotel; even the bus was wonderful. It had an electronic sign which told you which street you were at. I promptly fell in love with our room; it was white and clean and the sheets were white and soft not coarse like the ones in Russia and Ukraine. There were no headboards on the bed so we were able to stretch out. The bathroom was clean and large and had large bath towels. The room also had a T.V.. I had a shower, did some laundry and went to bed for a nap by 2 p.m.

I had gone out to phone my friend, Andras, and to get us something to drink and then he also had a nap. After our naps we went out for a Chinese lunch at a nice clean restaurant and then walked to the City Park and the Millenary Monument and saw the Millenium tube. We got back to our hotel to meet Andras at 7 p.m.. Andras took us for dinner at a Jewish run restaurant, Rosensteins. I had deer with orange sauce, and mom had turkey breast and hot fruits. It was great It felt so good to be able to eat and not worry about contamination of some type. Andras drove us back to the hotel and we were in bed by 9:30 p.m.

Tuesday, September 16, 1997 - Budapest - +22C and sunny

Had a good sleep then went for breakfast in the hotel. It was the usual - buns, cheese, variety of sliced meats, corn flakes, james, tea, coffee or cocoa; we had cocoa.

I still have a mild case of disentery which we figure I picked up at Senkiw, but it was starting to clear and now I have a sore throat.

After breakfast I went to a museum, bought bus tickets and mailed cards to Annie and Mary.

Then we flew home from Budapest to Frankfurt, to Toronto, and on to Winnipeg (mom) or Ottawa (me).