Turboguy & Turbodude's First Dream tour

[BillyB]

 If she is really your soulmate you should be able to pick her nose. 

True, I'll let you in on a secret(don't tell anybody), I've already put my finger in my soulmate's nose. Everything was fine. If she's into you, you can put anything you got into anything you want. If a woman goes ballistic, then you're in trouble.

[Turboguy]

I have tried to stick my finger in a nose or two (besides my own) in my time.  They usually go ballistic anyway.   Ok I am wierd.

[Bruce]

Turbo - could you go through which cities you liked best and why on this trip as well as which agencies you thought had the best women for both your age group and your sons age group.  Which cities were easiest to navigate, where you had the most fun.  How did a professional scammer manage to sneak through and land your son?  Any explanation for that?

[tim 360]

Hey Turbo,  Just finally read your excellent trip report and sounds like you had a great time and thanks for the detailed read,  it was fun.  Which was your favorite city?  Cheerio, Tim360

[Turboguy]

Hi Tim and Bruce.

Favorite City,  hummm.  Lugansk was probably my favorite.  The prettiest gals were in Dnepro and it was also the nicest city by far.  The gals seemed a tad more distant there.   Kharkov was my least favorite but it could be because it was my first and it took me a city to get up to speed.   I met the most and nicest gals in Zap which was not that nice as a city.  They all had their good and bad points.  Our party in Zap was the smallest.

I would say Zap and Lugansk were my favorites.

[Muj]

Good trip TG. Good luck to you and TD in finding the one.
One comment on the food. I never ate in the McD's in Odessa, Moscow, Kiev, et all.  Never tried to find American restaurants either and enjoyed many delicious meals.  We dined one time at the Steak House in Odessa, not again.  I usually relied on the picture menus and a limited Russian food vocabulary.  Usually ordered some kabob meal. Bought many items at the grocery store and ate in the kitchen flat.  Also many good meals by the fiancee's family .

[Rim]

Usually ordered some kabob meal.

Yea I've gotten to the point where I usually order BBQ pork or chicken, which for the newbs isn't American BBQ, and I find that it's usually pretty good. Add in some fried or boiled potatoes and onions and you can get by pretty well.

[Turboguy]

When I have to eat somewhere I usually go for chicken and potatoes.   Most are ok.  Once in a while they get a little funky.  None are usually something I would go out of my way to eat.   At the hotel in Lugansk I ate most of my meals at the hotel restaurant.   No pics and no English menu.   The waiter knew enough English to let me know the top item on page 4 was chicken so I ate the same chicken meal the whole time I was in the town.  Sometimes I eat Shuslick but you can not always find it.

I still consider MickeyD's the best meals of my trip.

TurboDude is planning to go back to visit his # 1 gal the end of November.   I will try and let everyone know how he makes out.  I may go about the same time but I am not deciding that until after my Russia trip in 4 days.

[Darth Vader]

Yea I've gotten to the point where I usually order BBQ pork or chicken, which for the newbs isn't American BBQ, and I find that it's usually pretty good. Add in some fried or boiled potatoes and onions and you can get by pretty well.

There is a real shortage of beef there.  Once I had a great steak at a restaurant. We went back...3 times...and never ever any more steak!

So I settled for pork, which I never eat at home.  Very delicious there.

But I agree, culture shock with food is a big factor, and I never came to love their favorite dishes.  Even when my wife cooks them for us here :-(  shhh....  !!!

I have to hit McDonald's at least once a week when I'm over there...

[jb]

Sometimes you guys crack me up.  Regarding beef, I was able to get all the beef I wanted a year ago, and of good quality at that.  But that was Russia, not Ukraine.  My guess is you guys were either in very small towns with very poor markets, or the ladies you were with didn't know where to shop.  There is no shortage of decent, tasty, and wholesome food available in most of the FSU.

If you didn't like the food the woman cooked for you, perhaps it is the cook, not the ingredients.  Russian cuisine is every bit the equal of french or Italian; it's very good stuff, I grow fatter by the day on it... 

[Darth Vader]

My guess is you guys were either in very small towns with very poor markets, or the ladies you were with didn't know where to shop. 

In my case, I was talking about one restaurant, and yes, it was in a small resort town.  My wife doesn't eat meat, so I try to get steak when we eat out.  But the markets have an abundance of meats.

But eating in Russian homes of friends of hers, I'd say pork and seafood is more popular than beef.

[Vaughn]

There is no shortage of decent, tasty, and wholesome food available in most of the FSU...... Russian cuisine is every bit the equal of french or Italian; it's very good stuff, I grow fatter by the day on it... 

  I've got to agree with jb on both points. I DO shop carefully though at the markets - some have sides of beef displayed at room temperature. Scattered throughout most cities one will see kiosks
displaying the word ГРИЛЬ - grill - where you can get good tasty chicken at almost any reasonable hour. Disclaimer: my bro-in-law is certain that the "grill" kiosks use only close-dated birds.

  But the real Russian cuisine is fabulous - for those guys who know what they do and don't like, I'd suggest you build a small food
vocabulary - be able to recognize words like shashlik, pork, beef, fish, shellfish, pelmyeni, borscht, and of course, your dreaded salads, most of which I happen to enjoy.

  For you McD's junkies, there's always the popular alternative: pizza, as this Chicago Pizza in my wife's hometown. A good place
to start building that food vocabulary!

http://chicagopizza.ru/

[SANDRO43]

there's always the popular alternative: pizza, as this Chicago Pizza in my wife's hometown. A good place
to start building that food vocabulary!http://chicagopizza.ru/

Strange that they should put both "моцарелла" и "пармезан" (mozzarella & parmesan cheese) in their pizzas . Probably their cow's milk mozzarella has very little taste, and parmesan is used to give it some kick. Of course, they cannot be expected to use the more costly, real mozzarella (made from buffalo milk).

[jb]

Pizza made in Russia isn't so bad.  It may not be up to Domino's or Pizza Hut standards,  but it is better tasting than what I had in Italy.  During my time stationed in Italy I had many opportunities to sample pizza there and believe me, even after I mopped up all the excess olive oil with a couple dozen paper napkins, what was left was not worth writing home about.

In my experience, Italian food is best enjoyed in someplace other than Italy, and cooked by someone other than an Italian.  Sad but true.

[Darth Vader]

In my experience, Italian food is best enjoyed in someplace other than Italy, and cooked by someone other than an Italian.  Sad but true.

Ah, I thought we were talking "Russian" food.  So I agree.

The pizza both in Ukraine and Russia is great.  And the Japanese food is excellent, too.

There is a pizza chain in Ukraine named Chelentano's.  There pizza is as good as I've ever had.  I found them in Yalta and Dnepr.

McDonald's make a lousy hamburger in the USA, but in the FSU it's about the best, unless you upgrade to an American chain like Fridays...

BTW--having travelled in both Russia and Ukraine, I found the food better in Ukraine.  It reminds me of southern USA cooking 

[SANDRO43]

During my time stationed in Italy I had many opportunities to sample pizza there and believe me, even after I mopped up all the excess olive oil with a couple dozen paper napkins, what was left was not worth writing home about.

Well JB, I don't know what sort of pizzerias you patronised and where and when, but normal, run-of-the-mill Italian pizzerias today only add sprinkle of olive oil, if at all.

In my experience, Italian food is best enjoyed in someplace other than Italy, and cooked by someone other than an Italian. Sad but true.

You must have been very unfortunate in your selection of restaurants and cooks, too. My own experience is QUITE different (I've been dining at restaurants at least 3 times a week since my divorce 30 years ago, and I am rather choosy about food quality).

[Vaughn]

  "But what will he EAT?" asked Mama as Elvira and I drove
from Yoshkar-Ola to a Novgorod dacha to meet her for the
first time. "Don't worry Mama, he eats everything!

  I really believe that my enjoyment of their food endeared
me to my wife and MIL. Maybe Turbo might re-think this
ridiculous McDonald's soy and special sauce habit....   To bring
this food discussion back to his TR, I'm making a suggestion to
our ladyless brethern. Turbo, when you google po-russki, you
get many hits unavailable in English, things that won't otherwise
show up. So I searched "pizza Ekaterinburg" in Cyrillic and found
the following, which assumes you like pizza like most Americans.

Мастер-пицца (Master-pizza) pronounced mahst-YOOR.
Center of Ekaterinburg, 8th of March street No. 37, right
on the corner near the park. Open Mon-Sun 10AM-11PM.
Owner: Larisa Yakimova (yah-KEEM-ah-vah)
Shed the silly Ronald get-up and go local with a stunning
woman. Sandro, jb and I will expect a quality report on the
mozzarella.

BTW, I like the new avatar with The Nose, The Midget, etc...

Saturday night, expecting to get lucky, and LMAO,

Vaughn

[Turboguy]

Actually if I am not eating with a gal I usually split my meals between McDonalds and Pizza but good pizza is hard to get there.   Even Sbarros often does not have good pizza but it is all ok.  The only really good pizza I have found in the FSU is the Italian restaurant next the TGI Fridays in Kiev and one place in Moscow.

I wish I was the type of person who ate everything.  Even here I am a bit of a picky eater.

Glad you like the new avatar.   I may have to resize it.  It seems to be cutting the nose out of the photo.

Hope you get lucky.  If you do, take some notes for me.  It has been so long I might need to study up a bit.

[Bruno]

Actually if I am not eating with a gal I usually split my meals between McDonalds and Pizza but good pizza is hard to get there.... 

McDonalds... Pizza ...  Why go so far for eat food that you can find at home...

Some local restaurant are very good and cheap... During my stay in Odessa in May, i have find a very good restaurant... for two, 5 dishes and wine was only 100 Grivna...

The first photo is the outside of the restaurant
The second one is the inside... me and my girlfriend...
The last one is a scan from a matchbox... with name, address and phone of the restaurant...

For these who go to Odessa, make a try... located in the center of city...

[Turboguy]

Everyone is different Bruno.  Most people enjoy eating something very different than they can get at home.  For me it is the opposite.   I like the foods I am used to.   I have had good meals there but most are not something I really enjoy and knowing what you are going to get is never a sure thing.  Ukrainian and Russian food is very different.   It is just not something I enjoy that much but that is just me.  I actaully envy people a bit who can enjoy eating all the unique dishes. 

We have a famous restaurant about an hour east of me.  The have a penny scale at the entrance and the idea is to weigh yourself going in and out and most people gain about 4 pounds dining there.   Your table is full of food all the time.  Thier motto is that if you eat to live you won't like it, if you live to eat, it is the place for you.  For me, I eat to live. 

I just enjoy getting something I like to eat once in a while and that seems to boil down to Pizza and McDonalds.   

[Jet]

it's very good stuff, I grow fatter by the day on it... 

I've gained nearly 15 lbs. since I met Lil  Amazingly, she has actually lost about 5 in the same timeframe.

Turbo, maybe you'd have a little more luck if you visited the markets instead of the restaurants once in a while. When in Russia it's fairly common for us to have something like ham, cheese, and white bread for breakfast, or yogurt with fruit.  Never had problems locating a rotisserie chicken in any of the local kiosk mazes either. Mundane fare but tasty none the less. (and fairly "normal" from a US diner's perspective)

[Darth Vader]

When in Russia it's fairly common for us to have something like ham, cheese, and white bread for breakfast, or yogurt with fruit.

Yes, I had to readjust my concept of what "breakfast" is.  Mostly you see what you shared--plus bony fish.  For breakfast?  yuk 

This very minute we are home in the US having breakfast, and I'm having scrambled eggs, toast and cereal.  My wife is having cheese on wheat bread :-)  We are both happy.

But in Russia, I have to eat "her" breakfast--no other choice at cafe.  But we usually rent a flat for the two weeks we are there (I can't stand to stay with her mother) and I can have whatever I want for breakfast.

Turbo--good luck with your next trip and the followup on the ladies you met on this trip.

[jb]

Agreed, Jet.

T/G, I can't imagine why you would decide to pursue a woman from a culture whose food you so detest.  Just think about it; after the new wears off the toy, you might get laid twice a week, but you are going to have to eat that woman's cooking 3 times a day, everyday, for the rest of your life.  It doesn't make sense.  Being such a picky eater as you self-describe, I'd think you would be more comfortable with someone from a culture which more closely matched your own tastes.  The Brits are rather famous for setting a bland table, as are the Irish and the Scots.  You'd probably fit right in there.

I think it would be unreasonable to marry someone from Russia or Ukraine and expect the woman to completely put aside all of her food culture in favor of what you want to eat.  I think you are going to have to acquire a taste for some salty fish, salo, and maybe a little caviar if you want an ethnic Russian wife.

[BC]

I've gained nearly 15 lbs. since I met Lil  Amazingly, she has actually lost about 5 in the same timeframe.

Now I don't feel so bad with the 20 I added here in 4 years! (lbs, not kilos)

Thanks! 

[groovlstk]

There is a pizza chain in Ukraine named Chelentano's.  There pizza is as good as I've ever had.  I found them in Yalta and Dnepr.

Man, you guys who enjoy pizza in Russia/Ukraine are definitely not connoisseurs!  Celentano's would get run out of town in NYC or Chicago!

I did like the coffee at Celentano's in Dnepr, and it was the only cafe in town that didn't play bad techno music.