We have enjoyed Poland for a few days and especially the hospitality of the people from Poland. Thank you hotel Wiki! We wish your family and business a healthy future! Of course we wish everyone! Thank you very much for the hospitality, people from Poland.
And then really out of the European Union. Customs looked at our organized chaos well and wish us a safe journey!
We like to join in, because the roads are made of asphalt or sand and clay or everything together, full of big holes. Different road users also use the same road (pedestrians, bicycles, mopeds, goats, horses and cows with cattle farmers, dogs, cats, horses and cars, motorbikes, new and old cars and trucks) and each drives its own desired speed and direction. around the holes. We have to get used to it and we continue to drive quietly.
Because our entrance in Ukraine is late in the afternoon and we are not yet able to quickly read the Ukrainian alphabet, so not the nameplates either. We seek help from the navigation program, which shows a hotel nearby, villa Anna. Maybe we can stay there in the parking lot in Roadcapje? It turns out to be a hospital / nursing home on the spot. Sister Anna offers us a place in the garden of Villa Anna, which reminds us in terms of villa Kakelbont of Pipi Longstocking, and we feel saved! Because the coming darkness and transition to this new country is quite big.
Especially because just before the border crossing where we entered Ukraine, it is an area in Poland with many luxury holiday homes and hotels, because of the beautiful nature of the Carpathians it is a hiking and skiing area. This makes the contrast just on the other side of the border line, which has to do with economic crisis, much greater.
The next day the sun is shining and with good weather we drive deeper into Ukraine. We find a spot on a river, formerly a campsite, and we meet friendly, very hospitable people. The children make new friends by playing together! They can help to bring in the cow and we eat fresh cheese.
We spend the night at beautiful places along rivers, waterfalls, on top of a mountain ridge in the Ukrainian Karparts and then kilometers of corn fields. However, we see little wild, but some species of birds. O.a. in the mountains we wake up with the beautiful deep sound of ravens and the beating of woodpeckers, in the afternoon sun the sparrows and black / matted heads smile happily around us and in the late evening we are lulled to sleep by owls. However, these places are often difficult to drive. But did we mention that we take it easy?
In the cities we meet special, varied, hospitable families, where we can stay overnight with their couchesurfing and share the meal together. In this way we hear and see other stories and images of the Ukraine and we learn how traditional Ukrainian food tastes.
Sometimes we can deepen the conversations with a translation program on our telephone, or a Ukrainian friend who can speak a little more English and who then translate our conversation with only Ukrainian speaking people, live the technique and hand signals and the will to understand each other to meet!
One evening we drive into a village and we want to treat ourselves, we enter a bistro and we go for a quick dinner because we want to find a place to sleep before dark. We can already get some words so we can order a tasty potato dish and dumpling. At the table next to us is someone's birthday, the children play with each other and we congratulate them with their birthday. In Ukrainian and Dutch we sing, we dance together, talk and do not stop talking. We are offered a place to sleep and the next day we say goodbye to our new friends, still not talking about it.
We also meet a lot of people because, just like public transport buses, we have a yellow license plate, we are regularly stopped, to be able to ride. No problem! We drive in that direction. This is very cozy and enriches each other's worldview and language.
We also take a music teacher to the city of Bar. He invites us to listen to his music and suddenly we are sitting in a theater hall of a school and we can enjoy a beautiful private mini piano and accordion concert with vocals!
Even in places where we would not expect encounters, we meet beautiful and special people and a few moments later we are sitting together around a fire to roast our own caught fish.
The navigation regularly brings us to beautiful places. Because you can see that there has once been a campsite, in the places where campsites are indicated or the place where a castle has stood, there is still a ruin to be found. Sometimes there is nothing that looks like a place where we can stay overnight. When we ask if it is a problem when we stand next to the garden at a house in the neighborhood, we may stand in the garden. Again we experience that Ukrainian people are very hospitable and generous. Here, too, we share the meal together and we receive something tasty on the way. Thank you very much dear people in Ukraine! We gladly accept your example of hospitality and hope to pass this on to the world !! It is a treat to meet so many varied friendly people everywhere, for us and our girls!
We are by no means exhausted, just like in all the countries we enter, everything is just a tip of the country we see and experience. However, Ukraine is big, so we continue quietly through this country ...
Meanwhile it has really become autumn, also in terms of weather. We can fly and fly and we dress warmer. We enjoy the beautiful autumn colors of the leaves on the trees and blowing around. One of the apples! They are available here in all shapes and sizes. Thank many people from Ukraine for sharing your delicious apples with us.
In large parts of Ukraine it is an art for everyone to find a garbage can. Leaving the place in the natural environment somewhat cleaner than we find it has become a bigger challenge ... but that does not stop us from cleaning up the dirt.
Roadcap continues very quietly. Sometimes that wheel for wheel, sometimes even with the help of shelves, to bridge height difference and mud. Occasionally the scrub sheds along the sides. This leaves the necessary memories behind. What makes her think back to her adventures in the Ukrainian Carpathians. Now on the way to the Black Sea.
On our way to the black sea we see a completely different landscape than in the Carpathians. Vast fields with arable farming. And with stretched out we also mean very big! Fields on which in the summer the sunflowers, grain, maize and now white cabbages grow. At the houses outside the cities, we regularly see many hives. In markets, along the road and at home, we buy the delicious local products. Such as honey, pickled tomatoes and pickles.
Via couch surfing we arrive in the friendly village of Lehedzyne. Here we meet very cheerful, kind and creative villagers. We stay in a cozy house and together with the residents we are dancing in the garden in the morning. The weather is still so nice, that we even eat outside during the day and close the day by a fire. We get to know the history of yet another part of Ukraine. In the museum we learn about the daily life of the Trypillia culture, which 5000 built their fortresses in this neighborhood. We also meet the writers, makers and directors of the Ukrainian film "Чорний Козак" or "The Black Kozak". We sincerely hope that this film will become internationally known and we will have the chance to see the complete film. See for the preview: http://croganfilmworks.com/black-kozak.
The makers of this film also have an English version available for interested cinema owners! A special detail is that this film was made entirely by volunteers.
Besides the nice encounters with Ukrainian people, we also have friendly encounters with the animals. Very special is the encounter with a dog in this village. This dog chooses to come with us during our walks in the area. And sitting in the car he also finds no problem ... we think a little differently about that. Fortunately, "Batman" also feels at home with the residents of the house (including the cat)!
Besides that we get up dancing every day, we also celebrate Halloween and a birthday with a nice company !! What a treat!
Via a road with an increasingly better road surface we arrive in Odessa. Here one speaks mainly Russian. The girls watch their eyes with the many festive lights in the city, the cozy atmosphere and in the Gorsad park (city garden) we dance with the elderly inhabitants of this city on the folk songs that are sung during a public concert and get we are a waltz dance class from a woman in the 90 years who plays a ringing accordion.
We climb the stairs of Potemkin, which expands our view of the city. We do not only discover this illusion and inequality in buildings and architecture (such as the house with 1 wall), also in the division of the salary of the people.
And we stick our hands, put our feet and even take a dive in the black sea! And so we discover that we do not get black at all!
We stand with Roadcapje in different places on the beach and on a hill, from which we, from our bed, can look out over the Black Sea. Delicious!
In the meantime the night frost has really come. With the woolen blankets of the local market, the built-in underfloor heating and wood-burning stove, we warm it comfortably.
We follow the coast of the Black Sea towards the east and arrive at the mouth of the river Dnieper. We follow this steam upwards, eventually up to Dnipro. As mentioned earlier, the navigation system brings us to places where we have special meetings. This time we arrive in Mykolaiv (the shipbuilding town) at the marina and canoe association. Fortunately, we can also spend the night here. The next morning we meet the employees and publishers of a company that overhauls ship engines and we take a look in the workshop. You should definitely drink this meeting! Fortunately, we both have a driving license !! Because our body is not suitable for vodka as breakfast. Burp!
During our meetings it is nice to talk about the Netherlands, we are sometimes also a great opportunity for people to increase their practical experience in English speaking. In Mykolaiv we have an encounter where we can increase the practical experience in Dutch speaking. Perhaps there are people in the Netherlands who would like to help: who would want to speak Dutch with a Ukrainian who will soon live in Sliedrecht ?! Please contact us.
In addition to this encounter with the Dutch language, we come across a Dutch cheese shop chain, in which they also sell TonyChocolonely !!! It gives a very satisfying feeling when we can tell the seller that the maker of this chocolate is seeking slave-free chocolate !! And we were able to do the Sinterklaas purchase!
In the largest desert in Europe we arrive at Eurasian steppe. We sleep in front of the entrance, where it says that Santa is staying here. However, this man has unfortunately not arrived yet. On the steppe we slither through the mud and ice to Askania Nova Biosphere Reserve. In the beginning of dusk we trudge past the safari park where tropical animals are kept. In the dusk we see byzons and camels.
Via the village of Zmiivka, where we have been told that people with 18 different nationalities live together and live together, we drive to Nikopol. In Nikopol we are taken in tow by father and son of a cozy family. They show us the places where the Cossacks have been and the change of the Dnieper by reservoirs to collect electricity.
In addition to this fine family, we meet
their musical friends. Very cosy! We can be at the practice session of the band called: ИграяПаузы. This is amazing! A living room concert of a band with flute, violin, guitars and a dyke of voices, with international allure! We grant you a world tour of men !!
Check their music here: https://m.facebook.com/groups/1873926056257045 and invite them to a concert! They play with humor various styles such as reggae, rock, ska and folk!
During our many meetings, vodka drink and dinner is often offered to us. Some encounters can not be resisted: you want to do your shopping to relax with your family on the banks of the Dnieper. A friendly man insists that we come home with him and his family. He has arranged everything before we can thank and consider. And soon we are washed and with 10 man / woman / child at the table. Cozy, what a party !! After a warm night in a house sleeping, it is with a warm heart and tears say goodbye!
Along the way we have heard a lot about the former Cossacks. Now we are in the area where they have lived. In a fortress on the island of Chortytsja we met them in living bodies. They are still very combative and very skilled in the use of their various weapons!
We visit friends, in Zaporizhia (Запоріжжя), who have traveled with us in the Carpathians as hitchhikers. Through them we also come into contact with friends of friends. What makes us visit in another part of the city. While all the children (their, our and our neighbors) play wonderful games with each other, we also have beautiful encounters in which we inspire, amaze and motivate each other.
In the area where we are and all other border areas, the state of siege is declared and the messages become more and more exciting. Our plans to drive to Kazakhstan via Kharkov, through Russia, disappear like snow in the sun. Which, incidentally, does not apply to the snow that has fallen in the meantime!
We were able to make the choice to drive to Kiev quickly via Dnipro and to adjust our plans there. There, too, we meet very friendly and helpful people. Among other things, we visit the deepest underground station in the world, with so many long escalators, and the Majdan Nezalezhnosti.
Confidently and very gratefully, we leave Roadside in good hands behind ....
Thank you, very diverse inhabitants of Ukraine! The meeting with each of you is very special for us! We wish for all of you a healthy, peaceful, sustainable and prosperous future! We look forward to a healthy new meeting with you in the future !!
And then RoadKapje ... After defying cold, slipping in the mud, bouncing in potholes, bumping and maneuvering over the inequalities in roads, avoiding war zones, and border police .... She takes a while to rest. Washed and with a lot of air in the straps she is in a heated garage ...
With double feelings we let her take a rest ... and we boarded the plane. On the way to new adventures ...
Who has or knows where a lift stands that is no longer used ?! This aid would help a family, with a son who is unable to stand / walk, from the Ukrainian Carpathians.
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