Leaving Russia was nearly as complicated and stressful for me as entering it. Choosing to fly SAS instead of Aeroflot helped, but waiting for hours until the airline’s “desks” open (less than two hours before flight time) added to the anxiety. Without a seat assignment, and with two suitcases to manage (right arm bandaged up)…
After almost giving up the idea of finding a “real operating” church–devoted to God, not a museum, holding regular church services, and offering communion during mass–I stumbled upon one (correction…through God’s leading). While walking up Nevsky Prospekt on Sunday morning I heard bells ringing out to believers at the Catholic Church of St. Catherine (apparently…
I stood on the peripheral of the Palace Square, dressed warmly enough to ward off the freezing cold November temperatures. To my left, the Tsar’s Winter Palace; to my right, the triumphal arch. In the distance, I watched several horse and carriages line up to take tourists for a ride through the city. My mind…
Prior to my visit to Kyiv, I imagined 3 days in this beautiful city would be sufficient. It was not. With a limited travel itinerary for the Ukraine, I am happy I included Kyiv but sad to be leaving it. I need to return. Though smaller than London, Paris and Istanbul, the city of…
The highlight of my visit to Kyiv is Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra. After leaving the Park of Eternal Glory on the hillside bank of the Dnieper River, the shining golden domed monastery site, Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra. beckoned to us. Upon stepping through the gate, one could almost feel the quiet presence of all the saints that walked…
Daniel 2:21, “He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding;” By turning left outside the hotel-apartment in Kyiv and walking two blocks I found myself in the center of Ukraine’s bustling government and commerce area. Khreshchaty (translated “cross or…
Though numerous trains travel in every direction across the Ukraine, only one new, and very fast train travels directly from L’viv to Kyiv in the daytime, without stopping along the way. Desiring to see more of this area but discovering that driving on local roads marked only with occasional signs in Ukrainian was nearly impossible….
It was Saturday, my last full day in L’viv. I bemoaned the fact that I’d be on a train Sunday morning instead of enjoying one of the church services in L’viv. Earlier, the tour guide spoke of his attendance at a particular church service; the hotel reception person told of another. Many Ukrainians attend church services…
I’m here. If alive, my grandmother would be crying tears of joy that I valued her life and her family lineage so much that I traveled thousands of miles to learn more them. Though Berezhany (a town of less than 20,000) began almost a thousand years ago, life today isn’t too different. A local market…
When choosing L’Viv to begin a quest to discover my ancestry in the Ukraine, I failed to comprehend the difficulty in traveling less than 100 km (approximately 62 miles) to the small town of Berezhany. On a map, it looked relatively close to L’viv and easy to drive to. I didn’t anticipate the lack of…
