Ты неси меня река...

Another soundtrack post: 

The train creeps along the frozen Russian steppe. Peering through the window glistening with frost, I see a thick fog creeping at the base of the snow covered trees. I've gotten in the habit of picking a new book for each of my little trips and trying to finish it before the time is up. This time I was in a hurry and grabbed the first book on the 100 ruble shelf at Biblio Globus (a GIANT bookstore here that I love perusing)...this time it's the book Кому на руси жить хорошо (who lives well in Rus) by Nekrasov. Well, I think I bit off more than I can chew this time, it's poetry from the 19th century about the Russian peasantry. After about 100 pages I gave up, and started a conversation with the elderly gentleman sitting next to me, who ended up being much more interesting. Having moved to Siberia in the early 70's, Vladimir is a classic Russian muzhik with a barrel chest (and gut), gold teeth, and a handshake that tells of strength that was once there. This is his first trip outside of what is now Russia, so I help him fill out his border papers. 

Vladimir tells me that this -20 weather is nothing, and that I really ought to come out to Siberia to get a whiff of that -50 air...he says it will really clean my lungs of all that city air from Moscow. We covered a wide range of subjects besides the weather, covering the politics of Khruschev to Putin, the fine dishes that can be found in the Russian far east, and the true Russian cliches (according to Vladimir, bears really do walk the streets of his town). We talked long into the night, and only ended when we reached the border to Ukraine, after which we both went to sleep, rocked by the motion of the train. By the time I woke up, Vladimir was gone. I love these strangely detailed chance encounters you get to have on trips. 

I came to Kiev to visit the temple my church built there. Now, keep in mind that I have been wanting to visit this building for about 7 years now, but for one reason or another I hadn't made it yet. I followed pirate-map like instructions leading me through the city, and just when I was sure I had made a wrong turn somewhere, I saw it. 

This may just be another building to many of you, but to me this was a major event, and I don't think I'll ever forget this trip. It really was so beautiful.

 I spent the entire day there, and even ran into some old friends from Belarus. As evening was closing in, I finally took my leave to catch a train to Zaporizhye to visit some older friends there.

I love this picture. There's a tiny gap separating the more sultry version of our favorite childhood restaurant from the original. Clearly Ukraine is struggling with the whole intellectual property concept. I actually went inside, intending to try some - well, whatever McFoxy had to offer, but when I saw the food I really couldn't force myself to pay for it.

My trip to Zaporizhye was less inspiring than that to Kiev. Two of the men in my cabin ended up getting completely plastered, and getting into a fist fight about politics at 3 am. Also, one of them had a gun...it just might rank as the worst of any train ride I've ever taken.

But all things must pass, Zaporizhye was a blast - it was so great to see some of my old friends. Unfortunately I wasn't able to see everyone, but such is life I suppose. The whole trip ended with a Ukrainian feast, which I think is really the only way to end any trip to Ukraine.