Weekend Update

Saturday June 16, 2007

6 days till Alexander's release

 

We are back in Ukraine!

 

We were up at 5 to get our shuttle to the airport (no public transport that early on a Saturday) Got in and checked in—good thing. We were the last people to get seat assignments--- they ended up bumping a BUNCH of people on the flight from Munich to Vienna. We grabbed one last Bavarian breakfast and boarded the plane for the short hop to Vienna. We only had 30 minutes to get to the Vienna to Donetsk flight and we ran to get there--- we had to go through passport control and security (picking the slowest line each time) but we made it---barely. Vienna to Donetsk is a 2 hour flight (about from Cincinnati to New York) We were served a HOT meal (Chicken breast, mashed potatoes, spinach, fresh hot rolls, and chocolate mousse—and a Bier).. Hey US carriers take note--- we'll fly Austrian Airlines next time we have a choice, the food was great and the customer service was the best we have ever experienced!

 

Sasha, the driver, was there to meet us after we were (once again) the last people through immigrations entering Ukraine--- it's just funny by now--- no longer annoying. It's about a 2 hour car ride from the airport to Slov'yansk. We got to the hotel and got checked in—we no longer have our big wonderful room--- it's still nice by Ukraine standards, but kinda like a Motel 6 in the US. (we are going to try to get our big room back tomorrow—it's worth the extra $8 a night).

 

We had Sasha wait for us and take us to the orphanage to see Alexander. He was very happy (and I think a little surprised to see us). We got him dressed and headed outside--- he did not want to walk—he wanted mama to carry him EVERYWHERE! I ran to the 7-11 (joke) and got Ice Cream for him and all the kids in his group (our return to Ukraine was also our return to hot weather --- we passed a digital thermometer that said 41c—not sure it's really that hot--- but close). I also picked up a meat stick and some pop. Alexander went back and forth between the ice cream and meat stick (YUMMY) He prefers not to swallow his food right away. Better to savor the flavor a bit longer (and the low tone in kids with DS). No Stimpy today so he had to eat everything--- no problemo for him---

 

We walked (well Mary and I walked, Price Alexander was carried) around the grounds and we stopped to pick (and eat) cherries, smell the blue spruce and eat some more cherries. We were playing on the train when a family from Italy and their translator came in. We said hi and they went in to get their soon-to-be daughter. I guess we will be spending time with them for these next few days as play space is quite limited outside.

 

Too soon it was time to leave and we promised that we'd be back zaftra (tomorrow).

 

The Italians got their cab—we walked and got our trolley-bus--- it's a VERY different world from Germany. Nowhere is this more visible than on public transportation. In Germany everything is spotless, runs on time, is air-conditioned , is wonderfully comfortable and everyone is respectfully quiet. Here—it gets you from one place to another sooner or later—usually-- and the sweaty, smelly mass of humanity is busy yelling to and at each other. It's not bad—just different and you really need to adjust your attitude to keep from getting grouchy.

 

We stopped at the supermarket for supplies ($30 for enough food to get us through the next several days--- and it was just a little bit more than our breakfast at the airport in Munich.) Loaded down with bottled water, juice, pop, fruit, maslo, yogurt, cereal, and milk, we opted for a cab back to the hotel for $1.

 

It's Saturday night and we won't go out to dinner tonight (it's the one night we keep a low profile as not to provoke the intoxicated local teenagers). We got some chicken breasts and hot dogs in a blanket from the grocery.

 

8:50 and we are zapped---

 

 

nighty, night

 

 

Jim and Mary

 

 

Friday June 15, 2007

7 days till Alexander's release

 

Guten Tag from Erding, Deutschland!!

 

We almost did not make it here—it seems there is a BIG transportation convention in Munich and our usual hotel was booked (as was nearly everything else that the info desk at the airport could find) "nearly" was the key word as they were able to find us a nice room above a car dealership in Altenerding. Not the quaint surroundings we were hoping for, but it's a room with a w.c. ensuite--- Better than the airport which is where we thought we may end up sleeping. They do NOT have internet here so posting will have to wait til we get back to Ukraine. (how strange does that sound?!??!!??)

 

Wednesday we got the bus from the airport to the city center and transferred to our hotel. We made our appointment for the tour of the brewery for 6pm.

 

We took a cab to the Erdinger brewery and joined our tour. We expected to tour in German, but ended up with a bus-full of people from the BIG convention. They broke us into two groups—our group; full of Poles, French and Italians, all decided on English. YAY!! We will finally get to do the tour in our native tongue.

 

It was a great tour and weisswurst, pretzels and beer (it IS a brewery tour) afterward… We sat with a guy from Poland--- we helped with his English and he with our Russian. It was a nice time.

 

We were going to walk back into Erding (5 km or so) and grab the S-bahn one stop to Altenerding—we got as far and the gas station and decided to stop in for a Mezzo Mix and a snack (we had not had a "real meal" all day.) and asked the clerk to call us a cab (in
"perfect German" hehehehehe) We were shocked by the prompt service in the shop and by the cab driver—It really hit us how slow and uncaring the service is in Ukraine!

 

Thursday we caught the S-bahn into Munich and got to Marienplatz just in time for Mass at St Peters (I think Pope Benedict's home Kirche) It was a wonderfully orthodox service.

 

We walked over to Hofbrauhaus after Mass for a beer and some obatzer. YUM!

 

We then hopped the subway to Englisher Garten (The HUGE park in the city center)  where we walked and walked and walked… We stopped by the Chinese tower for lunch. We then sat with our feet in the river and fed the ducks what was left of our "pretzel as big as your head"

 

--- random thought. Are there any American's left in America? We usually come over here off-season and we see very few American's… This time they are everywhere. There is more English spoken in Hofbrauhaus, Munich than in the one in Vegas. We met Kevin from Cincinnati (mariemont) and his wife. We ran into them again as we were squatting on an English tour in the Englisher Garten—THEN we ran into a guy from St Bernard (also Cincinnati) Walking through the park---freaky.

 

 

It's 5:30 and we have tired feet. Time to grab the S-bahn back to Erding. We got a Doenner kebab and a pop and set off back to the hotel. There is a McDonalds by the hotel and we decided to stop in and check it out (I was parched and really wanted a pop or something) I was joking that it would be swell if they had a "beverage bar" like back home and we could actually get free refills (we have never seen that in Europe before). THEY DO HAVE A "BEVERAGE BAR" WITH FREE REFILLS!!! WOW that is CRAZY! They also have McTacos! We have been really hungry for Mexican food since we left. We got a taco and grabbed a table next to the bev-bar. Hummmmmm the taco--- it was a pita with a hambuger patty some lettuce and a bit of something like a taco sauce. It was okay, but it was not a taco. After 12 small coke-fanta mixes, we went home and crashed, still really hungry for some Mexican food.

 

Friday! Our last day of vacation. Today we wanted to go to the spa and really had no other plans. We decided to see if we could rent some bikes and go out exploring.. (the hotel people looked at us like we were crazy – and maybe we are. Mary has not been on a bike since she was 14--- I rode a bit in Vegas but really not much since Jr High.) You know the old saying--- just like riding a bike--- we rented a couple of 21 speeds for the day and just like we've been riding every day of our lives we were off. What a wonderful, liberating feeling! We rode into Erding, for a typical Bavarian breakfast (weisswurst, pretzel and a weiss beer) and headed off to tour the area---we stopped off at several churches and rode through the park and small zoo. Then we peddled to the spa. We opted to leave the suits on (and all of Europe is sleeping better because of it) and just go to the play area--- we swam and got to be among the first to experience "galaxy"—Europe's largest collection of waterslides. We took it easy and went only on the slides for kids 10 and unter. But even those were some pretty serious slides including water "rollercoasters" that shoot you uphill as well as down and we rode the longest slide in Europe---lots of fun……. Back to peddling—we toured a bit more and after 35kilometers we dropped off the bikes and hopped the S-bahn into Erding for dinner… Then, as the Sir Douglas Quintet said---"The Rains Came". We were forced to catch a cab back to Altenerding and the hotel.

 

We leave for the airport tomorrow morning at 6am—we'll be back in Slov'yansk in time for our afternoon visit Saturday and after that we'll get to the internet. We can't wait to see Daniil/Alex tomorrow!

 

 

PEACE.

 

 

Jim and Mary