or Zaporozhiza if you prefer (you'll see it spelled the second way in English, but it sounds like Zap- eh- rose- ah to me) Since Wednesday was going to be Stacy's second last day with us (Friday we will begin the three + weeks of craziness that is Summer English Institute and she's moving into Dnepro then) we decided to do something touristy in the afternoon.
In the morning we picked fruit, and Stacy went for her usual morning walk around the village, where she tried out her Russian on a basbushka who was carried a heavy load to ask if she could help her. Stacy said she thanked her with a smile, but no.
I made some cake, while Garry with the help of Maxim's brother Andrei poured his forms full of cement. When they were almost done I took some photos, and one of the kittens tried jumping on the wall, looking very surprised when her feet sank into the wet cement. She jumped right back off the "wall" and was shaking her feet clean over by her siblings, at the corner of the house.
We planned to leave around eleven, but Maxim had to take the car to find a part for the tractor hydraulics that neighbor Serosia was helping with- they had taken it apart to discover that the part they got was too big. As we were leaving after lunch, the two Serosias came up the driveway (as you can see the guys got the yard cut with a weedwhacker- Garry worked on it while we were waiting.)
Max's brother Andrei came along on our excursion to Chortitsa Island, and he really liked posing for photos, as you can see- either getting Stacy to take them, or trying to get her to pose for them. We toured the sich (fort) re-creation (Catherine the Great burned down the original and it was built for a movie set a few years ago.)The island was the stronghold of the Zaporoshia cossacks, protected by hills - where they could light signal fires for warning of invaders, and the bad rapids on the river (now gone due to the hydro dam.)
Stacy paid to make her own commemorative coin, the rest of us tried the archery- Garry hit the target with all five arrows, but I only got one into the bag- the rest flew past (at least they went past the target.) They also had knife throwing, but we didn't try that. Stacy got a few postcards and Andrei bought presents for some of his family (the vendors really liked him- he got something at every booth.)
....they seem to have made some improvements- there was a house with furniture you could go into- I snapped a photo (we had paid for one camera on the way in and there was a guy checking when he saw Andrei's camera he asked to see our chek (receipt) so I took one undercover- the other room was set up as a bedroom. Luckily Garry could find it in his wallet this time -you have to pay an extra fee in museums, for photo taking.)
We walked over to the museum after, and Stacy and Andrei climbed up the big signal hill next to the building, overlooking the river. Garry and I sat on the bench by the door. Stacy bought the tickets at the casa this time and we didn't pay for picture taking inside the museum,(Andrei did) but we very pleased with a new feature there- they have added English signage on the exhibits - so now you can tell that helmet is a Polish winged hussar helmet, or which saint is portrayed in the icons, or what culture is portrayed by which outfit. Garry and I have been there a few times before but we were slower going through the exhibits than Stacy and Andrei!
Afterwards we went to the big store downtown (it used to be the big central store for the city in communist time) and took the escalators up to the fourth floor (Andrei said it was his first time on one) and then walked down all the flights of stairs- for some reason, many malls and stores will carry you up but not down here in Ukraine. It was fun window shopping there.
We went for a walk to a nearby park, Stacy tried to use the ATM, but it was out of money- we did find one that worked across the street. I took a photo of Garry taking a photo of Stacy and Andrei by the fountain (Stacy will be ready to pose for all those photos with students during Institute.).......
Then we went to the restaurant with an English menu because they serve crolik (rabbit) and Stacy wanted it. Sadly when we ordered there was none availiable, although Garry did eat tongue, the rest of us had pork dishes. It was an excellent meal and we arrived back in the village just as the cows arrived home bearing gifts- we went through the drive-thru and bought Maxim a Big Mac Menu (meal.)
And in spite of the dark clouds around noon, when Stacy and I brought our laundry inside....the rain did not fall on the village, for the first time in at least two weeks...maybe three!
No comments:
Post a Comment