Gentlemen gentlemen, some patience please!
OK, this may not be a highly detailed post because I'm running on some limited time.
A couple of things though..
My trip from Kiev to CherkassyI was going to take a private car at a cost of $80, then was told it was going to be $140.
I thought "stuff that!" so I decided on taking the bus and just getting my guide to help me arrange the bus.
I'd heard som bad things about the bus so I called another guide and got a quote of $200, then a call back from that guide a little later saying he was tired and confused and his quote was $150.
Yeah mate naah but naah mate thanks yeah!When my guide arrived on Thursday morning to help me arrange the bus tickets (the day before the trip) he had a driver waiting (I would have though we would have just got a taxi to the bus company) so after feeling a little "stung" from the Train station episiode (big cost blow out in relative terms) I said to him "Wait, before we go anywhere let's go for a coffee and a talk".
So, off we go down to O'Briens and I ask him for a detailed quote:
How much for the driver to take us to the bus, wait and bring us back?;
How much for you to come to the bus and come back?;
How much will the bus ticket be (Approximatley of course)?;
How much vaiation is in this quote?
I already knew approximately how much the cab ride would be from the bus terminal in Cherkassy to the hotel because my friend told me a range.
I added it all up and it wasn't a lot less than the $140 second quote so I decided, after taking some private counsel from some members here (and wives) that I would take the private car.
Now... I never knew a 4 cylinder car could wind up so much speed, brake so heavily, bounce around and drift all over the road without coming off the bitumen once.
We were stopped 3 times by police (twice for speeding and once for overtaking going up a hill) and the one time HE stopped to talk to the police they searched the car and claimed there was something wrong with the passenger door and had a long "talk" to him inside the police car.
He says he wasn't fined "Only Protocol" but he is either the sweetest talking erratic driver on earth or he paid them off.
He was a nice enough guy and I'd ride with him again (because we made it here safely) but I wouldn't put anyone I loved in a car with him.
So... scary as hell... and I'm serious about that!
I've got some pictures but I'll have to wait until I can use my own notebook instead of sitting at someone's office desk... though from what I saw yesterday I should see if I can find her and see if she's single.

OK, dinner with Ms Cherkassy, and a bit of a recap.
You might remember a while ago i asked a question about religion in Ukraine. She was the girl that told me about her Sunday church visits etc.
We met at my hotel and I wasnb't surprised at all by her looks. Maybe her face was even prettier than I| imagined but everything else contained no surprises.
I was surprised that her English wasn't as good as I expected however she had explained before that it's difficult for her to speak English if she is tired and I have to admit it was a bit of an effort for her to come to see me straight after work.
We sat in the upstair lobby of the hotel for an hour and a half or so waiting for an appropriate time to go to the restaurant.
I'd brought some books for her on my city, koalas (her favourite animal she says) and Australia in general.
We sat and looke dthrough the books and had a good time. She asked some good logical questions about my city, my family, etc.
When it was time to go to the restaurant we started walking even though it was pretty cold. I wasn't sure I would have enough cash for dinner so I asked about credit cards and she told me she didn't think the restaurant would take them. During our walk we were checking out cash machines trying to find one that took my card type and eventually we had success.
So, off to the restaurant it was.
I was pretty happy to see that the restaurant wasn't only traditional Ukrainian it was also set in a replica "historical" Ukrainian home. We went in and found our table and I asked her to order us delicious traditional Ukrainian fare.
Dinner was lovely! I really enjoyed it. I'm not sure about everything that we ate but I can tell you that everything came out in relatively small portions and there was lots of variety.
She asked me what I wanted to drinka nd as I'd remembered (that like Ms D) Ms C said she "very much liked Georgian wine but it is too expensive to drink" I'd seen the menu and found the wine page and nothing on there was TOO expensive so I suggested we have Georgian wine.
Now, every now and then it's worth having a punt so I added, "Is this a sweet wine, I like sweet wine sometimes". She had a very big grin on her face and said, "Yes, this is sweet, I very much like sweet wine."
Now.. normally I'd drink a big ballsy red, a shiraz, something that's going to "handshake your tastebuds like a bushy at an outback camel race". The wine was fine though, not my first preference but if it made her happy, I could be happy.
Conversation over dinner was stilted but I kept in mind that she was tired and Engoish was her second language. What did concern me was that she was freqently looking over my left shoulder.
There was lots of hand touching, many sweet looks, lots of comments about being happy I'd made the trip, but all in the same it was very formal.
Towards the end of our meal the table behind us got up to leave and when they were putting on their coats one enormous bloke turned and looked at me as if I'd just run over his dog.
After they left I asked her if she knew the people at the table and she said "just one man, he works in my building at work, why?"
"Because the guy with the mostache looked at me and gave me a smile."
"Yes, that's him."
Well, right then her phone rang and she got up to answer and just as she stoo I looked through the window to see the four men from "that" table walk out the front door and stand in the courtyard.
I decided that it would be a really good idea to watch them because if any of them were on the phone it might be a good idea to make a quick exit stage left and avoid the worst possible outcome for a dinner with a new friend in a far away and strange place.
I'll say at this point that Cherkassy's street are quite dark and it has none of the International feel that Kiev has. I Kiev I felt safe at all times but I'll admit some of the dark streets we walked down on the way to the restaurant had me touching my wallet every few minutes and keeping my hands LOOSELY tucked into my pockets incase I needed to get them free quickly.
So, there they were standing in the courtyard, smoking and talking, all of them looking at least 6'2" tall and at least as heavy as I am. As they stood there I was thinking to myself, "If worst comes to worse and there's no safe exit from this "pub" take the biggest one first and hardest because you probably won't get a second chance."
They walked off and Ms C came back to our table and explained it was her sister. We joked about her asking, "Is he OK? Are you alright? Are there any surprises? What time will you be home?"
I looked back out the window and couldn't see the men, and then looked at Ms C and could tell she was very tired. I suggested we made a move so I helped her with her coat, put mine on, moved my hotel key to my right hand coat pocket and went to the bar to pay the bill.
I'll make a quick comment here about the bill. We had a big dinner with lots of small dishes, two glasses of red for me, one for her, juice and water for both of us. When I got the bill it was only 152H, or about $50 Aussie dollars. That was MUCH more reasonable than I expected. Since being in Ukraine I've been struggling with the number of small notes I get so I just pulled out two 100H notes and after some chatter between Ms C and the lady behind the counter she said to me, "You gave them too much," turned and started walking out.
What??? Where was my change?
I decided that we'd make a mental note of that for later!
Anyway, off we went towards the door, me with my hand in my pcoket, key in hand, wondfering if "those giants" were still outside.
Guys, I have to go now... she'll be here in a few moments so I'll have to update you on the rest of the night when I get back from our day out.
Hav a good day now!

(no spell checking and a strange keyboard so who knows howmany typos are above... hahahah!)