Last weekend was just about as perfect as spring can get. I don’t know what’s different this year, but this spring looked and felt much better to me than any other spring in Kyiv. The chestnut trees were just explosions of delicate blooms literally all over the city. There are more pink chestnuts now, too. The apple trees, the lilac bushes, the bright sun, the warm temperatures. We went for long walks – in the botanical garden, on Andreyevsky uzviz and on Khreshatyk – all three days of the long weekend. It was gorgeous everywhere we went!
Most of the country celebrated Victory Day. Igor and I celebrated two years of life together in Kyiv. Although the wedding anniversary is in December, we made our commitments to each other when he moved to Kyiv in May.
Two weeks until our great Wild West adventure. Oh man, do we ever need a vacation! The plans are coming together really nicely. We bought some guide books in Russian last week, as well as Bill Bryson book which is titled in Russian “Uncle Sam’s Country”. I thought he must have published a new book and I was a bit jealous that Igor would get to read it first (a whole book in Russian is still more than I am up to). Turns out it’s Notes from a Big Country, just titled differently in Russian. I’m excited for Igor to read it, I hope the humor translates well. He was chuckling a bit last night, so something got through OK.
We weren’t very happy with the guide books, though. They are mostly hotel and restaurant listings, with just a page or two of history, facts, etc. Anyone know where we can get good guide books in Russian or Ukrainian? I tried to search on line, found a couple bookstores in Russia, but we need something in Kyiv.
Anka in Kyiv 