Yesterday we went over to Eric and Lauren's for lunch and then we watched the final of the French Open Tennis. I actually had to stand up at one point during the final and walk around because I was going to sleep. That, and I had a bad cramp in my thigh (need more potassium - oranges and bananas, plus a lot more water - I'm a bit dehydrated).
We went over to the train station about an hour early. Our luggage was in the "kamera", or storage area, and Mel needed to get it out. We came back with a lot more than we left with again. Some of the weight is books and Sunday School materials I'll use in the fall, some is vitamins and minerals, some is a new pair of shoes and a couple or three new blouses. It adds up quickly.
Finally we got everything under the train tracks, through the passage to the platform we needed, up the stairs again, and discovered we were at the totally wrong end of the train. No fear! We just hauled it all down the platform 10 wagon lengths!
We climbed on board (yes it is a climb, you climb up 3 steps to the floor of the wagon - 3 steps that are almost perpendicular like a ladder) and dragged the bags down the length of the wagon to our coupe'. They have the sheets and towel already set out now, waiting for you get to on board. This is a new thing - in the past we had to wait until the attendant arrived, took our tickets, asked if we wanted sheets, we paid for them and then he/she brought them back sometime later. Now you pay for them when you buy the tickets. Much easier and simpler. I got my sheets out and immediately made my bunk. To be honest, I'm not sure when Mel made his. After the train started and the younger attendant had taken our tickets, he went down to the attendants coupe' and asked for a cup of coffee. I laid down and was sound asleep before he got back - I don't even remember putting my head on the pillow! I woke up briefly when the attendant brought his coffee - raised my head, saw a woman's rear end pointed toward me as she bent to put the coffee on the little table, and then I was asleep again. Whew! Another first - going to sleep immediately on the train - we weren't even out of Kiev yet!
I woke up several times during the night. Once with another cramp in my thigh - I stood there 'cursing' the heat (the old "traveling ovens" were in effect again) and wishing I had some pickle juice and a whole lot more water to drink. It finally went away, but all day long my legs have both been 'on the verge' of having another cramp. I've drinking lots of water and eating some salty food, too, and of course, an orange or two....
I was awake before 5 AM. Uh oh. Now at 8:45 tonight I'm wiped out again. I'll go to bed pretty soon. Hopefully I'll get back into a normal sleep rhythm soon.
Ukraine is putting on quite a show right now. The views from the train windows were incredibly beautiful. Spring and early summer are the best times of year to be here. Green fields, wild flowers (orange poppies, pale blue flax, a dark purple flower similar to a wild delphinium, and more flowers in yellows, whites and of course, beautiful wild pink roses!) and green deciduous trees, including Russian Olives - dozens of them. Some of the fields have already been harvested - I think that may have been hay - I'm pretty sure it is not time for the winter wheat yet. We saw oats for sure, sunflowers not blooming yet, and the very beginning of rape seed (canola oil) coming into bloom. There was winter wheat out there, and rye and buckwheat not in bloom yet. Plus many, many private gardens - onions, potatoes, squashes of different sorts, and so forth. Cows - lots and lots of cows, but not like in America - these cows are staked, not free range. Goats. Geese. Ukraine at her best, and oh so beautiful!!
So, I'm missing Colorado - no doubt about that. I will always miss Colorado! But it was a gift from God to see Ukraine so beautiful right now.
Now - time to check and see if a photo I took turned out good before my battery died.
Wow - check out that blue sky! This is also the time of year for blue skies here. We even saw some thunderheads yesterday in Kiev as we were getting ready to get on the train.
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