Shevchenko Park

It's a Ukraine-style Pioneer Village - Old homes and homesteads from around the region have been moved to, and restored at this park.

The decorative detail wood work is so impressive, especially considering all the work is done by hand.  

The interiors have been restored to show how 'traditional' Ukrainian one and two-room homes would (or still do?) look and function.

You can't help but think there's some great value in a more simple, self-sustaining life-style. Each home is surrounded by a small orchard, a vegetable garden, and flower garden - and most set-ups showed both indoor and out-door stoves for seasonal cooking.  

While the sunflower is the national Ukrainian flower - this year it seems like everywhere we go lily's grow wild - like calla-lily's in California. I love it - and don't think I'll be able to see a lily again without thinking of Ukraine.

And here's a picture of Shevchenko (the Ukrainian Shakespear the park is named after) that graces the entrance to the park: 

Lychakiv Cemetery

 We received angelic instruction while wandering the Lychakiv Cemetery this week.
The cemetery gained museum status in the early '90's, and walking the over-grown paths of statues, and monuments to distinguished deceased Ukrainian, Armenian, and Polish nationals is no less impressive than a brick and mortar museum. It's one of the oldest cemeteries in Europe, and the ledger dates to 1675
Here are a couple notable tombs, memorials, and graves:
Ivan Franko - 'the' Ukrainian nationalist
Composer and Poet Volodymyer Ivansyuk:

Armenian Benefactors Torosevych and Kayetanovycg - and the Metropolitans I. Isakovych and S. Stefanovych: 
The Trenkl', Brauer, Veihl' family monumnet and burial: 
and others:)


We even got to use our umbrellas, and the little rain added to the subdued atmosphere.

Carpathian Adventure

The Carpathian Mountains are one of my favorite Ukraine wonders. As we traveled closer to the mountains and left the flat lands behind, we noticed more and more haystack "villages." There are so many haystacks and a variety of shapes and sizes that they began to take on humanistic qualities to us. Here's a backseat picture - a benefit of living in a seat-belt free country, I suppose, is that we all fit in one car.

Favorite activities: 

Taking a chairlift to the top of a ski hill and hiking around...

 ... and what a treat to see these sunbathing beauties at the top of the lift ...

We tried to take a family picture - but only one child wanted to be in it.

River-wading:

Greek Orthodox church and cemetery at the top of a hill:

Random Stuff:

the view ... ... Mary entertaining herself with two bottle tops ...  ... roadside fruit and mushroom stands ...  ... Soviet remnants ...