L'viv, Ukraine - Day 43 : Someone's happy!

This video was taken at the rental apartment in L'viv, Ukraine. Needless to say, Isaac has been a happy camper all through this trip and has been adjusting better than we imagined.

L'viv, Ukraine - Day 42 : Toddler Menace

We are in the historic city of L'viv in Ukraine. The primary attraction is the old town dating to the 13th century - which has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. This is Ukraine's bible belt, choc-full of churches and cathedrals. After the 5th church we stopped counting.

We spent the morning shopping at the local market for basic provisions - a fascinating old-world experience that reminded us of what grocery shopping was like before the emergence of supermarkets. I will be uploading pictures to our Ukraine FB album.

We checked into our rental apartment - a lovingly renovated unit in a historic building.

An hour after settling into the apartment, we found our toddler scribbling on the wall with a permanent marker....which led to a rather embarrassing call to the owner.

And this after having dealt with another situation yesterday. During checkout from our Kyiv apartment, we were told that we had run up a 88 Grivna bill ($11)for a call to Stockholm. We denied the charge but T suspects that our son may have something to do with it :)

Odessa to Kyiv, Ukraine - Day 38 : Ukrainian Trains

I am finding out that trains in Ukraine can be very 'third world'. The toilets are unsanitary and cramped, I could smell second hand smoke through the air vents and they didn't have a restaurant car or meal services on an overnight train. At least on an Indian train, you will never be wanting for food or water.

We paid for a private'luxe' coupe but all there was to show for it were plastic plants (lots of them), formica coupe walls and depressing seat fabric. All night the train kept halting abruptly and then jerking forward. The only saving grace - Ukrainian trains run on time.

Black Sea - Day 35-37 : UKR Ferry from Istanbul to Odesa

I was expecting the worst of the 36 hr ferry ride from Istanbul to Odessa. Pictures of the 4 berth cabin on the UKR Ferry website didn't look very promising. And, I wasn't too thrilled that it was priced like a Carnival cruise ship but looked more like a freighter.

Much to our surprise, we got the entire cabin to ourselves which made the trip so much more bearable.



The furniture isn't the only thing that has not had a makeover sine the 1970s - the wait staff still have their Soviet-era steeliness. One morning T got scolded for arriving late for breakfast!