Friday, Feb. 26, 2010

Today we walked to the big grocery store; this is a much more of a pleasant experience due to the large size of the store and more selection of product. We found ground beef which is the first time in 3 weeks, along with french fries. (These both made great suppers). There are 2 aisles of Vodka not that we drink it. Instead of a lobster tank they have a carp fish tank, which Martin says some of the fish look like last year’s catch. One thing we have to watch is how much we put in the cart as we have to remember that we are carrying it all home.
We attempted to go to the large open air market but due to Laura having issues with the crowds we had to abandon the idea.
Friday night we went to the Canadian Embassy pub night. This was a very surreal experience as in all my travels I have never been to an Embassy and only think of them when you hear about them on the news and people us them as refuge when there is a problem in the country. :) It was great to hear all speaking English and understanding everyone, Martin felt like he was at home and jolted back to reality when he walked out the door. We went with Dave and Helen, and Dave with his Finland back ground played the Canuck (Martin) at a game of table hockey, the Canuck won 5-3. There will be no excuses from Dave even though he had an injured shoulder. :) We are hoping our Canada team does just as well. Laura also played hockey with another little boy and did very well. She lost.

Saturday Feb 27, 2010

We were very brave today and conquered the mighty Metro (subway) by ourselves, even changing trains to get on another line. We lucked out as when we asked for help on which train to get on we found English speaking Ukrainians. We were making our way to the Patriotic War memorial complex. Here we saw a very large metal women brandishing a sword and shield, please see link. There were many artillery vehicles of the era and large sculptures depicting the war.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_the_Great_Patriotic_War,_Kiev
We then went onto a monastery that has caves underground with mummified saints in glass caskets. You walk through with only candle light to guide you, as most people stop and pay respect and kiss the caskets.

We then made our way back to the metro to come home.

We still do not have a date for the SDA. Hoping to hear on Monday, 3 weeks since we arrived.

Love to you all

Jennifer, Martin and Laura