Tag's One and Done Trip Report

[TagUrIt898]

This is my first trip report, so I apologize in advance if I don't follow any correct type of format.  It's titled "One and Done" on purpose as you read you'll see why.  Enjoy!

My story goes, I like many was in search of an FSUW.  I've tried a couple of different places Fdating and Elena's Models.  I was in the chat room one day and Larry (very popular member) suggested I give LuckyLovers a try.  I had never heard of it, but I figured what the heck right.  As you'll see from the story to come, it was the best $20 bucks I've spent in my life! LOL

I met online Polina at the end of February of 2015.  She is 29, she will be 30 in October of this year.  I'll be 43 in August, so not to bad of an age difference.  We exchanged a few emails and pretty soon were talking on Viber.  In our first conversation, I told her that I'm a police officer in Washington D.C. and she seemed to be so fascinated by what I did for a living.  She had never met or even talked a police officer.  She is from Ukraine and lives in Zaporozhe with her family.  Throughout the next few weeks our communication escalated tremendously and by the mid-March it was almost daily.  We talked about all the getting to know you things that most people do when you first start off.  It wasn't an interrogation, but I sent her an emails with serious and hard questions.  I was very serious about my search for find a good partner and I saw no need to dance around certain subjects out of being polite or shy.  If this was a potential life partner, I think it would be better to know sooner than later.


Okay enough about right, let's get to the trip!  The plan was for us both to meet at Odessa airport on Tuesday and stay in a hotel until Friday.  I rented a car for my trip so we would be able to drive around and wouldn't be limited to walking or taxis.  We would then drive back to Zaporozhe for me to meet her family.  I would then drive back to Odessa and catch my flight home.

Day 1

I fly from Dulles to Moscow airport.  The flight was long 9 hours (longest flight I've ever been on) but it was very pleasant.  I think I was just happy to be finally on my way to seeing Polishka.  The flight crew was very friendly, lots of meals and beverages and you could choose what movie/music/tv show you wanted from the monitor in the back of the seat that was in front of you.  Good job Aeroflot, I would certainly fly with them again. 

So I arrive in Moscow, let me stop right here, the Russian employees were very cold and stonefaced.  Not a smile, not a kind word or anything.  Pretty much give your passport get you shit and move on.LOL I had a 7 hour layover so I just got on my laptop/tablet and killed the time.  Free wifi at the airport so that was cool.  I grabbed a bite to eat at the Fridays there, nothing fancy just chicken fingers and fries and a beer.  First thing I notice is that the plates in Europe are much smaller than the U.S. which could account for why we have an obesity problem in our country. 

My flight is finally ready and I'm off to Odessa!  I arrive in Odessa and go thru customs, wasn't bad.  The Ukrainian customs guys asked me something, I didn't quite understand and he just ended up shooing me along.  No problem, I was more than happy to go.  I walk thru the doors and wow this is a small airport.  I'm bombarded by taxi drivers asking if I needed a ride.  It's all a little over-whelming, but I'm not one to ever crack so I just sat down for  a few moments and collected myself.  Polishka's flight wasn't due in for another 2 hours anyways, so I had time to kill.  I decided to get the rental car stuff out of the way and I walk outside of the airport to look for the rental place. 

There are two rental places across the street from the airport so I walk there, only to find out I'm at the wrong rental company.  There was a guy at the gate to the parking lot that called on his on phone to help me out.  First impression, wow thank Ukraine, people are actually nice here.  I got my rental car and I'm now just waiting for Polishka's flight to arrive.  Her flight lands on time and (oh have you been waiting for this moment in the story?)  :-)  I see this beautiful tall woman walk thru the doors and I immediately see that it's her.  We give each other a big hug and she kisses me on the cheek.  She and I are both all smiles at this point.  We both can't believe we're actually in the other's presence.  So we're off to the hotel.  I don't have internet so I can't use my Tablet as a navigation device. 

We stopped several times for directions and actually ended up giving a father and his daughter a ride to an area near our hotel.  Again, nice people in Ukraine!  Check-in was a breeze, we stayed at the Premiere Geneva Hotel.  They spoke English, but Polishka did all the talking since she speaks Russian. 

Our room was a suite, with a king size bed and a sofa bed in the other room.  We exchanged gifts, I got her some  Nike running gear because she's an avid runner and a scarf.  (she likes them)  She got me some handmade socks to wear during the winter time and she hand stitched the name Tag on both of them.  She also gave me a wooden box frame with the chevron's of a Ukrainian General and the lapel pins to match.  The chevrons and the lapels were laid upon a red velvet background and encased in the wooden frame with glass.  It was a very thoughtful and nice gift.  I gave her a thin blue line paracord bracelet too.  She loved all her gifts and thanked me with a kiss on the lips.

We were both tired and hungry from traveling all day so we ordered carryout from a local place.  She ordered a salad with fish (her favorite) and got a salad with chicken for me.  Again small plates and smaller portion sizes.  Real quick before I forget, I didn't do a currency exchange at the airport, so I still had U.S. dollars with me.  I paid the delivery guy in U.S. dollars he went back to his store and came back with Hryvnias for my change.  Again, another example of Ukrainian people.  Don't worry I tipped him well for all his trouble.  Polishka had an espresso (the hotel brought up to the room) and even though she was tired she was kinda wired from the coffee.  So we decide to watch a movie, I brought a variety of dvds for us to watch just in case we wanted.  I picked "There's Something About Mary", we were about a quarter of the way thru and we both decided to call it a night.  I rubbed her shoulders a little during the movie just to help her unwind a little and she loved it. 

I took a quick shower, unpacked and got ready for bed.  She also took a shower and went to the room to retire. I explained that the room was for her and I would sleep on the sofabed.  I was setting up the sofabed and she came out to ask me if I needed any help.  I said no, but she insisted and helped anyways.  There were no blankets or pillows for the sofabed, so she called the front desk and she said that the guy who answered the phone was a little surprised at the request. LOL  The blankets arrive and I'm all set to go to bed and she says "hey you forgot to give me my massage".  What I am I supposed to say no?  So we go into the bedroom and I give a gentle massage, shoulders head, arms, etc. nothing too risqué.  By this time it's almost 2 am, she said why don't you just stay here with me here.  I asked her was she sure, she yes.  Again, what I am I gonna say no?  I said okay and I promised not to try anything.  So we slept in the same bed and she snuggled up right underneath of me.  It was so nice to be so close to the woman.  Her hair smelled great, she smelled wonderful and her body was just amazing.  So it was an all day venture, but it lead me to this point right here, I would do it again in a heartbeat.


Day 2

We wake up together and again it's just all smiles.  I can't believe I actually here with her!  We order room service and the bring breakfast to our room.  Again with the small plates of food.LOL  It was tasty though. 

I surprise her with one more gift and I delayed giving it to her on purpose.  I knew she was a fan of aviator style glasses, so purchased a pair of blue mirrored Ray Bans.  She absolutely loved them!  She said they were so cool!  Again with a big hug and kiss of gratitude.  She tried them on immediately and said what do you think?  I told her she looked gorgeous and like a rockstar!  We have an itinerary planned so we had an idea of what we would like to do during this trip, but we both had "play it by ear" attitudes about it all.  We decide to do the currency exchange and explore Odessa a little.  She's been there before, but it had been quite a while since her last visit. 

Driving in Odessa, is different.  The first thing I notice is that people drive VERY aggressive here.  So I was definitely on my defenses when it came to navigating around in the city.  We make it to downtown area and do the exchange, we are walking around hold hands and just taking in the sites, taking a few pictures too.  She's very affectionate and had no problem hugging or planting a kiss on me during our stroll.  She wants to find a place to sit down and have coffee.  I don't drink coffee, but she loves it!  Her only vice from what I can tell ;-)  We find an Italian place and ended up order a pizza and salads.  Let me talk about this for quick second.  The place is very clean and the employees are very attentive.  Polishka orders for us and again she has a salad with fish and she orders me a pasta salad that has chicken in it.  The pizza she ordered had shrimp and pineapple on it.  I know right!!!! Shrimp and Pineapple????   Believe it or not it was really good.  The food in Ukraine seems to all be made with fresh ingredients.  The service was awesome and we just chatted while we ate.  Let me just say here, she and I talked like we've been together for longer than a day.  There were no awkward silences at lunch or lulls in the conversation.  Again only smiles, laughter and good conversation. 

We're done with lunch and decided to try to get back on track with our itinerary.  Oh, almost forgot, not only is Polishka beautiful and has a great sense of humor, she's also very smart and clever.  She transferred one of her sim cards to her smart phone so we could have GPS navigation while we were there.  Our first real place to visit was the catacombs.  We tried to find it and when we finally did we got there pretty much at closing.  She called and the employee said that unless they had 6 or more people they don't give the tour.  So scratch that and on to something else. 

We decide to visit the beach, she loves the water!  This is a good time to say that the forecast for the week is only 60's to 67 or so.  So not quite warm enough to go swimming.  We stop by the hotel for a quick change in clothes and stop for supplies on our way to beach.  We arrive and as were walking I start taking photos.  I've been taking photos often of her, the site and us together of course.  So we're walking down the stairs to the beach and she puts on an impromptu model photo shoot. I'm taking pictures of her because she's hilarious.  I told you she had a great sense of humor right?  We get to the beach spread a blanket and are drinking Martinis out of paper cups and eating cheese.  It's the little things right?  It's cliche' but I drew a heart on the beach and put our initials in it.  Polishka really liked that I did that!  I got a huge hug and kiss from that one.  She posed some more in front of the heart and we took a few selfies with it in the background. 

We laid down on the blanket and talked a little, laughed a lot and are having a great time.  Until....we were interrupted.  No it wasn't a Ukrainian police officer to coming arrest us or some locals that started harassing us.  It was a cute four legged, little dog that came up while I was laying down on the blanket and licked my head.  I'm not kidding, my eyes were closed, because I was relaxing and all of a sudden I feel this wet nose on my head.  I have a dog, so I definitely recognized the feeling right away.  We don't have any meat, only cheese, so we share what we have.  I won't bore with you all the details with the dog, but let's just say he got more than a few slices out of us while we were there.  We watched the sunset thru the clouds and headed back to the hotel for the night.  Polishka's sister Dasha was arriving the next day and we were going to pick her up from the train station.

Our first selfIe


Polishka posing


Ice cream sandwiches in the car


At the beach

[Muzh]

Tag, you dog!!! 

Good job man.

Enjoy and good luck.

Woof Woof 

[calmissile]

Nice story Tag.  Your lucky to have found a woman with a great sense of humor and a nice personality on your first visit.  Good luck to both of you.

[TagUrIt898]

Day 3

We decided to skip breakfast so that we can grab food with her sister.  It's colder today than yesterday, but we make the best of it.  We drive the train station and Dasha's train is running a little behind.  No worries, we take pictures and Polishka snuggles in close to me to keep warm.  Again no complaints :-) 


I actually had a gift to give to her sister, but I ended up forgetting it and leaving it back at the hotel.  More on that later.  Dasha arrives and we shake hands.  She doesn't speak English, so Polishka translates anything that needs to be said.  I speak a little Russian so I can say hi and nice to meet you etc.  Dasha tells us that she needs to go to a market and meet with some a client.  She is in the art industry and is in Odessa on business and to visit her friends.  We drive to what I can only describe as huge open whole sale market.  Tons of vendors and lots of goods for sale.  While we are there we walk around and pretty much follow Dasha as she makes her rounds to different vendors.  While we are there Polishka sees an adorable phone case and smiles as she looks at it.  I said to her if you want it, I'll get it for you.  She said no, it's okay.  I said Polishka please if you like it, please let me buy it for you.  Keep in mind this was wholesale prices it was 25 Hryvnias, which turn out to be about 1.21 U.S. Dollars.  I'm not saying this to brag about how cheap I am or how little I spent.  I saying this because this little gift would turn out to be her favorite gift that I've given her since I've been here.  Which says a lot about her.  The scarf, the running gear the Ray Bans were all nice gifts, but she later told me she like this one the most. 

Dasha finishes her business and we go to what I would describe as a cafeteria style lunch place.  You grabbed a tray and went down a line of assorted foods.  All of the dishes were Ukrainian, so this would be my first real time at having Ukrainian food.  Polishka insisted that I try the Borsch.  So I grabbed a bowl along with a few other dishes.  I tried to pay for Dasha's meal, but she had already started with the cashier and I was to far away from Polishka to have her explain that I wanted to buy her lunch.  We all sat down and the sisters are speaking in Russian, of course I can't understand what's being said.  Polishka is our translator, so tells me that Dasha said that I had a good shape.  I smiled and said thank you.  Her sister and I exchange questions thru our translator and having a decent conversation.  I already knew that they were very close and that I was being assessed by Dasha, I wasn't worried and I certainly was not going to put on a show. 

I'm always under the guise that you should always be who you are, because if you don't the real you comes anyways.  As far as first impressions go, I think I did okay.  Her sister liked me and I thought her sister was cool too!  We leave and give Dasha ride to her friend's house.  Let me add right here that from the first time I met her sister and each time she was with us, I opened and closed both her and Polishka's door when they were getting into the car.  I'm not saying to be boastful of looking for accolades.  It's just I believe in being a gentleman and treating ladies with chivalry.  I did that for Polishka as well on day one and will continue to do so.  I honestly think that had a lot to do with Dasha approving of me from our initial meeting.  Anyways, moving on.  We drop her off and plan to meet later that evening.  Poliska and I go and do some more sight seeing at the Port of Odessa and more pictures of course.  We stop and grab, you wanna guess what it is? Well if you've been paying attention you would have guess coffee.  You didn't know there would be a quiz at the end of this report?  Pay attention!!!  Chop Chop!!! We find a very charming place for coffee and end up sitting outside.  For those who been over there you already know, but I had only heard that restaurants place blankets on the chairs to keep there guests warm.  It was interesting to see.  We order desserts and coffee, well I had hot chocolate.  The desserts were divine and again with the Ukrainian service.  Impeccable!! So we leave there to go back to the hotel to take a nap and shower to get ready to go out to meet Dasha and her friends later.  Let me throw in that when I parked the car, I parked it up on the sidewalk.  I'm not exaggerating, it was literally on the sidewalk.  People park (almost) pretty much where they want in Ukraine. 

So we take a nap and get dressed to meet up with Dasha and friends.  I grabbed the gift I was supposed to give Dasha earlier and bring it with me.  We know that we will be drinking later so we left the car at the hotel.  Each time we enter and leave the hotel, the staff at the front desk always stood up and said hello with a smile.  We meet Dasha and I give her the gifts, a bottle of Malibu Rum and a scarf.  Dasha is blonde so I got her a black watercolored scarf.  She absolutely loved it, so much that she put it on right then and there!  Points for me right!  Her friends are Inna and Max, there both from Odessa.  Neither speak English! LOL Inna is only about 5"4" and gives me two giant big hugs.  She and Max are both smiling and  very friendly.  So we proceed to take tour of Odessa with Inna as our tour guide and again with Polishka translating.  We ended up right back where me and P (I'm just gonna say P from now on, I'm sure you're getting tired of hear me say Polishka you know who I'm talking about)  So we're in the same area only it looks completely different at night and we have a native Odessian giving us a detailed tour.  We saw the house that only looks like it has one wall, the bridge with the locks.  Although the removed all the locks, because it was weighing the bridge down.  Inna even told us the story of who and why the bridge was built.  There are a few other sites, but I'm gonna keep it moving here. 


We end up at a Karaoke bar and were all pretty famished from all the walking we did.  We order drinks and pizza and cheese plate (no coffee for P)  The karoke place isn't that crowded, it's really nice inside very clean and inviting.  All the songs being sung are on Russian, but I was still able to have a good time there.  I along with Max and Dasha ordered draft beers and the special was drink as many beers as you want until 3am!  Um....Hello!!  Yes I will have another...plus I wasn't driving!  Inna and P shared a bottle of wine.  P doesn't drink beer, she likes alcohol, but just not beer.  We had an awesome time there!  We all laughed and danced and I even sang a song.!  I know you're just dying to know what song I picked right?  I picked Bob Marley "Three Little Birds", let me tell ya, it was a hit, half the club got up and started dancing!  At the end of the song, everyone clapped and cheered for me too.  Nice feeling to be admired by a room full of Ukrainians. 

We leave the club via taxi and go back to hotel.  Shower and were both exhausted for bed.

At the train station



Ukrainian food


Polishka's Sister Dasha


Having lunch together


Sight seeing during the day










Sight seeing at night and the Karaoke bar

[TagUrIt898]

Day 4

We plan to go to Inna's house for a barbeque later that day, but first on the itinerary P wanted to go karting.  She had been before and she wanted to do it with me.  She was like a little kid with excitement know that we were going.  So again breakfast in the room and off we go!  We go pick up Dasha to come with us for karting and start that way. 


We get there and it's not very busy at all which is nice, so we don't have too long of a wait.  There was maybe one or two sessions ahead of us.  Which gave both P and Dasha time to get coffee.  Espresso/Coffee is very abundant over there, they sell it everywhere, even at a kart racing place.  We go up to the counter and have a choice of a 5 min or 10 min session, I said let's do 10!  P, was very happy about this!  I could tell she didn't wanna ask for the 10 min session for fear of being too greedy or asking for too much.  Again it says a lot about her character, she is a very humble woman and is not greedy at all.  We have our turn to go on the track, we get our safety instructions (all in Russian of course) and P let's me know what the guy said.  We're off!

P is in the first car and me and Dasha are two cars behind her.  The track itself is not simple or boring at all, they made it interesting.  Lot's a turns and sharp corners.  P ended up taking a corner too fast and crashed off the track. LMAO She wasn't hurt and didn't break the kart, so it was okay. 

We finished karting and entered the mall which was right there next to the track.  P, suggested we pick up a gift to bring to Inna's house since it was technically the first time we would visit.  It is a big custom in Ukraine to bring a gift to a home that you've never visited before.  So we enter the mall and I told P, that I needed to get more money.  So here it is the moment of truth, using a foreign atm.  I was all kinds of nervous, I've heard the horror stories, but I had to do it.  P recommended that I use a certain bank atm and I did.  I entered English as my language and made my withdrawal with absolutely no issues.  I felt a little silly, because it was as easy as using an atm her in the U.S.  I still wasn't a 100% sure about the exchange rate and I ended up withdrawing 6000 Hryvnias.  About 300 U.S. dollars.  So we go into the mall and I told P that I wanted to get her the dress that we had talked about before I got there.  Long story short, I was going to buy her a dress and bring it with me, but we both decided that it would be smarter to pick something out when I arrived, so we both know it fit well.  I asked her about what kind of shoes she runs in when she goes jogging.  She looked at me like I had two heads.  She didn't quite understand running shoes, shoes that were made for running!  She said she had some basic shoes that she used.  I said no, no Polishka, you need to wear the right shoes for the right activity you're doing.  Again this concept was foreign to her.  I told her I would get her a pair of proper running shoes.  She protested of course and did not want me to spend money on her,  but I explained it was not an option.  We went into  shoe store (looked similar to a Foot Locker here in the States).  I proceeded to explain to her that having the right shoes is very important and can also prevent injuries.  I could tell she honestly had no idea about all this. 

We started to look at various women's running shoes and the first thing she said was how expensive they were.  The second thing she said was, she couldn't believe how light in weight they were.  I said yeah P, they are supposed to be like that. LOL We both laughed, I didn't want her to feel like I was making fun of her, so I assured her that it as okay that she didn't know these things, but it was good that she does now. 

We asked about a few pair and they didn't have her size, so we walked around the mall to try to find another store.  We ended up at a place that looked like a "Sports Authority".  There we found a very cute pair of pink Nikes.  She tried them and again could not believe how light they were.  She said it didn't feel like she had shoes on.  Again I said with a smile, "Polishka they are supposed to be like that"  She was so excited, she said "I feel like I can fly with the shoes on".  I gotta tell ya folks, seeing her face light up over something so simple, just made me fall her a little more right then and there. 

We ended up going back to the first store just to comparison shop, she wanted to make sure we were getting the best price for the shoes.  She knew they were expensive and wanted me to save as much money as I could.  We got the cute pink Nikes and we were on our way.  Again she so appreciative!  She said thank you for the shoes, but even more than that.  She was glad that I was concerned about her health/welfare while she was running.  I told her when we first started looking that having the right shoes prevents injuries and stress on you joints. 
She then confessed to me, that sometimes she experiences knee pain when she runs.  I said having the right shoes could help with that.  She smiled and gave a huge hug, for thinking and caring for her in such a way.  Okay, enough about shoes! 

I brought up the dress again and she said I've already done too much, she said we could do that another time in the future when we have an occasion to go to. 

There was a grocery store I the mall and we went in got a bottle of liquor and some sweets for Inna's house.  The grocery had everything in it btw.  Food/clothes/alcohol/etc. it was like a Walmart.  So we leave the mall and head to Inna's house for the barbeque.  We meet Inna again and she gives me more hugs.  Max was on the grill, but he was hungover from all the drinking the night before. 

I've been writing a lot so I'll try to keep the barbeque part brief.  We ended up have a wonderful time there.  I helped with some of the cooking and all of the food came out delicious!  We had skewers of chicken grilled over the wood burning grill.  There were tons of side dishes as well, each one was delicious!  One thing I forgot to mention, Ukrainians sure do TOAST A LOT!!! If you're drinking, thank you're toasting!  We stayed there pretty much until almost midnight.  Back to the hotel for our final night there.  The next day were driving to Zaporizhia!

Me Polishka and Dasha at Crazy Karting


Ladies having coffee



Polishka and her new running shoes


Polishka and Dasha at the grocery store



At a local beer store






Posing at the barbeque



Inna's adorable dog

[Chicagoguy]

Sounds good !    Russian/Ukrainian women sure know how to pose for the cameras !
 Seldom do I see this in U.S.

[TagUrIt898]

Day 5

We order breakfast to the room again, hey why not it's included and it's our last day here.lol  So this is a good time to mention that P has altered the original plan of my visit.  Nothing bad, I'll explain. 

Originally I was supposed to drive her and her sister back to Zaporizhia and meet her family.  I have a hotel room already booked for one night in Zaporizhia.  I was going to stay in the hotel room, meet P the next day and spend my final day in Ukraine meeting more family and seeing more of  Zaporizhia.  After that I was going to drive back to Odessa to catch my flight.  The flight left at 0245 so there was plenty of time to do all this btw.  P tells me that she doesn't want me to drive back by myself.  She said she wants to spend every moment she can with me while I'm in Ukraine.  I said to her if you ride back with me how will you get back home.  She said she already researched this and was going to catch a train back to  Zaporizhia. 

Unfortunately, because May 1st was a Ukrainian holiday, the train schedule was thrown off and there would be no trains running on Monday.  She said she could take a bus home.  Keep in mind this bus ride is 12 hours long from Odessa back to Zap.  I said P, you don't have to do that, I'll be fine.  She said she knows that I can take care of myself, but she would feel better know that she was with me.  She again stressed how important is was to her to spend as much time with me as possible, even if it was just traveling in the car.  I gotta tell you folks again, this woman is amazing and I'm just falling even more and more for her. 

We go get her bus ticket and then were off to pick up Dasha for our road trip.  I'm very nervous, but I'll never show it.  I've heard so many horror stories about the Ukrainian Police and all the other hazards that come with driving in Ukraine.  I was confident that I could do it tho, so here we go.  We stop and grab a bite to eat, because we know we have a long drive ahead of us.  Again the customer service and food was  just phenomenal!!! Ukrainians take such pride in whatever it is they are doing, whether they are servers or gas attendants, etc.  We're driving and the roads aren't bad at all, until we get to a certain part of the trip and then it was like driving thru a field of land mines.  The potholes were ridiculously huge.  They both said the government doesn't care about fixing the roads, only making themselves richer.  Shame about what's going on with the war, economy and government over there.

 Anyways, so I got to maneuver around a big truck that's driving slow and I make the mistake of doing this right in front of a Ukrainian Police Check Point.  Okay my heart is beating  really fast now.  Again I'm playing it cool, but it's definitely an "Oh Shit" moment.  P told me to smile and be polite.  The officer comes up to the car, and P does all the talking.  He basically said I committed two violations, he see that I was obviously a foreigner and instead of reading us the riot act or fining me he said "Don't do that again".  Polishka and Dasha could not believe he let us go without any penalty of some sort.  She said the only reason he probably let us go was because of me being an American.  So we make one our stops and upon returning to the car, P (she's a character if you haven't noticed by now) starts teasing me about something, I can't remember what it was and jokingly I say "Shut up Polishka"  WHOOAHHH  record scratch!!!! She gasps and says "don't ever say that!"  I was smiling when I said it, but apparently in Ukraine it's very very bad to tell someone to shut up. Polishka explained it extremely rude and basically implies that the other person is stupid and not worth listening to. Of course I immediately apologized and explained that in the U.S. we say it all the time and it's not considered rude. (Most of the time)  I could see that she was upset, so again I apologized abd assured her that I didn't know it was offensive.  She seemed to pout just for a second, but quickly forgave me because realize that I didn't know about Ukrainian customs.   

She squeezed my hand, we were back on the road and it was quickly forgotten about.  Fast forward the trip, no more stops by the police, but lots of check points.  It was a really long drive and all of us were exhausted by the time we got to Zap. 

We dropped Dasha off at home and me and P went to the hotel to get ready for the dinner tonight at her home.  Very big deal here folks, I was gonna meet her dad and brother.  There were some friends of the family that would be there too.  We checked into the hotel and get showered and changed.  I told P that if she wanted to spend the night at home, I would understand.  I didn't wanna make anyone uncomfortable with her staying with me at the hotel.  She said "No, No I'm staying with you".  Of course I was happy to hear this, but I would have understood if she choose to stay at home. 

Okay so we go to her home.  Big moment here!!!!  I've been looking forward to meeting her family for quite some time now.  She had already told them i was coming so they knew all about me before even got there.  I walk into the yard and her dad comes up to me and give me a huge hug and shakes my hand.  He is full of smiles and is very happy.  I meet her brother, his girlfriend and the friends of the family.  This (at least to me) is huge, the week prior to my arrival, her dad, brother and even the friends of the family learned few English words so they could speak with me. I was more than honored that everyone went above and beyond to make me feel so welcomed.  So I bring her dad and brother gifts. I got her brother and dad both MPD police raid shirts. I got her father a bottle of Makers a dress her brother a bottle of Fireball. Quick story  I brought 4 small shot size bottles of Fireball with me for me and P.  She loved it, I don't think they have it over there.  Her dad and brother both loved their gifts and her dad even went and changed into his new police shirt! 

We had dinner which was amazing, skewers of beef cooked over a wood fire barbeque grill. Lot's and lots of Ukrainian side dishes too.  There was vodka, wine and we toasted to them all.  Her dad is a character, there is music on in the background and he gets up to dance.  He is a little intoxicated, but you can tell he just a joyful man.  He just turned 65 that week!  As a matter of fact the day I was to arrive April 28th, was his birthday.  He told P to go meet me and have fun.  She missed her dad's birthday to come meet with me, again I'm just over-whelmed at how amazing this woman is! 

After dinner, her brother breaks out his acoustic guitar and he is really good.  He has a nice voice and was certainly skilled at playing the guitar.  I ask P to dance and we danced a little to one of his songs, of course the whole family cheered for us when we did this :-)  It's getting late we've had an extremely long day, so we say our goodbyes and head back to the hotel.

Polishka's car selfie



I kinda like this one



Me and Polishka's dad



Nikolja and his girlfriend



Food!!!



Dancing with Poppa




Nikolja playing singing and playing guitar

[TagUrIt898]

Day 6

It's my last day in Zap, and we wake up to a rainy, gray cloudy day.  We both just wanna snuggle up in bed, but we know we should get on with the day.  She planned on taking me around town and also meeting her aunt and her family.  We make it to breakfast in the restaurant of our hotel and it's just us and another couple there having breakfast. 

At the time of registration, we pre-filled out forms of our breakfast choices.  So when we went to sit down they already had our selections.  It took a little while for our food to come out, but when it did, man did it come out.  In Ukraine they don't have hard and fast rules when it come to meals.  So you could get a lunch or dinner item with breakfast very easily. 

We were served so much food we couldn't even finish it all.  Again with the fine service at the restaurant, when I say this I mean very attentive wait staff.  They don't allow empty plates or used napkins to stay on the table.  We leave breakfast and P reminds me that we will also do some souvenir shopping as well. 

plan was to be on the road and back to Odessa at 3pm.  It was around 11 am when we left the hotel.  We go and pick up Dasha and start our quick sight seeing tour of Zap.  During the ride Dasha said to Polina that she misses me already!  I was so over-joyed to hear that.  I really like her sister, she was a blast to hang out with and I'm so glad she like me in return.  Polina had already expressed how important her big sister's opinion was to her.  I'm sure if Dasha didn't like me or approve, me and P wouldn't have continued. 

We make a quick stop at a flea market where Dasha has a client that sells various items.  I find quite a few nice things to buy.  Ukrainian flag, shot glasses, a flask from USSR, and the decorative shoes that are made out of corn husks that you hang on you wall for goodluck.  We then make another stop at the grocery store for sweets and a bottle cognac for her aunt and uncle.  During this time Dasha slipped away for a quick second.  We she came back she gave me a present.  It was a little refrigerator magnet with two animated Ukrainians hugging and having beers.  Again I was touched, Dasha went out of her way to give me a gift before I left. 

Okay moving on, we only supposed to do a meet and greet and have tea.  Her aunt puts on an incredible display of Ukraininan food!  Her aunt, uncle and two cousins that were 18 and 22 were just amazing too.  Once again I was welcomed with open arms and smiles.  They were so nice to me and made me feel so welcomed.  P had already told them much about me, so it was almost like they knew me before I got there.  I don't even wanna come close to being rude so of course I indulge in the food!  It was delicious as well!  Wow I love Ukrainian food!  Her aunt prepared the mini crocks with potatoes and beef, almost like a stew. Yum!!!! We stay there for about an hour, tick tock. 

We still have a schedule to keep.  I wish I had more time there!  We leave, but before doing so, her aunt and uncle say they have a present for me.  I told her to tell them that the wonderful meal was enough of a present.  They said I an choose to accept it or not when I see it.  I said okay thanked them immensely and we said our goodbyes.   

Anyways, on to the tour we visit a few places and she also take me to this bridge that has a dam that was built by hand.  I forget the name of it, but what I do remember is how much the actual bridge shook when cars drove over it.  We parked our car and walked on the path way on the bridge and every time cars would go by the bridge would literally shake.  It was very disturbing and fun all at the same time.  It was yet another example of the government not putting money into the roadways.  We left the bridge and then went to another part of town.  It was very nice and reminded me a little of downtown D.C. lot's of shops, offices, buildings and hotels. 

We made one more final stop, the stadium.  I've heard a lot about this place, because P goes there about 5 to 6 times a week.  It was the track she runs at, she wanted me to see it in person.  The track was actually really nice, it was HUGE though!  One lap looked like it was the equivalent of about a half a mile and she runs 10-20 laps each time she goes.  This is another reason why I wanted her to have good running shoes!  We head back to her house and gather everything for our trip back to Odessa. 

We both know it's gonna be a long drive so we're mentally prepared for it.  Her dad and brother were at work so it's just me, P and Dasha there.  Remember the gift from her aunt and uncle, well it was at the house.  Dasha gives me the antique kettle used make tea/coffee.  Polishka's aunt and uncle had one in there home.  It was worth a lot of money.  They wanted me to have smaller version, but just as nice to take back with me.  I was stunned, these people had already shown me unbelievable hospitality and provided me with a wonderful meal.  Now they were giving me this amazing present.  Of course I accepted it, I made some room in my suitcase and carefully packed it away. 

It's about 3 pm now and its time to get going on our road trip back to Odessa.  I'm a little sad to say goodbye to Dasha, joking of course I ask P to ask her if she isn't sure she want to take the long ride back with us.  She said she would have, but she had to work the next day.  I was totally kidding, but I truly believe Dasha would have ridden with us.

So we're off!  Back to Odessa.  The first hour or so, P is speaking with her family and everyone is telling me goodbye and it was nice to meet me.  We driving thru a checkpoint and most of them you just slow down and pass thru.  We were pulled over because we didn't come to a complete stop.  Oh boy here we go again!  The guy explained we were supposed to stop and I apologized.  He asked to see my documents and to open the trunk.  Um...okay.  I present my passport, international driver's license and the paperwork for the car.  There are about 4 Ukrainians cops around us at the point. Again play it cool and just cooperate.  I open the trunk and he just takes a quick look and says okay.  I return to the driver's seat and the say okay have a nice day.  They were actually really friendly and cool.  One of the guys said in English "Bad Roads" and laughed!  So we were on our way no worse for wear.   Polishka said they were probably bored and needed something to do.  I didn't care as long as we were sent away with no tickets or worse. 

We encounter more bad road, but this time I'm a lot more aware of them.  It close to sunset and I was trying to avoid driving on the really bad roads at night.  We drive for quite a while just enjoying the road and the quiet.  There's no music on and were not talking.  No, nothing is wrong!  We are just enjoying the silence and the scenery. 

We make a stop for the bathroom and refreshments.  We ended up getting stopped again at a check point, this time the guy was pretty direct.  Polishka over-heard him talking to another officer and they other guy said let them go, all their paperwork is correct.  P told me the first guy was looking for something to be wrong so he could fine us.  I'm so glad I went with my instincts and got the international driver's license.  15 buck well worth spent!  Back to the drive.  We have about 3-4 hours left in our trip.  I'm making awesome time btw.  Way ahead of schedule. 

We start talking about life and relationships, parenting, etc.  We find that were are both on the same page about a lot of issues.  Which is really nice.  I want us to build a strong foundation for our relationship and a lot of that has to do with communication.  We driving along and were about 2 hours away from the airport and I spot a group of flower stands.  I pull over and P is confused, because I'm diverting from the route of the GPS.  She said " I don't think we have time to stop"  I said "We'll make time" LOL 

We get out and there are several vendors and lots of flowers to choose from.  I told her to pick whatever she wanted.  She ends up choosing a bunch of yellow lilies type flowers.  I'm not good at names.lol  We got back in the car and I told her how I wanted to have flowers for her at the airport, but they didn't sell them there.  I said there was no way I was leaving Ukraine without having gave her flowers.  She smiled and gave me a big hug and kiss.  She loved her flowers (even though she picked them out).

Fast forward a little we arrive at the airport, return the rental car and get my bag checked in for my flight.  I had checked in online so everything was breeze.  At this point it's 1am.  My flight leaves at 2:45am.  I told her she should go to the hotel and get some rest.  I got her a hotel to stay in, before her bus ride.  Keep in mind her bus ride is at 6am!  She said no, she will stay with me as long as she can.  It's obviously a little sad for both of us, we both know the trip is coming to an end.  I said "hey you wanna look at the pictures we took"  She lit up and nodded her head yes and smiled.  I didn't want these last moments to be sad.  We broke out my phone and started reviewing all the pictures.  I must have taken 600 pictures easy.  We didn't make it thru all of them, but it was good way to spend the last half an hour I was there. 

I go get in line for customs and she holds my hand the entire time I'm in line.  Little hugs and kisses with each step I take to get  closer to the entry way.  I tell her this is NOT goodbye, just until next time.  She sad and I'm sad, but were both being strong.  I wanna cry right now, because it hurts to leave her.  Instead I smile, I know I have to be strong and if I cry she'll start crying.  I got thru the gate and she's still there, I wave and she waves until she can't see me anymore.  I asked her to send me a message when she arrives at the hotel later and also when she makes it to her bus the next morning.  I feel so bad for her because she is not going to get much sleep and she has a really long bus ride the next day.

I board my flight, lean my head against the window and the next thing I remember, I'm landing in Moscow.  I was utterly exhausted from all the driving.  So I'm there again at Moscow airport with the cold employees ;-) I have about 4-5 hours of a layover before my flight.  I take to the time to look around buy a few last minute gifts and just relax.  I get a signal finally and I see P has sent me a few messages on Viber.  She's fine and was about to board her bus.  I told her I was well and I would send her a message when I landed back in the US. 

The flight back was a lot easier, I had an entire row to myself, the plane was not crowded at all, the flight was still long but a lot more comfortable.  It sucks being over 6ft tall and flying sometimes.  I land safely in the US and I'm finally home.  Weather is great and it's nice to be back on US soil.  Oh really quick Russians clap when the plane lands.  I'm guessing to show homage to the pilot for doing a good job.

So there you have it that's my trip report.  I'm happy to say Polina and I are still doing well.  I just booked our next trip to the Dominican Republic.  Now won't that be a trip report worth reading???

Tag

Last breakfast in Zaporozhe



Polishka's aunt, uncle and cousins


Remember that bridge??

Sight seeing in Zaporozhe


Where Polishka jogs

[AC]

You are "in like Flynn" Tag.  Congratulations and awesome Trip Report, thanks for sharing!   

[SANDRO43]

So there you have it that's my trip report.

...and a very nice one it is - best of luck with Chapter 2 .

[JayH]

What a lovely story and so well written Tag!
Forum needs some good news stories ( as well as the others!!)
You touch on some many points here but a key to me here( and from talking in chat) is that Tag is a sensitive guy who knows how to show respect and politeness generally.
I loved  reading of how positive his comments of how he found Ukrainian people in general and his experiences-- I now this feeling well myself.

[Faux Pas]

Congrats Tag and thanks for the TR. You're a hit with the family and she's into you. Just a couple of points, I would have recommended going back to UA before DR. You'll have plenty of time to beach vacation with Polina later. Her family likes you and those are relationships to foster as well. You'll be glad you did especially if this relationship progresses. It will help tremendously in her transition.

The coffee thing is a samovar and yeah I think they're pretty cool too. They were very popular in the FSU for many years but I think the origin is Arabic. Many of them are just impressive to look at.

It took a big brass set of cajones to drive in UA on your first trip. If you are going to do so in the future just a suggestion, the checkpoint guys are cops too. Bring a handful of MPD lapel badges or something that looks cool. Don't hesitate to let them know you're a cop, too. IMHO, you were extremely lucky for two stops and no fines. A little gift such as a lapel badge could e a lot cheaper in the future. Also, break up your posts/TR into smaller paragraphs. Your writing is fine but stringing out those complete pages and no blanks is monotonous

Good luck

[BillyB]

Very detailed trip report and could only be written by someone who is happy with his experience. The joy you're feeling and experience you had is the reason many of us went or want to go to the FSU. After a trip some people grow closer and some grow apart. Based on what I've read and seen, I think you and P's bond will grow stronger.

[msmobyone]

One of the most enjoyable TRs I've ever read

I got stopped  / 'in trouble' with the Russian Police three times in 48 hours on a recent trip when driving ... they were polite, too

Good luck with your D.R holiday and - hopefully - more meetings.

Keep us informed of your progress


 

[HoundDaddyLee]

Outstanding report Tag! I am very happy for you and P. Best of luck!


HDL

[2tallbill]

Tag, excellent report, nice photos and you are already planning your next trip.

One thing: If you put a blank line every 4-5 lines it makes your report a hundred
times easier to read. A lot more people would read it.

Go back and try to read it yourself in it's current form.

If you asked a mod could probably do it for you, the slowest/laziest one here
could do it in 5 minutes. (I could do it in less than 2 minutes)

Udachi!


Bill

[TagUrIt898]

Hey Bill, when I originally posted it, I had been writing an email to myself to save and record my thoughts.  I just cut and pasted the entire thing, not thinking about how it would read. Mods please feel free to edit the entire post with spaces between the paragraphs to make it easier to read.


Thanks

Tag

Udachi!


 

[BillyB]

Tag, I sometimes read people's posts in the past to see how they progressed and you've avoided pitfalls and travelled the right path. Fortunately you didn't meet the other woman in Spain and found P who was more thrilled to see you than a place like Paris. With Larry recommending Lucky Lovers and some of us warning you against taking a woman to an exotic place on a first date, I think this forum has done it again by helping a guy out successfully. Telling your story will help newbies and give them hope that they can make this happen if they use their big head and visit only women that are "into them". This ordeal is all worth it if they find the right woman.

[Noch1]

Great TR, Look forward to more, as you move forward:)

[TagUrIt898]

Tag, I sometimes read people's posts in the past to see how they progressed and you've avoided pitfalls and travelled the right path. Fortunately you didn't meet the other woman in Spain and found P who was more thrilled to see you than a place like Paris. With Larry recommending Lucky Lovers and some of us warning you against taking a woman to an exotic place on a first date, I think this forum has done it again by helping a guy out successfully. Telling your story will help newbies and give them hope that they can make this happen if they use their big head and visit only women that are "into them". This ordeal is all worth it if they find the right woman.

Hey thanks for the support BillyB, yah it's funny how things work out. My first venture didn't come to fruition, but looking back I'm glad it didn't!  Polina is a much better choice and I'm glad things are going the way they are.  I appreciate all the support and advice you guys give.

Tag

Oh and a big thank you to to mod that made this post so much easier to read.  It looks like an actual trip report instead of one big run-on sentence.lol

[BillyB]

yah it's funny how things work out. My first venture didn't come to fruition, but looking back I'm glad it didn't!  Polina is a much better choice and I'm glad things are going the way they are.

If more guys like you exercise patience or don't ignore red flags, they'd increase their chance of success.

[Subnuclear]

Great report and well done on finding and starting such a great relationship. Having been to Russia and Ukraine several times for work and vacation I can honestly say you are a much braver man than me being willing to drive there! I always made my girlfriend drive while in Russia!

My experience with the Ukrainian Police was different (for jaywalking) he held me for 2 hours trying to get bribes from me in front of the Russian Embassy in Kiev. He finally figured out i had given all my cash to the Russian Embassy (in bribe for new visa) and let me go.

[Hammer2722]

Tag, I just finished reading your TR. I really enjoyed your writing and all the detail you provided. I agree with Faux Pas that your next trip should be to Zap to spend as much time as possible with your girl and her family. You can always plan the vacations for later. Looking forward to reading your next TR and good luck with your relationship!!! 

[2tallbill]

Hey Bill, when I originally posted it, I had been writing an email to myself to save and record my thoughts.
Udachi!

Tag, it looks great now and is easy to follow.

It looks like you might have found an excellent girl. In another thread I made
a few note about how to keep things together while waiting for the next trip/visa/etc
here http://www.russianwomendiscussion.com/index.php?topic=19451.msg402349#msg402349

Udachi! 


Bill

[mendeleyev]

Very nice!