As I looked forward to mom's visit for the past couple of months, I looked around the town of Razdol'noye and said to myself "dad would HATE this place, but mom would LOVE this place". I was right. It took a grand total of 10 minutes (after dealing with the whole lost luggage situation) for her to look out the window of a Simferopol tramway to say "I just love this". Over the nine days she was here we had such a great time. We had a dinner party where the main course had to be substituted mid-party. We went to a safari park and saw lions being fed and tranquilized cubs. We had an wonderful home cooked Ukrainian meal by one of my favorite families in this country. We had a taco night with a lemon cake mom made. She came to English club and watched Lenara and I in action at a librarians seminar. We had tea and borsch, not in that order, with some of my Ukrainian friends. We saw the Swallow's Nest near Yalta. We lunched at Salachick in Bakhchisaray. We drank vodka and played Scrabble. As I hugged her goodbye at the airport this morning I felt that her visit could not have gone any better. We did everything we set out to do and more. I think I would like to travel with her in the future.
Drinking "chai" with the Ukrainians. In the shop where I buy water.
Lioness at feeding time. At Belagorsk safari park.
Lion resting at safari park.
Lenara posing with the sleepy/sedated cubs
Our group to the safari park. Mom, me, Erin, Stas, and Lenara
Lenara and I giving a presentation to the librarians seminar
Tacos with Lenara and Jenya (much easier when you use ground meat)
Mom tried to find something redeeming to say about the quality of the roads in town. She was at a loss for words
Sitting down to "chai" and sweets at my neighbors apartment
Mom and I at the Swallow's Nest in Alupka
Is it a hotel or a car dealership? Yes!
Erin, Lenara, Faya, Leelya, me and mom after a tasty lunch
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