#FBF Adventure Re-cap: Ukraine Part I

Happy Friday! Hope you all have some fun Fourth of July plans awaiting you this weekend. We'll be heading off to Colorado for the weekend, which I'll be sure to re-cap here next week.

On a recent road trip I took, I was chatting with my sister-in-law about my adventures and this whole blogging thing. She encouraged me a) to start a blog and b) to share my adventure experiences with others. Really, credit goes out to her for making me actually start this blog (thanks, Amanda!).

With that being said, I thought it might be fun to use Friday's to flashback to some of my trips I've taken over the years from overseas to over state borders and everything in between. In many cases these trips are going back several years so I'll do my best to recount not only the memories but any suggestions and tips I picked up along the way. As we catch up in time, hopefully I'll get better at it.

Without further ado, I thought I'd kickoff this first #FBF Adventure Re-cap with my first major trip:

Ukraine.

Where I caught the traveling bug. I was lucky enough to have my own personal tour guide, a dear friend from high school.

Highlights:

• Words to know: Hello/Prevet (pronounced pre-vee-et). Toilet/Toilet (pronounced toi-lee-et). Thank you/Spasiba (pron. spa-see-ba). Please/Pajalusta (pron. pa-jal-oo-sta). Yes/Da and No/Nyet (pron. knee-yet).
• In Ukraine you won't find a lot of English speakers, so getting around may prove challenging. If you don't have a personal guide, I'd definitely suggest a Russian or Ukrainian dictionary (though I'm really not sure how well those work). If you do decide to go the dictionary route, pay attention to which part of the country you are visiting. Western Ukraine speaks Russian, Eastern speaks Ukrainian. Apparently it's quite the internal political struggle.
• Kiev- the country's capital

• Black bread. Get yourself some! I still crave this almost 10 years later.
• The food and hospitality there at the time were unmatched. They thoroughly welcome you into their home and show you the best of their country culture and cuisine. I of course was lucky to get a different home-cooked meal every night I was there, so my experience may be a bit bias.
• Lviv- a super cute and picturesque little town in the East of Ukraine complete with cobblestone walkways, quaint little coffee shops and surprisingly, amazing sushi!

• The windows don't have screens (remember, this was my first introduction to non-American customs). Though I've been told this NEVER happens, don't be surprised if a bird flies through your window. Yes this happened. No it didn't poo everywhere, luckily! Yes we chased it back out the window with a stick after first completely freaking out and locking ourselves outside of the room while we nervously watched it fly around the room for what seemed like five minutes. Good times.
• Touring and walking the cities, buildings, churches, etc. are always a thing to do on my list and never disappoint.

A more modern Eastern Orthodox church

An old Eastern Orthodox church

Tip: There aren't really any public restrooms, and if you find one, be sure to have spare change. They charge you. This is common in many of the Eastern European cities we visited.

Tip #2: When traveling abroad [this is important!] always ask for water with NO "gas." Gas water is basically mineral carbonated water. It's all the rage in Europe. I'm warning you, don't be fooled! You'll thank me later.