Drevyev

While I've talked about the problems of apartment living, I didn't talk about the solution, which the locals were very keen on. The solution was to go to the country. We managed to go about an hour out of town for half a day to this monastery (Univ Monastery), which was wonderful. For once we took for granted that the kids could run yards and yards without supervision--on *grass*. Beyond what you see in the picture, there were only more farms.

Pretty much everyone we met in Ukraine had 1) relatives in the country, or 2) favorite spots in the country, where the visited every summer. One family we knew went to the ponds outside of town on almost a weekly basis during the summer. Others would visit parents in the country, drop of the kids, and come back to get them in a couple weeks. A guy who worked at my university (UCU) heard that I hadn't been to the Carpathian mountains. He sounded sad, but said, "Next time you'll come to teach for one month and rest in the Carpathians two months." Everyone always sounded like they had the time of their lives in the country.

One regret I have is not taking advantage of "green tourism" in Ukraine. This movement, now occurring all over the world, is tourism that circumvents big business. You go to the country and stay and individuals' houses. It is similar to bed & breakfasts in the US, though in Ukraine I'm not sure you get much more. However, you stay with real village-folk who know the countryside, keep family farms, and know all the old songs, stories, and recipies. And it's around $10-15/night.

Check out the link on the side to Green Tourism in Ukraine. You might be taken by the views alone, as I was. It looks like Switzerland probably did about 100 years ago.