Bazaar and Nevitski Castle

Friday - Went to one of the bazaars in Uzhgorod with Marta and Klara. They said that there are 5 or 6 bazaars in the city, and just about anything you want is sold there. They said that the prices are about half the price as in stores. I saw men's silk suits selling for about $100 US; they looked to be pretty good quality. I noticed that a lot were made in Turkey.

I found out that some shop owners don't want their pictures taken, for one reason or another. I saw a shop owner playing chess with another man, I took his photo, he got mad and made me delete it. Maybe he was a black marketeer or a contrabandist????? Aileen told me that since the border with Slovakia and the European Union is only a mile away, there is a lot of smuggling, especially smuggling cigarettes from Ukraine into Slovakia. She said recently one man was caught with a tunnel he had dug through to Slovakia.
I didn't see anything I wanted at the bazaar, except for some embroidered rushniks and table-cloths. The prices seemed reasonable, but I want to compare before I buy any.

When we got home to Klara's, Katya was waiting. We had lunch, a potato and bean soup, mashed potatoes, meats, and bread. Ivan had killed another chicken for soup, and Katya and I had fried chicken legs (I think from this chicken). We had a second soup, I don't know what it's called, but it had potatoes and pickles in it. Had a slight sour taste; not bad.

Klara had to go to church for a Molitva. Misha was in the mountains on business, and Miraslava was in Mukachevo doing a wedding, so I looked after Katya while Klara was at church. We went to Baranintsi to her home, where we saw her brother Sasha. Watched Discovery Channel and drank cherry kompote. Then went back to Dravtsi to Marta's home, where we saw Misha, his daughters Natalya and Marta, Anichka, and Pavlo. Natalya was taking Anichka to friends birthday party. On way home, stopped at mini-mart for ice cream. Klara got home from Molitva about 8:30, and we had more food.
Saturday. Alla came to pick me up. We drove into the city to pick up Aileen at the Sokolov house, then went to the Mir Cafe, a pizza cafe Anatol owns.

Had cake baked by Alla.  Then we went by car to the ruins of the Nevetski Castle. Along the way we had to stop and let a herd of cows pass by.

 The road to the castle is lined with old growth forest, and very steep hillsides. In Soviet times there was a tourist hotel at the castle, but after collapse of Soviet Union, was abandoned (??) but now new private owners are rebuilding.  Walking along the paths, a snake slithered right past Alla and Aileen without them seeing it till I yelled to them.

(Panoramic view from castle)

(snake)

After viewing the castle, we went down to a little park beside the Uzh River. The river is shallow, but there is a dam, and behind the dam the water is maybe 4 feet deep. People fish and swim in the river in summer, and picnic along the banks. Alla and Aileen found and picked wild jasmine, to make jasmine tea.

We went back to Uzhgorod for more site-seeing. Stopped at a little cafe for soup; I had borsch. Then we found several souvenir shops selling rushniks at a pretty good price. Walked along the Uzh River; there is a tree lined pathway about 2 miles long, lined with "Lipa" trees. I still don't know what they are in English, but this is supposed to be the largest collection of Lipa in Europe. Saw statue of Voloshin, Aileen told me that the statue was done by one of her art teachers.

Also saw the tallest building in Uzhgorod. I was told it was the favorite place for Uzhgorod's many suicides!

Went to the Panorama Cafe, a rooftop pub/cafe with very modern decor. Had ice cream; like all Ukrainian food I've seen so far, even the ice cream was beautifully garnished. They garnish every dish at every meal, no matter how simple.

Got back to Klara's, helped Ivan stake tomato plants, and picked cherries. Klara forced me to eat again, then after dinner I went out to the street to sit at the bus bench and listen to iPod. A couple of old men came by, and started talking to me. I have no idea what they were saying, I just kept nodding my head. They might have been Hungarians, or Romanians, or Gypsies. Klara said they weren't from Dravtsi.