Wandered around the city again; always something new to see. Nice little park with statues of two guys, one holding what looks like a shot glass. Famous Rusyns??
There are many nice things about Ukraine; unfortunately, Ukraine also has it's share of pigs. Vandalized park benches are all too common. Also piles of trash in places. Because of the economy, and corruption, the government doesn't have the funds to maintain things they way they would like.
I came across the Zakarpattia Oblast Art Museum, named in honor of Bokshai. The museum is closed on Mondays; I'll have to remember to come back.
This is a school built in 1904. My grandfather had graduated from the Gymnasium, and was attending the Seminary in Uzhgorod when the First World War started. He quit school to become a Cavalry Lieutenant in the Austro-Hungarian Army. Back then "seminary" could mean either a school to study for the priesthood, or a teachers' college, so I'm not sure which my grandfather was studying for. But it is possible he may have studied in this building.
If I had a telephoto lens, I would have a better shot, but here is a workman applying a coat of stucco to a building:
Some architecturally interesting buildings:
I found a neat little park, Is this an abstract sculpture of a horse, or children's playground equipment?!?! Very unique!
Came upon an old cemetery, and this shrine. Don't know who this represents:
The memorial to the Soviet soldiers who died liberating Uzhgorod from the Nazis. Judging by all the graves and plaques commemorating the dead, there must have been hundreds and hundreds of Soviet soldiers who died in battle here.
Putin claims that there is much ethnic hatred by Western Ukrainians for Russian speakers; that Western Ukrainians want to exterminate Russian speakers. If that were true, why are there fresh flowers at the memorial to Russian soldiers in Uzhgorod?????
Back at Klara's, Ivan had been busy preparing vegetable seeds for next year. He was picking and storing seeds from carrots, beets, parsley, etc.. Everything in the garden is grown from their own seeds, except for cabbage. Why do they buy cabbage seed instead of harvesting their own seed?? I don't know.
Klara was putting beans in jars for storage. I think these might be some kind of pinto bean. She added basil leaves and peppercorns to the jars of beans, then sealed the jars with newspaper secured with string. Why the basil and pepper??? Is it for insects??
One of the cats, Minya, caught a mouse. I had a tough time getting a photo; Minya kept running away from me, afraid I would take her prize.
Little kitty Shunya playing:
Went back into town to the LT Language School. I arrived in town early, so I decided to try to find the new church Father Banik serves at. It is a small wooden church, built without nails, on Peremuha Street.
The church is beside an old cemetery, with really ancient looking trees.
Hurrying from the church to the language school, I arrived just in time for the adult class. This was a fun class; the students were a lady lawyer, an IT professional, a woman doing internship to become a family doctor, and a woman pharmacist. The teacher was a young woman who had lived in Miami Florida for five years, married to an American, now divorced. She said that she learned English by watching American reality shows! The class was pretty interesting; it was about "emotions". Everyone had to talk about: what makes you happy, proud, angry, jealous, etc, etc, etc. I learned that in Ukrainian there are two words for "jealousy", for "white jealousy" and "black jealousy". "Black jealousy", you really hate someone because they have something better than you. "White jealousy" is like I were to say to you "You speak English so well! I'm jealous!". You really don't have any negative feelings toward the other person.
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By the time classes were over, the marshrutka buses had stopped running. Since there was no hurry to get back, I decided to go to Anatole's restaurant, Egan's Irish Pub, get something to eat, and get a taxi back to Dravtsi. At Egan's, I ordered Pizza Egan. Anatole claims to have the best pizza in Uzhgorod. He might be right; I would definitely rate their pizza among the top five I've ever eaten! Very thin crust, with everything on it. The cost - $5!! In America, this would have easily been $10 - $15 USD! I could only eat half, took the rest home. Since the marshrutkas were done for the night, I took a taxi home. The cost - about $2.50.
That's all, folks!! More adventures tomorrow!!!
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