Mail 16 - June 13th
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Mail 16 - June 13th |
June 13
Last night we ditched the Potato House in favor of trying an authentic Ukrainian restaurant. It is called (Sorry, Lena - here comes the butchering) "Paschata Hata" which loosley translates to "Fat Belly Hut". Yes, very fat today! You enter a large, cafeteria, and approach a big sink with hot water and soap for mandatory hand washing. Great idea! You then pick up a tray and begin winding through the line. There are at least 10 kinds of salads; traditional Russian and Ukrainian (Olivier, Herrings-in-a-fur-coat, cabbage, beet, carrot) and Greek salad, which is very popular here. Next are the compote teas, chai, juices and gelled fruits. On to hot dishes such as pelmeni, vereniki, galupsi, shishkebab, blini, borsch, fish chowder, chicken and rice soups, rice pilaf, 20 kids of potatoes and 10 kinds of turnips and cabbage, chicken Kiev, lamb roast, bbq-style ribs, fried fish, meatballs and other unkowns. :-) Next are the sweet blinis with fruits and Nutella, jams and custards. Sweet curd cakes, filled dumplings and sugary buns, all served with sour cream. A glass case full of cold pastries; chocolate, cherry, lemon, _mocha, orange and hazelnut are popular, then to milk, juice, sodas, wine, beer, kvac, vodka and cocktails. You just fill up your tray, and they charge by the plateload. Very cheap and it was great!
Tonight we are treating ourselves and going to a fancier place, for one of our last nights in Kiev. It is called "Taras" after a famous citizen of Kiev. It is an indoor/outdoor restaurant in the central botanical gardens. It is rather reminiscent of Tavern on the Green - same beautiful presentation. It is surrounded by a gorgeous garden, which includes a play structure, pony rides, electric car rentals and a wading fountain. The foods are traditional Russian and Ukrainian, but it prides itself on American style portions (meaning large) and service (meaning fast). It is spotlessly clean, with fancy bathrooms and gleaming china. It also has American prices, but that's not too bad, considering how inexpensive everything else here is. All the flowers are in bloom right now, and the peonies and asters are incredible. I am looking forward to our evening out. Tomorrow we are going to the catacombs, and to do a quick bit of last minute shopping. Tuesday we spend at the US Embassy, preparing to leave at 3 am Wednesday. The Embassy process is our only remaining adoption-related work here. Now that it is almost over, I feel like we just got here, and it is hard to remember how cranky, crabby, frustrated and anxious I was two weeks ago. It isn't however, hard to remember how smelly I was, because I still am. I guess I'm getting used to it, so I feel for Granny & Pappy picking us up at the airport!
Lots of love to all - Liz