Mike The Nomad Bear

It was wonderful to visit Ukraine. I'll probably post about it more. But now it was time to take our adventurous crew to the great country of Russia.

We boarded our Aeroflot plane in Kiev, then flew a few hours, nonstop. Moscow is... how can I say this nicely? Well it's not really a *pretty* town. It is, however, full of history and activity.

It's also an *expensive* town. That's why our stay in Moscow was relatively short; we stayed just one night.

Moscow is home to some of the longest (and fastest) subway escalators in the world. Each subway has a different theme and decor. There's a couple photos here to check-out..

I really enjoyed the Cosmonaut Museum. There were 1:1 scale re-creations of satellites, and there was lots of artwork and newspaper clippings from the era of the space race. (Yuri, Yuri, he's our man!) I also dug learning about Byelka and Stryelka, the celebrated dogs in space.

Walking around the Moscow Expo Center seemed a little intimidating... it's a huge outdoor complex. So Todd suggested we rent bikes. What a great idea! We cruised along with bikes around the grounds, seeing some cool old architecture. We even hit the fun-fair to ride some coasters, eat shish-kabobs and have ice cream.

Later, it was time to head back to town. I'd been to Red Square before, but it still dazzles! The inside of St. Basil's was under renovation when I visited last time in 1995; they did a wonderful refurbishment and the insides look simply amazing. We made a pit stop at McDonald's. Instead of mozzarella sticks, they have fried Brie sticks here. (I had them. They were rubbery.)

Cigarettes seemed to be more common in the former USSR 20 years ago. Now there are health advisory signs everywhere. The sign here says "Tobacco is poison. Quit smoking." Ukraine just passed tougher smoking laws for public spaces. Yay.

After about 36 hours, it was time to move-on and catch our overnight train to St. Petersburg. More on that soon.

I'll apologize for my plain (mindless?) writing right now. It's late (and I'm typing on a phone!)

The weather has been fantastic this whole trip. Amazing!

We chanced upon a fun-fair at the Moscow Expo Center. We rode 3 coasters. The biggest one was Cobra. Here, watch it in action.

(And yes, we rode it.)

The adventures continue.

I think Yalta has been my favorite part of the trip so far. It's gorgeous! Dramatic mountains and picturesque beaches. We've been calling it "The Yosemite of Ukraine." (Well, Yosemite plus a beach, I guess.) The water is so clean and blue! Check-out some of the photos here. We had a lovely evening in Yalta, and the tours around Simferopol and Sevastopol were just awesome.

Todd and I stumbled-upon the Philharmonic Hall in Odessa, and as luck would have it, there were a few tickets left. $8 each! Score!!! I love live music, and hearing a symphony orchestra is always a real treat! I'm certain that my old friends Peter and Alisa have been to this hall. They were big fans of symphonic music, and spent a lot of time in Odessa.

Kiev was cool, though our time here has been short. It was cool to walk around Kreschatik Boulevard (the main artery) during a big street fair, on a delightful summery evening. Live music, beer, and celebration. Yay.

The tour guide at the Monastery of the Cave was a trip. She was local, knowledgeable, fluent in English, and got really animated when she told stories of the monastery grounds. I'm not sure if my fellow travelers were into it, but I enjoyed it.

The catacomb tour itself has been cut short over the years, and frankly was a bit underwhelming. I'm glad I got to see the catacombs 18 years ago. Back then, you could wander as you pleased. The sick and afflicted would go to a special section of the caves to be healed by a priest. (When I visited, the priest was performing an exorcism. That was quite a surreal experience.)

The overnight trains in Ukraine are almost exactly like they were 20 years ago. The compartments are grubby; the toilets empty-out right onto the track. The trains are actually exactly the same trains as back then, except now some compartments have something resembling air-conditioning. Kinda.

We're walking a lot. We're tired a lot. It'll be nice when we get to St. Petersburg, because we're spending 4 days there. We'll get to enjoy a slower pace.

The Ukraine leg of the tour is about to end. It's been good to be back. It's kind of weird to see grocery stores full of quality food, and to see restaurants full of customers. But it's certainly a good thing. Ukraine is moving forward, and its people just seem happier these days.

Next-up: Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Here, have a bunch of photos.

The weather was perfect when we ascended this mountain outside of Simferopol, Ukraine. There were old cave dwellings and buildings, and then this unexpected, breathtaking view.

Ukraine totally brought it.

Unexpected awesomeness at the sub dry dock, Sevastopol, Ukraine. Check-out the video here.

I didn't drink beer when I lived in Ukraine in the mid-90's, but I could tell from the scent that it was cheap and nasty.

That's all changed... today, good beer is available in many varieties, both imported and local. We stumbled upon a little beer store that had 50 beers on-tap, ready to bottle... on-demand to take home. We sampled a few.

Donetsk is now home to a stunning, beautiful modern soccer stadium right in the middle of town. It was completed last year at a cost of about $350 million US dollars. Soccer is really a big deal in this town... and the local team is supposed to be pretty good. The new stadium will host some of the matches during the upcoming 2012 Euro cup, which will bring many thousands of tourists to the city.

Todd and I escaped by taxi for a mini-tour of Donetsk. It was interesting to see how much the town has changed. Over time, it looks like "all-things Soviet" have been lscrubbed and replaced, to an extent. In general I've observed a lot less stark and red; more bright and airy. Modern Euro-style is the motif now. It feels not unlike Poland... but with Ukraine's signature blue and yellow colors everywhere.

We stopped to see Dom Kino, a former cinema that I have a personal connection with. When I arrived in Donetsk in 1993, it was vacant and beat-up. The church leased it, and we worked hard to clean and restore it. Finally it was converted into a meetinghouse. I have many fond memories there.

It was never particularly *nice*, but in its time, it was a safe haven for us. It was "our place," and we protected it and treated it as our own. I met some genuinely good people there. Listening to Sunday School lessons here helped me learn to speak Russian.

Fast-forward to 2012. I arrived to find Dom Kino in ruin. The front facade was still intact, looking exactly how I remember it, but its front steps were crumbling and the windows were broken. Initially it just appeared abandoned, vandalized and in decay. But a walk around the building revealed a more dramatic fate. The main hall was burned badly, and everything but a few walls have collapsed. We could see the old entry doors, a stairway, even the old projection booth and main stage.

I wish we could've entered to look closer, but it looked unsafe... plus there were security cameras on the property, and our cab driver said that the grounds were being actively monitored.

A couple photos are shown here.

No one knew the cause of the fire. The building had a long, full life and it served its purpose. In any case, we accidentally stumbled upon the church's new meetinghouse a few kilometers away, which was built for the permanent enjoyment of local church members.

Ultra-modern stadium goes up; old-school Soviet theatre falls to the ground. Welcome to Ukraine, new and old.

(Please pardon the imperfect writing. It's a first draft that I've been typing on a phone, and not easy to edit.)

We drove outside of Donetsk to catch a tour of the Soledar salt mines. At first we thought we'd be out-of-luck; without a reservation there'd be no way to go down into the salty underground mines, which must be kept at a particular cool temperature.

After some coaxing (and explaining how this would be the only chance we'd ever get to see the mines), they relented. After clearing it with the director, they managed to squeeze us in.

The elevator took us 1,000 feet underground to see the mines. Pretty damn impressive, I'd say.

Check-out this video. I think it's a must-see.

I wasn't sure what to expect when visiting Ukraine. When I lived here from 1993-95, the economy was spiraling; people would go months without seeing a paycheck. After the collapse of the USSR, it felt like the country wasn't entirely sure what to do with itself. Restaurants were deserted. Buildings were left to crumble. Public fountains dried-up. Even the fire at the "Eternal Flame" monument in Donetsk was turned-off... there just wasn't enough money to keep it going.

Things have changed quite a bit. The city has grown. Buildings with 20 floors have sprung-up, near sparkling European-style shopping malls with a multiplex cinema. Public transport runs reliably, and many people own cars. The Ukrainian currency is at its most stable level in 6 years. Things are looking-up.

Donetsk is the first city on our itinerary. It's quite a walkable place; we enjoyed several strolls down Pushkin Park and dined on Georgian cuisine our first night.

A visit to Donetsk wouldn't be complete without a visit to Lenin Square. I spent a lot of time at the square when I lived here previously. I also checked-out my old apartment building nearby. There's a photo of me in front of it, here.

The old street markets have largely been replaced with supermarkets. They're not quite as robust as those you'd find elsewhere in Europe, but they're by-far more advanced than I'd imagined they'd be. Pre-packaged dinners, baked items and meats have replaced the old-school a la carte items, which were at times über-fresh, at other times stale and tasteless.

Donetsk has a Ramada hotel now. It was comfy, with hot showers (and lots of water pressure.) Not what I was expecting.

Looks like there's a small chain of shish-kabob stands called "Meat Spring." I love the logo... perhaps meat really does grow on trees.

Greetings from Donetsk, Ukraine! We are embarking on a two-and-a-half week, Amazing Race style trip across Ukraine and Russia. There's 8 of us... quite the delegation! So far we're having a blast.

So here's a quick video greeting. Photos coming soon.

I recently scanned some old photos from my time in Ukraine. From 1993 to 1995 (a period of alarming economic hyperinflation there) I lived among the Ukrainians; I was just 19 when I arrived.

I spent my time in two cities: the coal mining city of Donetsk and the more European-influenced city of Kharkov. I'm eager to see them both shine as they prepare to host the massive Euro 2012 soccer tournament, though forces conspire against them.

I'm now far, far removed from the church that sent me to Ukraine, but I'm still thankful for my time there. I learned and grew so much. And I returned with some pretty amazing stories.