Paul & Lauren’s Travels

To celebrate our anniversary we decided to have a week in Istanbul.  Upon our arrival it did not disappoint.  Our hotel room has a beautiful view of the Marmara Sea and a historic Blue Mosque.   We will wake to the call of prayer each morning.    We are looking forward to the interesting and exciting experiences this week has to offer (including great food).

After a spectacular Christmas eve with friends, on Christmas day it snowed! We could not have asked for a better Christmas.

Welcome to the flower market in Lviv.  Note the enthusiastic sales pitch… scowl and hold flowers.  So wandering around with Liz and Reece I found a lovely bunch of flowers.  You will have to have a look at Laurens Blog for the rest of the story.  Lviv, land of the sales scowl.

What better way to show Liz and Reece around Ukraine than to take them to Lviv for the weekend.  We explored markets around town.  This one was a book market.  A market is not a market with out a monument.

We were so excited to have Paul’s Mum and Dad visit for two weeks.  We were looking forward to first hugs at the ariport and the tears to follow.  It has been such a pleasure to have Liz and Reece here.  To spend time with us and to be a part of our life here in Kiev.  They were very brave as they explored and negotiated their way around Kiev while we were working.  Their timing was impeccable as they arrived for the international food night at school (the highlight of the year).

Blaine came to visit and the Swanies were united once more.  One glorious week of company and food from home… Tim Tams and Daralea Licorice.  It was great to have Blaine stay with us.  He even joined us in the Kiev experience of no hot water.  We had a fun week just hanging out.  On the 12th of October, Blaine continued on his trip.

It seems like it was yesterday; it was September, our street was completely dug up and all the water pipes replaced. But that was last year, and this is now. I was willing to give the local water department credit for upgrading our local infrastructure last year, but as they’ve seen fit to completely repeat the exercise this year it’s time for a lampooning. Dunderheads! Over a month without hot water and note the the safety measures … that caution tape ought to keep Grandma and her pooch from tumbling into the abyss.

After a couple of days in Berlin we have now arrived home to Kiev. It may be chaotic and disfunctional here but at least we can enjoy a short break from the rigours of traveling before we start work on Monday. Maybe now the bank balance can stop taking a Euro beating as well!

You can view all the posts from our trip by clicking on the European Holiday category on the right hand side of this page.

The highlight of our late afternoon tour was to see The Vatican and the Basilica. It really was spectacular (seems to be quite a trend for this trip).

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