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Author Topic: The Die Is Cast  (Read 12069 times)

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Pkeel

  • Guest
The Die Is Cast
« on: April 13, 2013, 11:23:37 AM »
I am sitting in the airport waiting for my flight.

What is going through my head...

This is a long way to go for a first date.  I know I can chicken out and cancel. Just quit and go home.  Sure it would be a rotten thing to do, Elena is already on the train and is about 4 hours from Sevastopol, but I could.  If I did I would always wonder what might have been.  So... The die is cast.

Also, this is a WOVO trip, if you also go on this adventure, you will definitely start to rethink it. There is no surer way to know that you are meeting a stranger than this moment.  I have spent 4 months with emails and Skype and it is clear that I am going to meet somebody that may not be a stranger, but is somebody I do not know.

Yesterday when I warned Elena that I would be a mess when she meets me in Simferopol, she said not to worry. You have traveled so far to meet me. I hope she means it I will be finishing a 22 hour trip.

My next update will be after I meet her when I find the time to sit alone for a few minutes.

Pkeel

  • Guest
Re: The Die Is Cast
« Reply #1 on: April 15, 2013, 07:07:37 AM »
The ride from Simferopol is a blur.  Getting through Borisphol airport was very confusing.  It took me asking a few people to find out terminal b is a different building.

More later, Elena is getting ready for dinner.  So far very good! I am happy and so is Elena.

Pkeel

  • Guest
Re: The Die Is Cast
« Reply #2 on: April 15, 2013, 08:17:13 PM »
I flew out of Detroit into Amsterdam, which was very simple.  Finding the right gate in Amsterdam was very easy as well.  When I arrived at Borisphol airport I began immediately to have some difficulties.  In Borisphol airport you have to pass through immigration, this was relatively straight forward, but as soon as you walk through you are bombarded with taxi drivers offering you rides.  You are told you need to find Terminal B, but I had no idea where it was.  I did not have boarding passes or any idea of where I needed to go.  I wound up asking a lady at a counter if she could speak english, one of my few phrases in Russian, she smiled at me and told me something which I understood to mean a very little.  All I had to say was terminal B and she took me to the window and pointed outside to the big building with a B on it.  It is a short walk over and I found the ticketing agency etc.  I was all set.

I did not know what to expect on arrival at Simferopol, I expected to have my bags checked there, but I got off the plane and onto a bus (this is  the second flight I needed to get onto a bus for a ride to the terminal from the plane, and once I got on a bus to ride to the plane).  The bus drops you off at a small building with a baggage carousel and I joined the line waiting for bags.  I must have blended in pretty well as some man in Russian began asking me questions, he seemed a little angry when i used my second really good Russian phrase, "I don't Understand", but he turned to another person and asked her.  I got my bag off the carousel and walked through a small gate, again saying Nyet to the offers of a taxi.

As promised Elena was waiting for me with the interpreter.  I recognized her immediately.  My first impression was that she was prettier than I expected, her camera for Skype is not HD and she looked better than I expected.  We were greeted by the driver and I passed  my bags to him and we were off for the ride to Sevastopol.  The ride was about an hour and a half and we did not speak much.  Elena and I in the back seat with the Interpreter in the front.  It was night and raining so I did not see much of anything.  My impression was that there should be a few more street lights.

The driver and the interpreter tried to find a place where we could pick up some simple supplies for food, but everything was closed.  Elena and I went up to our apartment.  At this point I smelled terrible, I can't begin to figure out how many hours I actually spent in the same clothes, I left my house at 8:00 am Saturday to go to the airport and we got to the apartment about midnight on Sunday.

My first impression of people from Ukraine was in Borisphol waiting at the gate.  There was an older couple next to me on the seats, the man went to the coffee shop and came back with tea for his wife and what I think was a shot for himself, not vodka but something amber colored.  I noticed an attractive young blonde woman walking in what had to be 5 inch stiletto heels.  That is one thing I have definitely noticed, shoes!  Not something I paid any attention to in the USA, but here in Ukraine I am amazed at the shoes these women wear.  Elena and I walked all over Sevastopol yesterday, she wore heels all day.  I can't even begin to imagine how she manages with the uneven streets, the small holes and everything.  Sorry back to the pretty blonde, in the airplane she sat about two seats ahead of me, when it was time to get off the plane there were two large well built young men in the seats ahead of her.  One of the men struck up a conversation with her and I think asked her for her phone number, she declined with a smile and a shake of her head.  On first impression I would say that Ukraine men and women are simply just that, men and women.  I had been afraid of standing out and looking obviously an American, but really I should not have.

Our first night in the apartment, I was getting ready to take a shower and as I unpacked my bag I kept finding the gifts I had packed.  I started to laugh as I saw the stuff that I brought.  I asked Elena if she would like to see it and she said yes, so I gave to her some left handed pens I picked up on Amazon for her daughter, a tea cup and saucer for her mother, a jar of maple syrup for her, a package of maple candies, two jars of honey from my bees back home, and also the perfume I had purchased for her.  She was very pleased and used my Ipad to tell me she had some things for me and she would get them while I showered.

When I came out of the shower we sat at the kitchen table and she typed up an explanation of what she purchased, she gave to me some matroyshka dolls to represent my family, A dad with a daughter and a son.  They are sitting on the table next to my bed right now.  She also gave me a small box with a chain for my daughter and a T-shirt for my son.  We made plans for the next day to get up and get out to find some water and simple food.  I finally hit the bed after a very long day (2 days?).

I have brought with me a pocket translator and my Ipad with a Russian/English translator as well.  These have come in very handy as the entire day we were together without the interpreter.  We did a good deal of walking around Sevastopol.  So far everything is going very well and I am quite pleased.  It is time to start day 2!  I will try to get some time today to write about the first day together, as after all the whole point in the adventure is to spend time with the lady.


Pkeel

  • Guest
Re: The Die Is Cast
« Reply #3 on: April 16, 2013, 08:22:16 PM »
For breakfast we went across the street to a small restaurant, I had buckwheat (which I like and have been eating in the US) and some fruit filled pancakes. Elena had some pancakes with salted fish in them.  she gives me some of her food every time!  it was very good, too. Our plan for the day was to walk around Sevastopol. I got to an ATM and my debit card worked, but my credit card did not.  I spoke to the bank twice on the credit card about this and am a little disappointed in them.  I am not sure I will call to get it straightened out.  I have the one and it should be sufficient.

Our first day together we spent walking around Sevastopol.  We made extensive use of the pocket translator.  Problems encountered were the usual you would expect from electronic translations.  For instance, Elena pointed to an area and asked if I wanted to go see the fish.  I saw a boat where she pointed and thought she meant fishermen were bringing in the catch.  Nope, we went to a counter and I paid for some tickets and we went to an aquarium.

I don't think I have ever had so much fun at an aquarium! Elena was so much fun to watch. She was talking to each fish, we looked at every one of the displays and she was laughing smiling and very obviously enjoying herself.  This is something I have noticed about her, she is very willing to enjoy what she is doing.  I don't know if it's generally true of FSUW or not, I am just happy it is a trait of Elena's.  I was impressed at one tank filled with sturgeon. Some of those fish were very large.  There are some in the river near my house, but I had never seen one up close.

We also took a boat trip around the harbor, the captain was speaking the entire time about the area and Elena typed into the pocket translator the main items.  There is quite a mix of Russian and Ukraine warships in the harbor.  If I understand correctly one of the ships was a hovercraft.

It is early in the season for Sevastopol. The main vacations begin in May, so not too many of the souvenir shops were open.  There are enough to get the idea that really these port city vacation destinations are pretty similar to what is found in the Northeast US.  I have to remember to ask Elena, it seems many of the shops sell wooden spoons and spatulas.  I am curious why.  I want to go down on our last day and pick up some gifts to bring back.

That evening our main problem was that the markets were mainly closed.  We went to several convenience stores to pick up necessaries.  Elena was a very careful shopper, looked at the dates and prices for everything, one thing I have to try to remember is the day and month order.  When I looked I was confused until I could figure it out.  We managed to find stuff for breakfast the next morning. 

That evening I put on a tie and Elena got dressed very nicely, she looks great always, but when she puts in the extra effort she is amazing.  We went to the restaurant in the Hotel Sevastopol, I think! It was a nice place.  We each had a salad, mine had a delicious horseradish dressing and was a pretty simple mix of lettuce, tomato and black sunflowers.  For dinner I had a pork steak which was very good.  Elena had a fish steak, she loves seafood and has ordered it almost at every meal.

We went back to the apartment each took a shower and called it a night.

Next up is our day in Yalta.

Pkeel

  • Guest
Re: The Die Is Cast
« Reply #4 on: April 20, 2013, 01:33:45 PM »
I had hoped to post this on a daily basis, but things just got way too busy.  I am afraid I am going to leave out some important details.  Ah well, I have had an absolute blast here.  Sevastopol is a great city and this area is filled with history.  I knew but never put it together that I am right where the "Charge of the Light Brigade' happened. 

Elena is on her way home, I will fly out tomorrow.

Second day here, I was up and about and Elena got up.  She took a shower and while I took mine she made a delicious breakfast of buckwheat and what we in my family always called a one-eyed Eqyptian ( Bread with a hole cut in the middle and an egg fried in the middle.  She can cook buck wheat way better than I can.  I told her she had to show me how she does it.  Today we had plans to go to some caves that are nearby, but for some reason the rain made the roads too bad to get there.  The interpreter I hired suggested we go to the Massandra Winery and to the Lividia Palace where the Yalta conference took place.

Up to this point, Elena had held my arm a little as we walked around Sevastopol.  On the ride to Yalta, which is about an hour and a half, Elena stayed pretty much on her side of the car and I on mine.  It was obvious that neither of us had quite bought into the each other yet.  In the winery we took a tour followed by a tasting.  On the tour the Interpreter went along and was telling me what the guide was saying.  In one of the corridors of wine, I set off the alarm.  I did not hear the lady warn about it as she only spoke in Russian and the interpreter did not think that was significant enough to tell me.  Oh well. they shut the alarm off and the guide never even stopped the tour.  At the wine tasting it was just Elena and I.  I am not a big wine drinker, There are some wines that I like, but none enough to say that I look forward to having them again.  That changed in Massandra!  There were two that I really liked.  Elena liked one of those I liked and another one that I put in the it is good but I won't buy it category.  We went down to the shop to buy a couple bottles.  I purchased Elena one of each that she liked and one of each that I liked for myself.  I didn't think too much of it as they were about $10 each.

After the winery we headed over to Lividia Palace.  I can only say it was a little amazing to be in the same place as Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt.  I can tell you one thing for sure, I wish I were a Tsar!  Wow did those guys live high.  that Palace is amazing and I can only imagine what it was like before the Nazis looted it.

One other important thing to note, We stopped at all sorts of scenic places to take pictures.  Churches, small museums, palaces, look out spots overlooking the Black Sea.  At all of these places Elena kept asking me to stand so she could take my picture.  I am not normally comfortable with getting pictures taken, but I warmed up more as I went along.

The interesting part to me is on the ride back that evening, Elena was more willing to hold my hand rather than my arm.  She was also much more touchy feely in the car ride.  If the driver took a corner fast and she was tilting to me she would put her hand out and steady herself on my knee.  It was sweet and made me feel a little more accepted.

What I was not ready for was when we got back to the apartment.  We came inside, of course the first thing was to remove our shoes.  I helped her off with her coat and she turned right to me and came right into my arms and said thank-you, thank-you, thank-you for the wine.  I was a little surprised by this.  Maybe I shouldn't have been, others have posted about the women showing affection in private not in public, but it was not a mild change it was a big change in intensity.

I was quite pleased by this.  We discussed plans for the next day and decided to go to the local Diarama and the defense of Sevastopol.  I was a little worried as the day before had been a little more than I expected cost wise and I was not so sure about spending money on a driver and an interpreter again.  In the back of my mind I can't quite remember that l am spending Grivna's not dollars.  Anyway I agreed and said sure.  I had to decide to say to hell with it... I am on vacation to have fun, quit worrying about dollars and start having more fun.

Time for bed I leave early in the AM.

Pkeel

  • Guest
Re: The Die Is Cast
« Reply #5 on: April 21, 2013, 08:54:48 PM »
Elena and I were anticipating our day at the Defense of Sevastopol to begin at 10:00 am.  At 9:30 after a breakfast of yogurt with honey and reconstituted apricots, with the reheated buckwheat from the day before.  My morning to cook breakfast, I told Elena to take the first shower and I would get breakfast.  She looked surprised and agreed.  She was also surprised the day before when I did the dishes.  I don't know maybe I am ruining my chance to have a hand maiden, but since I want an equal pr\artner in a wife, I will be happy to ruin that kind of a chance.

We had been planning to try to do some quick shopping at the local market for things to have in the apartment, but the Interpreter called and told us she was waiting for us at the Ukraine Hotel.  It was just donw the street so Elena and I hurried out to go meet her.  To my surprise, today no driver, we got to take the little buses.  They are crowded, have some smelly men and some delightfully scented women in them, and are everywhere.  I liked it, they are not luxurious but this is a good way to run a city.

I asked the interpreter later and apparently the buses are privately owned.  You can be a driver and get licensed by the city to a certain route, or you can drive for somebody that owns several buses.  It really is not a bad way to get around the city.  They stop when you holler where you wish to go, they all have number codes to tell you what their route is and make as amny trips as they can as that is how they make money.

We were in a hurry, because the exercusion for the start of the day was to head down to the submarine base.  It has been described much better by calmissile than I could do so I won't describe the base.  In the base Elena continued to warm up to me.  While we waited outside she took more pictures of me, there were a bunch of men fishing from a float along the bay and I got Elena to take a picture of me showing them in the background.  A few fish were caught while we were there and Elena was excited to see the men bring them in.  She loves fish and has ordered it at every meal so far.

The submarine base is in Balaclava a smaller community inside of Sevastopol and it is a very quaint seaside village.  It is very picturesque.  We walked around to the other side of the bay to just look around a bit and were followed by a boat captain offering tours of the bay on his boat.  The interpreter pushed him aside but he did not give up.  One thing I noticed, these people here will work very hard for business.  If you don't want to do something you will have to be very firm.  It starts with taxis at the airport and does not stop.  More on that later.  My personal advice, go with the flow, at least listen to what is offered, you never know what might interest you that you didn't even know about. 

Elena and I did wish to take a boat ride so I am not sure why the intepreter, Alla, (I will stop using interpreter at this point) told him we weren't interested.  We got to where tours were being offered and they were just headed out for a 2 hour cruise around the bay.  Not somehing either of us wanted to do.  Alla called the boat captain over and we were off for a thirty minute ride around the bay.  It was jsut the three of us, the captain and his helper, so they knew I was American as soon as Alla began describing things to me.  I had been afraid this was going to be a problem, but I encountered no trouble at all from anyone due to my being American.  I either got no response or I received some special care.  More on that later, too.

After we went to lunch at a nice restaurant in Balaclava.  I let them order for me and I loved it.  I had a fish soup and some type of local fried fish.  Elena also had this dish.  I have read some say the food is not good or nothing to get excited about, but that is not my experience.  I love to try new things and most of what I ate here was unusual to me.

At lunch Alla asked me if I would buy Elena some sneakers.  I do not know if it was Elena's idea or if it was Alla's.  I don't really care, after she walked 6711 meters on a woods path in 2 inch heels, I worried about how she was going to keep that up.  Shoes are very important over here.  They are well cared for, Elena brushed hers every day, avoided anything that was on the sidewalk or foot path and jus tin general you can see from what the women wear this is important.  I said of course I would.  At this point to be honest, I was falling for Elena in a big way.  She won me over with her exciteable nature, her surprise at my help around the apartment, and the simple fact she was a gorgeous woman paying me a good deal of attentive behavior.

We left Balaclava and headed out to the defense of Sevastopol site.  We walked around outside and Elena continued to pose me for more pictures.  Outside they have some captured german tanks, trucks and guns and she would pose me in front of them.  Eleana saod something to Alla and Alla said she wanted me to get on top of one of the tanks.  They were laughing a little about it, but I turned around put one hand on a skirt of two tanks and swung myself up.  I heard them excalim and talk to each other, but didn't really think too much about it. 

We wne inside the museum and upstairs to the diarama, I think, there are two and we were too late to get to the second one.  This one we went to peatured the retaking of Sevastopol from the germans in WW2.  Upstairs Elena had a surprise for me.  When we were downstairs she told the women I was an English speaker and they got out some english pamphlets for me to read.  Upstairs they played the description for me in English.  Elena asked them if they could.

So we had to head back into town as it was now too late for the other site on the defense of Sevastopol.  We stopped at the mall on the way to find some sneakers for Elena and then she and I were going to go bowling.  Elena went to the Adidas shop and picked out some black sneakers with red piping.  To surprise her I grabbed a matching workout jacket.  She and I went out back with two sizes for her to try on.  While I was waiting outside for her to try it on the sales lady came in with some matching pants and a shirt.  Elean gave me a look and I nodded my head.  Frankly I wanted to see her in the skin tight pants! She looked awesome in them too.  While she was showing me these, the sales lady showed up with a matching bag, but Elena waved her away with a shake of her head.  I told you earlier these people work hard for their money.  We checked in at the bowling alley and put our names in for a lane the next hour. 

I then told Elena and Alla that I wished to find a T-shirt for my son, something with some Russian on it.  We proceeded to go into just about every single shop where Elena would ask the sales lady if they sold any shirts with Russian on them.  Of course none of them did, plenty of shirts with English, but no Russian.  Alla was clearly getting frustrated with Elena's attempts to find me a shirt.  She was sighing, saying no they won't have any in that store, Elena sould ask anyway.  She was on a mission to find me what I wanted.  Another thing I have not had a lot of experience with from American women.  Alla finally gave us directions on what bus to take to get home and left us to bowl and get some pizza.  Bowling with Elena was a blast.  She was just as excitable about every good shot she made as ever.  Clapping, smiling, jumping all the things that I found so endearing.  When I got a strike I even got a quick kiss on the cheek.  This is the only way she would kiss me in public.  One other thing, seeing these big Ukraine men stand at the end of the bowling alley and throw a 15 pound bowling ball down the aisle as hard as they could was pretty amazing.  They may not have had any style, but that ball was moving down the aisle.

We left for some Pizza and for the first time I was disappointed with a meal in Ukraine.  It wasn't bad, just not good.  We made it home with no difficulties.  Once again Elena showed me in private how much she appreciated what I got for her.  I could get used to this.

Tomorrow we go to Sudak

Pkeel

  • Guest
Re: The Die Is Cast
« Reply #6 on: April 21, 2013, 08:55:58 PM »
Sudak, Elena spent a couple of days here with her daughter Julia last year.  She wanted me to see it.  It is an unfortunately long distance from Sevastopol, past Yalta.  We had to head out at a very early 8 am.  I awoke around 5 and Elena was already up, she had been in the shower and it was my turn.  I stepped out of the bathroom and she had managed to put together a very nice breakfast.  She made an omelette with some of the bread and cheese we had left.  This makes about the third meal she was able to make out of some very meager purchases.  I have a friend at home with his own chickens, he gives me eggs often, even his don't match these from Ukraine.  The yellow is a dark rich orange color and they taste great. 

Once again Alla and our driver, Yura, were a little bit early.  It doesn't seem to bother Elena to keep them waiting.  She continued about her preparations and when she was finished we headed down to go to Sudak.  At this point I am having some difficulty staying awake in the back seat.  The warmth, the time change, and the pace of my vacation are all taking a toll.  On the other hand, Elena is now routinely sitting in the middle of the back seat and leaning against me.  She slept a good deal with her head on my shoulder.

It was a long drive about 3 hours worth.  Alla and Yura know each other, but I asked Alla how long she has been using Yura as her driver and she tells me this is her first time because her regular driver was busy.  I told her to use him more often.  He is a friend of her husbands.  At Massandra, Elena had given him her camera to take pictures of the area with.  He was walking all over the place and taking pictures.  It was funny to watch.  He would see a wild cat or dog and take its picture.  We were laughing and Alla was continually saying "Yura" they seemed to disagree routinely about the route and all sorts of things.  One time all three of them were laughig and Alla told me that Yura was telling Elena that Alla had a small dog at home and she never did the dishes.  She just let the dog lick the plates clean.  Alla told him to stop because it was Alla's first time meeting Elena and Elena might believe him.

In Sudak there is the remains of an ancient fortress.  We went in but did not do a tour.  It was a fascinating bit of history.  The fort was overtaken by several different empires and each one had to spend some time and effort improving it to show that it was now theirs.  It has some spectacular views. 

I also found out that Elena and Alla were amazed at how I jumped up on the tanks.  Alla especially, she used to run a marriage agency in Sevastopol, but after she married she did not need to do it and now takes on interpreting jobs.  One of the cruise lines that stop in Sevastopol use her.  She mentioned it to me several times over the day, that not many Americans could jump up on the tanks like I did.  They were also amazed that I did the 6711 meter walk with them.  I'm not sure why, I had on a nice pair of hiking boots, Elena did it in high heels!

We also went into Sudak proper.  This is a large tourist area.  It has a beach to lay out on and to swim at, a boardwalk with the usual carnival style games and rides for children, a lot of shops.  Today I got to eat at McDonalds.  Same as everwhere.  It was however obvious that neither of the two ladies ate there very often.  I asked if Yura could come and eat as well, but Alla said he was too far away.  I like this guy, he keeps us laughing and if you give him your camera it will come back filled with pictures.

It is now a little late in the day and we have to head back to Sevastopol.  On the way to Sudak we took the inside route out by Simferepol, on the way back we took the ocean side ride.  It was a bunch of hairpin turns all along the ocean.  We stopped at a champagne place, but they were not running any tours, I bought a couple bottles of champagne to try.  Elena and I were going to have one that night but by the time we got home it was late and I was already so tired a couple sips of champagne would have had me asleep in minutes.

There was a place to walk out to where the champagne company had built some storage in a cave for the champagne bottles.  We decided to take a walk out there to see it.  Again this place was closed but for 50 grivna the guy let the four of us through to walk out.  Yura ran ahead with the camera and took a bunch of pictures of us.  Elena is very happy with her new shoes, they make it so much easier to walk, she has never had a pair of sneakers before. 

I had another chance to see that excitement factor in Elena.  On the walk back to the car she spotted some dolphins in the water.  She had to stop and wait to see if they came back up to the top.  When they did she squealed, jumped clapped and hollered dolphins.  Just like a little kid, so exciteable and so willing to enjoy what she can.  I really do like this woman.

We stopped at a church dedicated to the lost at sea, the church was closed and Elena would have liked to go inside.  The museum below was closed as well, but again for a few grivna the gurad took us through it with a flash light.  Yura talked him into allowing us to take pictures even though it is against the rules.  Yura took so many pictures I heard the guard at one point say to him "papparazzi'.  It was fairly interesting.  Outside there is an anchor and you stand above it and throw a coin at it, if you hit the anchor your wish will come true.  Elena and I both hit it with our coins. 

Back home again.  Another long and busy day, we stopped at every look out point for pictures.  One I really liked was a house built by a rich man for his girlfriend so she could watch the sea and see when he was returning.  Elena and I walked down and out to it.  I think it had to be about a half mile total of all stairs.  If you are going to head out to Sevastopol to visit bring comfortable shoes.

Tomorrow we are going to see some caves that were discovered about 25 years ago.

Pkeel

  • Guest
Re: The Die Is Cast
« Reply #7 on: April 23, 2013, 04:15:52 AM »
Caves:

Today we will go to see some caves that were discovered fairly recently in the area near Simferopol.  Elena studied Geology at University and she is very interested in these caves.  I thought she had come here at some point during her studies but no, this will be her first trip to see them.

I now understand why the trip to the caves had to wait.  The final mile or two to the caves are all dirt and steep.  I am sure when wet they would have been very slippery.  Again, Alla did not go into the caves with us.  She said the guide mostly discusses the size of the formations and explains how they were discovered, so I should simply go and enjoy them and be certain to take lots of pictures.

The caves are very interesting.  If you go to this area I would recommend seeing them.  Alla did tell me that during the summer season they are very crowded and she has had to wait 6 hours before to get in to take the tour.  Keep that in mind if you do decide you would like to see them.  Also Elena told Alla that the caves are cold and that I should make sure to remember and hug her often while we are down in them.  I did. I don't need any excuses to give Elena a hug but when she says she wants me to then I will be sure to make it a point to remember.  One other thing to remember if you go.  Make an effort to either head out in front or hang back at some point and give your girl a kiss while underground.  I did and it was one of the two times Elena kissed me in public.  It was rather romantic down there in the semi dark with the soft lighting, sound of water tinkling and the quiet.

On the way there we went through the city of Simferopol.  I did not care for this city.  It is not pretty, Maybe there are some better sections than I went through but I don't know.  If it were up to me I would not plan a trip to this city.  If you are going to be in this region get to Sevastopol, it is far nicer with much more to do.  I had Chris give me a ride to the airport on my way back Sunday and he told me that he did not care much for Simferopol either. 

On the way back to Simferopol we went a more scenic route with some opportunity for picturesque views.  There is also a growing Tatar community.  I think it is Tatar as I am not sure I understood Alla correctly.  They were chased out in the past and are making an attempt to grow a community there.  We stopped in a small village and the main road through town is all restaurants offering the same menu items.  Elena and I sat to eat at an outside table sitting under a blossoming Apple tree.  Alla was sitting with us and I asked if Yura could join us.  He was able to this time and again he took my camera.  I like when he does this, he is not shy about taking pictures and is a lot of fun. 

Once again the meal was incredibly good.  We started with a homemade bread and soup dish.  It was very good and I have no idea at all what it was.  We followed this with some type of flat bread folded in half and filled.  One was filled with cheese and another with meat.  Again both of these were really good.  Elena ordered something for me special and it was some type of meat filled dumpling.  Alla asked me what type of food it is in Mexican that is similar?  Yura piped up with Tequila!  I said burrito but really they are not similar at all.  The dish was served on a plate piped with mayonnaise.  Again this dish was delicious.

It was time to head back to Sevastopol.  We arrived again in the early evening and Elena and I visited for a bit.  Each of us took a shower and sat for a cup of tea and some cake.  I forgot to mention when we came back after purchasing the champagne on the trip to Sudak, Alla surprised us with a gift of a cake.  She told us to take it home and have some cake with our champagne.  Alla is a very nice lady and I like her.  She used to run a marriage agency and I can see she knows this region well.

I had wanted to spend Saturday just Elena and I, but that night Alla called Elena and asked if we would like to see Count Vorontsovs palace the next day.  I could see that Elena was interested, so I readily agreed.  So far I have not been disappointed with any of our trips so why not.  I may never get back to this place again and I might as well see as much as I can.

Next....  Our final day together in Sevastopol.

Pkeel

  • Guest
Re: The Die Is Cast
« Reply #8 on: April 23, 2013, 05:17:03 AM »
Final day.

Today will be a bittersweet day.  I have met a wonderful lady, made a few friends in Sevastopol and will miss this place and Elena.  I am surprised as I sit here how much I miss Elena.  She has definitely made a place for herself in my heart.  She has been attentive, caring and throughout our time together a lot of fun.  I could get used to having a lady like this in my life.  I have decided to continue my relationship with her and will see how it runs.  There will be plenty of hard work ahead for both of us, we will have to make an effort to sustain the spark we lit in Sevastopol via long distance.  I will do my part.  I look forward to more time with this lady.  Let me say here and now, I am very pleased that I decided on a WOVO.  I was worried before I began, but I think I made the right decision.  I cannot imagine what it would be like to be home right now and be attempting to decide which of 4 or 5 women I would like to continue to with.  That is me, others may prefer the other approach, but for me this was the right way to go.  Wish me luck, I am going to need it.

Final day and trip to Vorontsov's Palace:

This was a half day trip as Elena and I wish to spend some time alone together.  I won't go into deep detail about the palace other than to say I am really glad I made the trip there.  It is not far from Sevastopol and well worth the visit.  Once again this place is gorgeous, incredible architecture, unbelievable building.  The detail work inside is amazing.  Each room's floor is amazing, detailed hand crafted flooring of wood.  Incredible attention to detail, to have been royalty during the reign of Catherine must have been the ultimate in luxury.

Two details... Outside on the steps up to the palace are some very famous lions.  I was impressed as these are some amazing statues.  I can't believe they were not looted by the Nazis.  Apparently they are very famous as Elena had read about them in school.  The first two at the start of the steps are sleeping; halfway up the stairs there are two that are rising; the final two are fully alert.  The symbolism is clear and the statues are incredible. 

Next we were at the "Chaos" an assembly of roughly piled stones.  These stones are huge and I was challenged by Alla and Elena to trek out onto them.  I did.  Elena began to become concerned and Alla hollered to me to come back as Elena did not wish to lose me to the rocks.  I headed back as quickly as I could.  Once again Alla asked me how it is that I was able to climb out and back?  She is very impressed with my ability to walk, climb etc.  She has mentioned several times that not many Americans she has met are as healthy as I am.  I am pleased by this.  Before I began this process, I worked on myself, I joined a gym, hired a private trainer and got myself back into the kind of shape I wished to be in.  Apparently it has paid off.  I feel great and am proud of myself.  It is a cliche for sure, but if you wish to win a good woman, you first have to be a good man.

Final half day together.  We were dropped off in the center of Sevastopol as I wanted to find something to remind me of the trip.  Something simple that I could have as a daily reminder, not something extravagant but something simple.  I also have a a friend here in the US that is from Peru, she always brings back chocolates from Peru for my son and I so I purchased some Russian chocolates for her.  For myself I bought a silly little refrigerator  magnet.  All over this place are some silly looking cats, Elena looks at them every time we go anywhere.  She obviously enjoys them and I purchased on for my refrigerator as a daily reminder of the trip.  It is a great reminder to me of how much she is able to enjoy the simple things that bring her pleasure.

We spent the evening together in the apartment.  She packed, we ate, we talked, we cuddled, we discussed the future, it was a wonderful part of my journey, I am very happy we were able to spend this final time together.  We had a few hours to ourselves and Elena at one point said she wished she could stop time so we could just stay together. 

Yura and Alla showed up to take us to drop Elena off at the train.  I went on the train with her and for the second time we kissed in public.  It was a difficult time as we had to say good bye.  We have already made tentative plans to see each other again this fall.  I am already second guessing myself and I may try to speed up the next meeting.  I miss this woman and want to see her again.  She will begin to learn English in earnest.  As soon as I got back to the car I missed her.  I have to see her again.  I asked Alla how much I owed her and the driver and she told me "Nothing, of course."  She has asked me to send her some American recipes and told me she hoped Elena and I would be able to move things along.  I told Yura if he ever makes it to the USA I insisted he stay with me for a couple of days.  I doubt he will be able to, but sincerely hope he could.

A couple of final thoughts.

I do not at all care for the airport in Kiev.  Maybe it will grow on me if I become more accustomed to it, but it confuses the hell out of me and there are not many English speakers working there.  Why does the airport have three terminals in separate buildings?  Why are the Terminals F, B and D? 

I was pleasantly surprised to find my being American was no issue at all.  I had expected some bit of notice, but if there was any it was all of a positive type.  Typically from people working at the places we went to trying to point out things available in English.  All in all, I won't say the Ukraine people I met were outwardly friendly, but if I understand correctly this is more cultural than directly related to me.

WOVO is my method, should things ultimately fall apart with Elena and I, I will continue to only visit one woman at a time.  It took a little time for Elena to warm up to me, but by the end of my trip I was certain that she had decided I was her man.  there was no mistaking it.  We went from an internet friendship and moved slowly along all the way through to the end where we were very much interested in each other.  My suggestion to other men, let things develop, don't push it.  She will make up her mind and you will know.  The level of closeness developed slowly but steadily and as I said, by the time we separated, we were each others significant other.

Most importantly... My biggest bit of advice to the men out there is GO AND VISIT.  Just do it, you won't get very far if you are only a keyboard Romeo.  I have reason to think I was not Elena's first or only internet boyfriend.  I am though the one that made the effort to go and see her.  This is what will seal the deal.  My friends and acquaintances here in the US were worried about all sorts of things that could go wrong.  Each and every one of them failed to materialize.  I was not pestered, I was not bothered, nor was I ever frightened.  GO. Get over there, there are many very beautiful women.  What you will find is that the beauty of each of them is inside of them, not their physical beauty.  These women are wonderful and I saw many of them taking care of their man.  I saw an older woman, help her husband put on his shoes, right down to tying them for him.  I saw them doing all kinds of small simple things that an American woman would not do.

Mostly, I am glad I went, will happily go again and if anyone wishes to know how to contact Alla I will happily respond via PM.  She was a valuable asset to my trip, knew how to step aside and allow us time together and was a pleasant person to spend time with.

Trip Report sans response was done for me. I did it this way so I could follow what I posted and not have to try to dig through comments to see where I left things.  I would recommend to others to do the same.  Keep in mind each of us is an individual and what works for one may not work for another.  Read what others say and think it over, use it to help you, but don't let anyone tell you what to do.  Be who you are, you are looking for a woman not trying to trick one into leaving her life to come to a foreign land to find out you are not who you represented yourself to be.

Be patient I am going to try to attach some pictures next, but I often fail at this.  Just a few, and I may remove them in a couple of weeks.

Pkeel

  • Guest
Re: The Die Is Cast
« Reply #9 on: April 23, 2013, 07:26:07 AM »
Second attempt to upload photos.

Pkeel

  • Guest
Re: The Die Is Cast
« Reply #10 on: April 23, 2013, 07:28:09 AM »
last day visiting Count Vorontsov's Palace

Pkeel

  • Guest
Re: The Die Is Cast
« Reply #11 on: April 23, 2013, 07:33:15 AM »
last two photos.

I am not accustomed to climbing on fountains to have pictures taken, but from what I saw while there, not at all unusual.

 

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