Archive for the ‘travels’ tag
Piece of Europe in Ukraine
Having jumped into a workweek immediately on arrival from Lviv I didn’t have time to make a record of the wonderful time I and my friends had there. It’s better late than never though, so here it is.
To put the story short, everything was just perfect and I got reassured in my opinion that if all Ukraine could become like Lviv we would proudly call our land Europe, not only geographically but also mentally and spiritually.
Positive impressions began just when we located our rented apartment. Half-blindly picked and booked over the Internet for less than modest price, it ended up to be roomy, tidy and situated in the old town, right in front of Potocki Palace (major tourist attraction). What a pleasure it was to come back home every evening to a place like that.
Then there was food, lots and lots of food. Local cafes and restaurants with their delicious cuisine, excellent service and cozy thematic interiors can actually lead one to obesity given that the average check is less than $10. I definitely gained a couple of kilos there.
Grounded in Seattle
As they say you never know what may happen to you in the next instance. Same with me, how on earth could I imagine myself being affected by the worst air travel disruption ever when I was peacefully packing my things to return home from the U.S.? However it’s also true that every (ash) cloud has a silver lining. So instead of getting frustrated and blaming nasty Icelandic volcano I resolved to use and enjoy this unexpected opportunity to extend my stay in Seattle. Not only did I spend more productive time working with American colleagues but also experienced Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Indian, Chinese and Mexican cuisine and of course attended the biggest local salsa party.
Before coming to Seattle I had an impression of it as a cool city with a massive artistic and alternative culture. That’s probably because I used to be a great fan of grunge music which basically originated here. Bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden were the foundation of my music taste formation. And I should say what I’ve actually seen wasn’t at all disappointing. Walking through Capitol Hill district at night and seeing so many “creative” individuals, art shops, galleries and clubs with live music couldn’t leave any doubts about city’s “coolness”. But apart from that Seattle, as well as the areas surrounding it, is very neat, clean and green. So it’s not for nothing that Washington has its nickname “The Evergreen State”.
If You’re Going to San Francisco…
I’ve been so lazy about writing this “traveler’s records” post up until now. The laziness was probably caused by enjoyment of long-awaited vacation, or maybe just by excitement about being in the Bay Area.
The fun on my trip started back in Kyiv with the taxi ride. In the middle of Easter night I ordered a cab to pick me up from home and take to the airport. When I was getting inside a car I heard a song playing which was very unusual for taxi drivers in Kyiv. It sang: “If you’re going to San Francisco be sure to wear some flowers in your hair…” I looked at the driver with amazement and told him about this incredible coincidence. You still don’t believe that universe knows everything? I do, for sure.
The long two-leg flight passed easy. Stopover in Amsterdam gave a chance to catch a glimpse of Netherlands and get evidence that I do want to visit Holland in future. I arrived in San Francisco on Sunday afternoon and was met by rain. Half an hour subway ride from the airport to downtown, walking a couple of blocks and I am in the modest hostel called Adelaide. The place is a bit old and worn-out but fresh free breakfasts and free Wi-Fi made my stay there pleasant.
Prague Trip and Radiohead Concert
Yesterday I returned home from wonderful trip to Czech Republic, where accompanied by five friends I spend great seven days exploring Prague and attended the concert of my favorite music band Radiohead. From there I brought tons of positive impressions and for the first time in my life I didn’t really want to go back home.
Prague is definitely the most beautiful city I’ve seen so far and looks like a great place to live. Everything there seems to be in a perfect order, very neat and cozy. The whole town is like one single place for a romantic walk. Labyrinths of tiny narrow streets, paved squares surrounded by marvelous architecture inspire the soul and awaken the desire to do something creative.
It is not strange then that thousands of tourists from everywhere are seen all around Prague. I was amazed to see even bigger diversity of people than in New York City — Spanish, German, Dutch, American, Russian, Chinese, Israeli and many others. It worth saying that we didn’t have any problems communicating with locals because Czech language is very similar to Ukrainian and most of youth speaks some English.
Having only seven days and wanting to see as much as possible we run through major tourist sites in express mode. Among others we’ve been to Prague Castle, Prague Zoo, all major cathedrals, bridges, squares and parks.
Also we spent two days out of Prague going to Karlovy Vary and Kutna Hora. Deciding to check out all available means of intercity transport we went to Karlovy Vary by bus and to Kutna Hora by train. The 200 km bus ride cost us about €6 one way. For that price we got bus equipped with a stewardess, free coffee and… free WiFi connection during the whole journey! The last thing made my jaw drop especially low.
Experimental Vacation and Lviv Trip
Now that I have only two days of vacation left I feel it’s time to report on how I have spent available time.
The idea of experimental vacation came to my mind in the end of April. At the time I was reading Dalai Lama and thought that I would be great to have some time to reflect on what I’ve read and forget for a while about everyday work-home regime. A bunch of national holidays in the beginning of May came right in time. So I made an initial plan of what I wanted to accomplish within ten days and started enjoying the process.
Firstly I paid visits to my relatives in Chernivtsi and Cherkasy. Spending some time with family inspired me even more and on my arrival to Kyiv I was firmly determined to arrange not less than “intellectual mini-retirement” for myself.
The first thing I did was prepaid everyday swimming pool attendance and set up alarm clock for 5am. Every next day I got up early, made 30-40 minutes of yoga and went to swimming pool. After three days of such morning routines I decided that I wanted to stick to it at working days as well. The reason for this is that by 10am I felt incredibly well with great sense of accomplishment and the rest of the day was like a phoenix song. Conscious physical activity indeed provokes the power of mind and thought. In the following days I caught up with my Spanish podcasts, finished a couple of pending books and audiobooks, organized my musical collection in Songbird, and met with friends.
