Category: Uncategorized

My first full day back in London and it was a dewsey (I have also been informed by Microsoft Word that “dewsey” is not a word).  I planned to go to just two museums today, but tacked on a third on a whim (more on that later).

The first museum I attended was the British Museum, which was nothing like I expected.  First of all, for being the British Museum, there sure wasn’t a lot of British things in it.  It was pretty neat none the less.  I spent the most time in the Greek and Roman rooms, which had all kinds of statues and artifacts from the Renaissance period.   They also had a neat Egyptian room with mummies and sculptures.  It appears that the majority of the museum is dedicated to Asian artifacts, which I’ve never been very into to be honest.  But that’s just me.  It all looked pretty amazing.  Oddly enough, the most visually inspiring thing about the museum was the building itself.  In the center is a huge glass ceiling and a spiral staircase that takes you to all the different areas of the museum.  It was pretty unique.

My next stop was to the National Gallery, which houses like a zillion famous and great portraits and other works of art.  This was awe inspiring.  It’s difficult to put this experience into words, as it’s such a visual experience.  I didn’t want to flood the blog with hundreds of photos, but I did take pictures of the 20 or so I liked the most.  I bought a couple of prints of my two favorites.  Also a unique building, the National Gallery has huge vaulted ceilings with immaculate designs on the ceiling.  Each time period’s walls are color coded, so it is very easy to get around and not get lost (as I am guilty of more than I care to admit in places like this).  I could go on…but why?  Just look at the pictures!

As I said up top, my final museum of the day was the Sigmund Freud museum.  I knew nothing about this place before heading to London, but my friend Anna insisted that I go because they had a special exhibit there this month only.  It was a trek to get out there…and a very long uphill climb (no…not in the snow…and not both ways!).  I was physically exhausted by the time I got there and probably looked a wreck, but they let me in any way.  I never knew much about Freud before…but the museum (which is actually his London home where he passed away) was really educational.  The other patrons there were very educated on Freud and I could tell this was sort of a Mecca for them.  In other words, I was very out of place.  They had Freud’s study completely preserved, including the famous couch!  The special exhibit told the story of how Freud fled with his family from Austria after the Nazi’s invaded.  It was a very sad tale, but at least he and their family got out.  They even took their dog!

Before ending the day I travelled to Florin Court, where they shot the apartment building for Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot series.   The building was smaller in person, and nothing surrounding it was the same as the show…movie magic!  But it was a fun jaunt none the less.

I hope you are all doing well, and I’m looking forward to whatever this city has in store for me tomorrow!

Jeff.

Aug 4^th, 2018

I’m back in London!  There is lots to be done,  but I have hardly explored the city yet, as it took so long to just get here.  I wanted to detail my journey a bit…just to put things in perspective.   I’m putting all times in California time zone so it’s easier to follow.

5:30am Thursday – My sister gives me a ride to the Sacramento train station to catch a train to Richmond.

7:00am Thursday – The train conductor announces that the train in front of us has broken down, and that we will be running about 30 mins late.

7:30am Thursday – The conductor now says we will be an hour late.

8:45am Thursday – I get off the train in Richmond and switch to BART.

10:45am Thursday – Arrive at San Fransisco Intl airport.

12:20pm Thursday – Take off for London!

11pm Thursday – Arrive at Heathrow Intnl airport.

12:45am Friday – After waiting in the 90 minute long customs line, leave the airport and get on the underground to my hotel.

2:30am Friday – Arrive at hotel and check in my bags…but it’s too early to check in (10:30am locally).

My hotel is an extremely nice 5 star hotel smack dab in the middle of a total ghetto.  It’s super odd.  And it’s about a 20 minute walk to the underground station in Bethnel Green, so I will have to reconsider some of my plans to prevent stops back here during the day to change clothes for the theater..but all of this comes with the territory.  No matter how much you plan…alas.

After 22 hours straight of traveling and no sleep, I was exiting my hotel after checking in my bags and a guy walking by said in passing “your fly is down, mate.”   “Yeah.  Of course it is.  That is today in a nutshell,” I thought.

And then, after being awake for 22 hours, I headed to the DC Super Heroes exhibit at the 02 Arena!  The 02 Arena is a crazy place.  It is HUGE!  I only stopped by briefly last year, so this year I walked around the place…which took a couple of hours.  There are tons of restaurants, a movie theater, convention spaces, and of course, an arena.  Imagine a basketball arena with a high end shopping mall wrapped all around it, with a convention center jetting off to the side.

The DC exhibit was really cool!  Being a die hard Wonder Woman fan, I kind of took pictures of every single Wonder Woman thing they had.  I wish I could have bought all of the gift shop and taken it home with me as well.  All of the pictures from this blog is from the 02 (including a strange giant “knife-show” display).

After the 02, I ran a few errands and then checked into the hotel.  I then worked on getting my internet working because I had to go to work about an hour after checking in.  So, I logged on to work and promptly passed out.  I had been awake and traveling for about 30 hours straight at that point, and I was done.  I woke up a few hours later and started my work day.

I’m looking forward to much rest, and then much exploration now that I’m here!  I’m sure I will have a much better attitude in the morning!

Jeff

Aug 3^rd, 2018

So, I finally arrived in Odessa.  This was supposed to be the easy, stress free part of the journey.  It just proves that you should never assume anything.  I arranged (and paid in advance) to stay in my apartment building from 10 years ago.  Upon arriving, I found that 80% of my building had been torn down and in its place was a brand new, swanky, snooty hotel called The Hotel Milano.  I couldn’t even find where to go to get my apartment key (my old landlord has left Ukraine just days before I arrived).  I finally was told that the reception desk at the Milano could help me, so I went in.  Although they had my arrival written down, they didn’t think I paid for the apartment…and there was mass confusion.  After getting all of that sorted out, I finally got my keys.  There are only a few apartments left in the building in working order, the rest are either demolished or being used as storage facilities for the hotel.  This unit has a Jacuzzi tub, but not only do the jets not work, but the tub won’t actually plug up either.  When I turn on the shower there is just a drizzle of water…no water pressure at all.  So…I head back to the hotel reception to inquire.  Their response:  “That building is very old.”  Great.  So they charged me twice, but don’t actually maintain the apartments.  I highly doubt these last few apartments will even be here very long.  The heartbreaking end of an era.  All things must pass.

And that little story is like a microcosm of the entire city of Odessa.  Since Ukrainians can no longer vacation in Crimea, it appears that everyone is coming to Odessa.  In just one year, small little cafes have been replaced by giant luxury resorts, and there are so many people here that it feels like walking around in New York or Disneyland.  The tiny, peaceful, romantic Odessa is very much a thing of the past.  I kept thinking of The Eagles song “The Last Resort,” and the line:  If you call someplace Paradise, kiss it goodbye.

There are some good things to have come out of it.  First of all, the Potemkin Stairs has received a massive facelift.  Up until this year, it was still surrounded by rubble on each side from bombings during WWII.  Now it’s all been fixed up with marble tiles and all the rubble is gone.  There is even a trolley car system that will take tourists up and down the stairs if they so choose.  The other major change is a brand new park built on a hillside…none of which was there before.  I cannot even explain to you the enormity of this park.  There are gas lamps and cobblestone paths up, down, and all around this massive hill (I think I counted 5 different park levels).  There are playgrounds, fountains, gazebos, benches everywhere…NONE of which was there just one year ago.  I tried to take pictures, but it’s just so massive they don’t do this accomplishment justice.  For someone who was just here a year ago and is used to this hill…it is absolutely breathtaking.

My two favorite restaurants are still here:  Mick’s Irish Pub and the Melon Café, and I’ve already eaten at both.   I had a fun conversation with the guys in the music shop, and got a bunch of CD’s I can’t get in the US (and could never find on ebay), and best of all….a Russian copy of Wonder Woman!  Yes…the irony of that is not lost on me.

One thing that hasn’t changed is the “dirt mall.”  Every town has one.  It’s that mall that used to be a big deal but now just has old shops that nobody cares about?  Well, this mall is in one of the most beautiful buildings…with sculptures and a glass ceiling and neat columns…the building is a major attraction.  You’d think they’d put some kind of shops in it worth shopping at.

Other than all of that, I’m just relaxing here and enjoying my time.  No major events or plans…just parks, the beach, and enjoying Odessa….

Jeff:  Aug 27^th, 2017

My doctor said that I needed to exercise more…and this post would make him very happy.  The Lviv Museum of Folk Culture wasn’t anything I was expecting it to be.  I expected a building with a bunch of historical fashion and art…maybe a recreation of a building or two.

In reality, it is an actual preserved Ukrainian village from 1840’s-1910’s.  It’s an actual village, so in order to see all of it; you basically have to walk through an entire village.  However, it was really neat and probably the highlight of my trip to Lviv.  If nothing else, it made up for not seeing the Open Air Museum in Kyiv.

As you walk along various cobble stone (and just plain dirt) paths, you see various cottages, wells, wheelbarrows, churches…everything you’d expect to find in a Ukrainian village from the time.  Most of the buildings had their doors open, and you could go inside and see what it would have looked like (I’m assuming the clothing and bed dressing are recreations and not from the 1800’s—otherwise someone better think about doing some laundry!).

Just like everything else on this trip, this was a hike.  Keep in mind I had just spent hours hiking up High Castle (the mountain that looks over the city).  All in all I think we were in the village about 3 hours. Most of the time trying to find a windmill.  Tom really wanted to see a classic windmill, and since there is one on the map, it must be there, no?  No.  At one point, all signs of other tourists were gone, and we were hiking down through this gorge using a rope to cling to.  I said to Tom “what are we even doing this for?” Duh.  To find the windmill.  Why did I ask?  We finally found what I think might have once been a windmill…I should have taken a picture of it.  It was just a shack with a long wooden plank sticking out and broken off at the end.

As we were leaving, I pointed to an exit sign with a picture of a windmill on it and said “Well Tom, there’s your windmill!”  At least he laughed.  Every muscle and bone in my body hurt that evening, all through the night, and my feet were even sore the next day.  My doctor would be proud.

I left early the next morning for the airport.  The people working at my hotel were so nice, because I was missing breakfast; they packed me a bagged breakfast to take with me.  Svetlana (the woman at reception) said “here is packed breakfast for you.  I am sorry.  It is terrible.”  It wasn’t so bad…flavored crackers, cheese and bottled water.  I couldn’t complain.

So that was Lviv.  Beautiful place, amazing people, great food, fun times.  If you go, plan to be there just 3 days or so…there is not that much to do there….just a nice beautiful city with a rich culture (or multiple cultures) and really nice and helpful people.

I flew from Lviv to Odessa, where I am typing this from my apartment.  But that, for sure, is a tale for another day.  Until then…

Jeff:  Aug 26^th, 2017

Last year, I attended Ukrainian Independence Day in Kiev (the capital).  It was very crowded, with the singing of the National Anthem, a speech by the President, and thousands of people.  There was also a long parade consisting of military tanks, missiles on trailers and marching soldiers.  Although the people were energized and cheering, this was not the event I was looking forward to.

This year, I decided to travel to the city of Lviv for Independence Day, and it couldn’t have been more opposite.  There was very few “formal” activities.  No parade, not even one tank (or at least not that I saw).  What I did see was a steady flowing crowd (some dressed in traditional wear, some not).  There were street musicians on every block, those weird “human statue” people, and people selling art.  It felt more like the greatest farmer’s market ever, rather than an Independence day celebration.  But I loved it all…and although it wasn’t what I was expecting, I loved almost every minute of it.

And if you scan the pictures, you’ll see I purchased pretty much the coolest shirt on the face of the planet.

The only downside is that I could not find a café to eat at for lunch.  As I felt my blood sugar level starting to drop I knew I was desperate.  And there…out of the shadows, came forward the enemy of all stomachs, heart health and taste buds combined:  McDonald’s… or as I like to call it:  McDogfood.   So there I was…in Ukraine, on Independence Day, eating a Big Mac.  Heaven forgive me.

Although I’m posting my pics of  the day, the real joy will be watching all of the videos of street musicians, etc..  I’m currently at the Lviv airport, awaiting my trip to Odessa.  I do have one more blog from Lviv however:  The Folk Art Museum at High Castle!  You don’t want to miss it!

Lviv is such a beautiful, special place.  And by special I mean unique.  Again, if it’s convenient to do so, see it!  Now it’s off to familiar territory…my apartment in Odessa.  Until then…

Jeff:  Aug 24, 2017

In my defense, that is what it is known as in this part of the world.  I did not make it up, and can’t take credit for it.  If you’re coming to Europe (and especially countries like Austria or Poland which are so close), I would full heartedly suggest coming to Lviv.  It is such an unusual and beautiful place.

When I arrived I knew that I was supposed to catch trolley#9 from the airport to where it dead ends at the city square.  From there, my hotel was just a couple of blocks away.  So…the trolley pulls up…and I DO mean a trolley!  Like cable car style.  I pay the driver 2UAH (about 10 cents) and I get on.  Apparently there is a ticket system where the driver gives you a ticket and you stamp it into the machine…and apparently this process is a big deal because one lady started yelling at me in Ukrainian that I needed to do it.  Another lady (who spoke English) helped me, and I said Spasiba (thank you) in Russian.  She took my arm and said “No!  Thank you.”  Then looked at me.  I said “Thank you.”  And she said “you’re welcome.”  The message was very clear:  Do not speak Russian here.

Lviv geographically sits on the border of Poland and has been a part of many different nations over the centuries.  As you walk the streets, it is common to hear people speaking not only Ukrainian, but Romanian, Polish, even Russian in some cases.  I was often confused as being Polish, and have no idea why.  But the people here are VERY Western and anti-Russia.  It’s also a university town with several different campuses.  In other words, it’s like Ukraine’s Berkeley.

Why am I here?  First, I have never been here before…so why not?  And second, I wanted to be in an artsy atmosphere for Independence Day (after all the tanks and military in Kiev last year).

The main two things I did upon arriving here in Lviv was first see the Prison at Lontskogo, which was where prisoners were held by the Nazis, and later where Stalin’s regime interrogated prisoners.  It is now a memorial museum emphasizing that we never let such cruelty happen again.  It is all preserved, and as I walked through it I just became sick.  On the way out I was crying, and I thanked the lady at the door and made for the street.  This museum will only take about 10 minutes to walk through…but they will be the most horrific 10 minutes of your life.  I was completely unprepared…and only shared some pictures here.

The other item of business was much more fun (and how could it not be?):  High Castle!  High Castle is a giant mountain that overlooks the entire city.  It is very high, and part of the mountain is made up of an ancient castle that was destroyed centuries ago.   It was a hike.  It was a freakin’ hike.  And some of it was spent in the pouring rain.  But it was worth it.  I’ve shared some of my views from the top here.  Also at High Castle is an entirely preserved village which dates from 1840-1910…but that was so beautiful and such a great story, that it warrants its own blog.

As you read this, the Independence Day celebrations will be coming to a close here.  I look forward to sharing with everyone pictures of the festivities!  Who am I kidding, I’m just a sucker for lots of vyshyvka…and I’m assuming there will be a lot of people wearing some.  Until then…

Jeff:  Aug 24^th, 2017

“On second thought, let’s not go to the Open Air Museum.  It is a silly place.”  That is what I finally surmised about the thing I wanted to do in Kiev the most, on the last day of being there.  But I’m starting in the middle of the story here…which would be like saying a duck weighs the same as a piece of wood (which technically could be true since you can make a piece of wood any size you desire).

The night before I said goodnight to Tom, and told him I to come over around 8am the next morning and we’d head out to Independence Square to take pictures and film before it got crowded, then look up how to get to the Open Air museum.  At about 10am, I woke up to pounding on my door.  I jumped up thinking the building might be on fire,  and answered the door.  It was Tom, who was starting to get worried about me.  After 10 days of hiking 10 hours a day and traveling (and various meds for flying), I felt like I had been attacked by the killer rabbit.  I wasn’t sick or anything, just exhausted.

I started to research the best way to get to the Open Air Museum.  And I continued to try.  And then kept trying.  It was over an hours’ drive out of the city, and I knew that a taxi would be impossible.  Apparently they have recently changed how all of the metro stations and bus lines work, so depending on what website you go to, it gives you completely different directions…even calls the same station by different names.  Google maps was of no help either, as it was just as confused as we were:   “11 hours walking, an hour and fifteen minutes by car, and by taking public transit good luck.  We have no idea either.  Just pray for the best.”  So after almost 2 hours of searching online, I looked at Tom and said “Tom, I’m really tired.  On second thought, let’s not go to the Open Air Museum.  It is a silly place.”

Tom left me to reenact the park and river walk I did on my first day (he promised to bring me back a shrubbery), and I spent the day recharging my batteries in my hot tub and with some writing and reading and researching Lviv (my next Ukrainian destination).  That evening Tom and I returned and decided it was a good idea to walk to McFoxy’s for some fun pictures and a chicken sandwich.  I had never walked there, but Tom said it was about a 25 minute walk.  90 minutes later we arrived at what used to be McFoxy’s.  It had closed down…which was so heartbreaking!  I suppose they did not correctly answer thee these questions three?  No matter, we walked the 90 mins back and called it a day.

Fully rested, I am leaving for Lviv, a place I have never been before, for the Independence Day celebrations! Until then….nee! Nee!

Jeff:  Aug 23^rd, 2017

Around 7am in the morning I was on the phone with my Aunt Nancy when who should be at my doorstep than my old friend Tom!  Tom had spent the past 2 weeks or so hiking out in the middle of nowhere (our versions of vacation are extreme opposites).  It was fun to have a friendly face to talk to, but also as important:  Tom actually had a bucket list of things he wanted to do while we were in Kiev together!  YAY!

Even though the day before had been enjoyable, and I was starting to not think of Kiev as the black hole of ugly cities, I was completely out of things to do (except one-more on that later), so Tom’s bucket list became my bucket list!  It was good to be the follower for a day.  We went to some churches (St. Michael’s Cathedral, St. Andrews, etc).  At Saint Sophie’s Cathedral a bunch of “tourist trappers” ran up to Tom and wanted money to have his picture taken with him.  I was smart enough to just walk away, but being the nice guy that he was, he kept talking to them.  Before he knew it, he had several birds perched on him and a guy in some odd toga thing with his arm wrapped around him.  Somehow I was the one who ended up paying the $100UAH (about 4 dollars), but it was so beyond worth it.  Also at Saint Sophia’s, I got to climb to the top of the bell tower (more stairs to climb—seems like a theme this trip).

We walked down this great cobble stone alley down a hill called Andreevskiy Spusk, where there were all sorts of street vendors and artists selling their paintings.  We also saw the ruins of an old castle that Tom’s ancestor helped build.  However, all that’s left of it now is the basic foundation (and by basic I man a patchwork of stones no more than 6 inces high).  We also went to the Vlladir the Great monument which overlooks the city over the river.  I briefly took Tom down to Maidan (he’s been there before), but it was getting late so we called it a night.

For our last day in Kiev, our plan is to visit the open air museum, which is where they filmed the movie “Bitter Harvest.”  It’s a preserved Ukrainian village from the late 1880’s, with chapel and mills and cabins, etc.  It looks SO cool…and is the number one reason why I wanted to return to this place.

Kiev is not as bad as I once thought it was, but that doesn’t actually mean I like it.  J  So, one more adventure in Kiev and it’s off to Lviv (a place I have never been before on the border of Poland).  Until then…

Jeff:  Aug 22^nd, 2017

I had been to the WWII Memorial Complex before, so I won’t rehash a lot of what I had to say in my blog last year…but this year I was allowed to actually take pictures and I was given a private tour of the place by an English speaking guide, so it was a much more fulfilling experience.

More Ukrainians died in WWII than any other country.  Added to that, after the war Stalin did not want Ukrainians to have combat experience, so when the Ukrainian soldiers returned from fighting for their country, he had the soldiers executed.  Pretty horrific.  And people wonder why there is such hostility between Ukraine and Russia?  This is just one of many reasons.  I could go on and on about other events in history, but I want to keep it as jovial as possible.  Hey look!  It’s a dog with a poofy tail!

The memorial complex is not as extensive or high tech as the one in London, but it is very interesting and a must see if you come to Kiev.  It’s located on a hill overlooking the city, and at the top of it is the Motherland Monument, which represents freedom.  You can see this monument from almost any place in the city because it is massive.  The museum itself is three stories, and the third story actually goes up inside the monument and overlooks the city.

When I was here last year, my friend Tom bypassed the museum, and instead walked through what he said was “A very nice walk down to a park and the river.”  So I decided to check that out as well.  This brings up the age old issue of confusion of vocabulary.  For Tom it was a “very nice walk down to a park.”  For me it was 212 stairs, in the heat, that ended in a little grove of trees and a view of a freeway with the river on the other side in the distance.  Beauty, I surmise, is in the eyes of the beholder.  After hiking back up the 212 steps, I thought I was going to die.

So, if you’re ever in Kiev (and why in heaven’s name would you be?) this should be on the top of your list of things to see.   Speaking of Tom, he showed up on my doorstep and it was great to see him.  Our adventures shall be covered in my next blog!  Until then…

Jeff:  Aug 21^st, 2017