Happy Birthday Ukraine ..... and other celebration excuses to travel.

Thanks James.

Yes, Happy Independence Day to them. We were in Kyiv for Defender of Ukraine Day on October 14 2019 and it was quite something to get caught up in the energy of these types of events.

Although I respect their right to celebrate whatever pleases them, I'm a little reserved in my enthusiasm for Independence Day. I see a fair number of OUN flags.

EDIT: Ive watched parts of the videos again, and to be fair, the flags are mostly OUN-M.

The extreme right doesn't light my fire either. I know a few Ukrainians, some civilian, some military, a couple government and not one has any taste for those people. But like most fringes a greater percentage shows up and they like their banners. I don't judge as its a messy complicated situation and I don't think I could come to a great conclusion without being a lot better educated on the subject, history and culture. Some things are best observed and then reflected upon. But isn't that one of the values of travel? Being exposed to just how complicated the world is and then going home and considering what you have seen relative to what you live? Either way, the point is experiencing a culture beyond a coffee shop experience. ...

The Ukraine driver of the van from the Airport to our apartment on Khreshchatyk turned out to be quite a find. We used him to get us up to Mezhyhirya, and to navigate entry. Turns out he's also a conflict journalist, and has been in and out of the conflict zone in the east a number of times. He has a definite indignancy about the state of affairs in the country, specifically with the Russians in the east, Ukraine political leaders and the associated apparent corruption, and more specifically with the various recent Presidents. His sense of right and wrong is spot on. I dont know why, but I found it all to be quite amazing to witness.

Peter that's what I have found time and time again over the years. I didn’t really mean the post to be political or exclusively about Ukraine, it was just an excuse to encourage the benefits of traveling over the holidays. But I will say that the people and the circumstances that existed when I first arrived resulted in it becoming the focus of a lot of my time, efforts, and money. None of which I regret.

James,
Thanks for the interesting information.

We have visited Ukraine twice, Kiev in 2011 and Odessa and Sevastopol in 2014. Now Sevastopol has been stolen by Russia.

All the Ukrainians that we met were disgusted with all their politicians. In Odessa and Sevastopol, we met a mix of people, some favoring Russia, others not at all. In Kiev, we didn't meet any favoring unity with Russia. Many said they would fight and die before becoming part of Russian again.

Our tour company arranged for us to have an evening meal with a Ukrainian family. It was wonderful as was the meal. A grandmother and her granddaughter were there. Her son had died from working on the Chernobyl cleanup. She told us a lot about that incident and also how the KGB in the former Soviet Union always knew more about your family than you did. She was a language expert and spoke Spanish as well as German and English. She put in to go to Cuba as a translator. The KGB refused her visa because her father had been captured by the Germans in WWII. They didn't trust any POWs that were captured by Germany.

They told us that the population was very angry when the government hid the Chernobyl radiation that covered much of Ukraine and Belarus. There were parades with children and soldiers marching exposed to the radiation. Also, once the incident finally was exposed their family decided to evacuate to the Black Sea area. They had to throw away the clothes that they wore and wear booties over their shoes.

Another story they told us was something that I hadn't read about WWII. Apparently, the Germans, when they occupied Ukraine, they shipped hundreds of freight trains loaded with Ukrainian topsoil back to Germany. That really made them angry.

I have never been anyplace with a more twisted or dreadful history. The old damage lingers today and they have a knack of creating new damage; and they seem to know it and dont fool themselves about it. Still, they are proud, love their land, and dream for something better. I think I would have given up decades ago. Pretty admirable. I always have a good time in Kyiv. Its a cheap flight from Budapest so I get there somewhat often. Just before COVID cheap flights from Odesa to Budapest started. No better place on a Friday or Saturday evening ... even for an old fart like me. Lviv even has some international flights now and no trip to Eastern Europe is complete without Lviv. My Fall fishing trip was going to be in a small town Northwest of Chernivtsi. Was really looking forward to it, but COVID killed that; so going to Valbone instead.