A One Stop Shop For All Of Your Desiccated Fish Needs

Anyone who spends signficant time in Ukraine, surely will experience long distance train travel. I have written about it before, and will again. Today I am heading to the city of L'viv, although this is more about the stops along the way than the destination. As our train floats along the tracks gently rocking from side to side, snaking through the Ukrainian countryside, our ride is punctuated by stops along the route. Some stops are only three minutes, whereas others can run longer than 30 minutes. I assume that the length has more to do with track traffic and maintenance than the size of the city the stop is in. Although the bigger cities tend to be more like five minute layovers to allow all of those exiting and entering enough time to get to whichever side of the stairs they need to be. I know of at least one time when friends of mine had to jump onto a train that was departing the station. The train waits for no one. The thing I find fascinating is the culture of platform marketing. Trains come through these towns all day and throughout the night and the people here know that, in most cases, the train will not be here long enough to allow passengers much more time than it takes to jump off and grab a few quick drags of a cigarette- so wandering off to find something to eat or drink is out of the question. With that in mind, as I look out the window as our train pulls into the different stations you 
see a flood of people start to scurry: some carrying trays, some carrying bags, some with racks specific to their offerings. As the train comes to a stop and the doors open, passengers will run to the doors to listen to and ask questions of the merchants displaying their trays, racks, or bag contents from the platform. Sometimes they need to be scattered by the conductor since they all jockey for best position and can block the egress of the passengers with bags and/or children. When the dust settles and the clock is counting down 
until departure, the merchants hold up their offerings. The selections range from clever (loaves of bread and sausages- each sold separately) to weird (unmarked 2 liter plastic water bottles that used to have water in them, but now have homemade sour milk in them). One guy even has a magazine and newspaper rack that he wheels alongside the train in hopes that someone will see him through the window and meet him for a quick transaction at the door. There are old ladies with packs of cigarettes, baskets of fresh cherries, and bottles of beer [selling like hotcakes even at 7:30am!]. But, my favorite, by far, are the dried fish hawkers. They carry a selection of fish. The big (as long as your leg) attached to a metal rod, to the small (as big as your hand) just held in their hands for quick dispensing. All dried. Then, the passengers can buy a whole small fish, or a piece of a big fish cut off the whole. It is so common to see Ukrainians eating dried fish with their beer, but I am just so put off by the smell I can't get close enough to even think about eating it- although it has been offered many times. Minutes later, as if on schedule, the train pulls away and the cycle starts all over again. The merchants either sit and wait for the next train or go and restock (especially if they are offering heated or frozen goods). Then they do it again when the next train arrives.

"get your hot buns right here"

"magazines. newspapers. whatever your reading pleasure...we'll bring it to you!"

"water. it's all I've got. but it's what you want."

"I have beer. and I have sausage. yes, I do know it is 7am, why do you ask?"

"why yes, my candy tastes much better than the people's who are selling the exact same candy. trust me."

"I only have big fish. the lady with small fish will be around in a minute"