Where are Ron and Ellen?
Summer 2002
Sunday 4 August 2002
Afton, Virginia, USA
Dear Friends and Family,
Following is a compilation of assorted messages received from Ron during the last week, the first from Kolomija, where he started and ended his bike trip through the Carpathians, the rest from Cernivitsi, a larger town just east of the Carpathians and north of the border between Romania and Ukraine. Ron and I had discussed via email the problem of trying to figure out place names, and he makes some comments on his difficulties.
Ron's birthday was 30 July. We created a special birthday greeting for him here in our dining room, and posted it on the Web for him. (We posted it and gave him the link, since even small attachments seem to bring his Web-based email to a complete halt.) All involved were very please with how well our greeting came out, and Ron thought it was wonderful as well. If you want to look at it, check out this link.
Here in Virginia, we continue to swelter in this unusually hot and dry summer. I hope that wherever you are reading this message you are cooler, and have adequate rain!
Love to all,
Hi Ellen,
I am back at the Computer Club in Kolomija. Seems like they were not closing after all. After some further discussion this guy typed on the screen in a top box something in Ukraine, and in the bottom box appeared something about 24 hr hours, so they are open all night.
So after riding the bike to my friends home to retrieve my day pack full of extra stuff, having a long dinner with them, including the traditional vodka, watching the news on TV, and trying to have a conversation with the use of phase books, theirs and mine, which didn't provide much conversation, I finally got back to the hotel and then the Computer Club. Maybe I will keep my normal hours tonight! and catch up on my email. But then I will leave late in the morning for my trip to Cernivci. I still have to pack also. So this means I will spend tomorrow night somewhere between here and there, and probably arrive in Cernivci on my birthday. Not actually the way I would like to spend it.
Another random piece of information: This link is an interesting web report about this area of Ukraine. Long but quite interesting.
Also, here is a page about Cernivci. Seems like it can be spelled Cernauti, Cernivci, Chernivtsi, Chernovits, Chernovitsy, Chernovitz, Chernovcy, Chernovtsy, Chernowitz, Czerniowce, Czernovitz, Czernowitz, and Tschernowitz.
I don't know how to solve the city name problem. I bought a regional map of the Ivano-Frankive'k Region (I think). It is all in Russian. Then I got the family in Kolomija to help me figure out the cities, taking the spelling from my Ukrainian map and writing the Ukrainian on the Russian map. The maps I brought with me that I downloaded from the Internet were useless. I couldn't get a copy of the next region, but maybe in Cernivci I can get one. Sure gets confusing!
Today I found a computer club and this afternoon in the heat am trying out their connection. Seems much faster than anything else I have tried in Ukraine.
Biked to Chernivtsi (Lonely Planet guide book spelling) or Cernici (my Ukrainian map spelling) on July 29th, about the same distance as to Kolomija, but without the long downhill, and not much of any uphills. Fully loaded though.
On my birthday I went to the fanciest restaurant listed in the Lonely Planet, the Maestro, on the patio overlooking the old Armenian Cathedral. I had something that could have been veal stuffed with chicken and cheese fried in some kind of pastry shell, a bowl of borsch (beet soup) and a large tomato and cucumber salad (finally got the mayo left off), and a bottle of mineral water. The bees and I enjoyed the birthday dinner very much.
Actually I tried to find the restaurant the night before and was caught in one of the most tremendous downpourings of rain that I have experienced. The roads had creeks flowing down both sides. Soaked, especially my shoes. There was lightning and thunder and most of the city seemed to have lost power. When I found the restaurant it was closed, probably because of the loss of power, and the other restaurants I found were open with candles but not serving any food because of the loss of power. Finally I found a store open and bought some bread, cheese, salami and yogurt for my dinner.
This is a bigger town than those I have been to yet, and not as attractive as some of the small places, but yet has more to explore. First night at Hotel Kyiv was more expensive and the facilities were worst than the Hotel Bukovina, where I moved on my birthday: $11 with private bath, hot water and a TV with multiple clear channels.
Watching the news is like working a puzzle. There was an air show either in Kiev or Lviv where more than 80 people were killed with a plane crashed. Any news at home about this? [Note from Ellen: I told Ron that this air show accident in Lviv had indeed been front page news here in the US.]
The main streets are cobblestone, with gaps between, and not very pleasant for bicycles. But I discovered on my walk that the side and back streets are paved and much more pleasant, so I will be able to explore by bike when I wish.
My plan is to spend a few days here (nice to have time to just waste) and then leave my bike and most of my stuff here, taking the day pack and going to Lviv for a few days.
It is still hot, and last night it rained again in the early evening. Is a pattern appearing? The evenings are still my favorite time to wander around.
Last night I ended up playing a game of pool. I guess this is something I will have to get Tom to teach me.
After several uneventful days of heat and rain in Chernivtsi I will probably bike tomorrow to Kamyanets-Podilsky where I have some contacts.
I found a fast food restaurant near my hotel where most people order chicken soup, with a half a boiled chicken in it. It has enough garlic in the soup and on the chicken to keep the vampires away for quite a while. Quite tasty.
Hot during the day, often rains in the late evening.
I have finally found what to use those tiny coins, usually 10 kopeks (100 = 1 hryvnia and 5 hryvnia = $1) - to pay the trolley fare which costs 40. about $.08 US.
They also have small buses (vans) like they have in Georgia, but I have not figured out the routes yet.
Just a short note to say that I am staying another day in a private home with CNN and a computer (but not internet). We are going to try to download my camera and put the pictures on some floppies I just bought at this internet cafe. I thought it was a computer store.
If successful, then at the next internet cafe I will try sending them home.
A bit cooler here today. Not much, but an improvement. Bearable vs unbearable. Last night I had a home cooked meal and took a picture of it for you. Hope it comes out well.
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Last updated: 27 August 2002