Mountain Getaway / Yaremcha Market

Today we are enjoying the beautiful scenery of the Carpathian Mountains. The hotel really does feel quite luxurious and I woke up feeling fairly rested, even though it was again a night with just shy of six hours of sleep.

We showered and had breakfast at the hotel. Pretty typical European breakfast, nothing out of the ordinary. The morning plan was to shop at the Yaremcha market. The schedule had just two hours devoted to this which we knew from the start would not be quite enough.

The market has so many shops with blouses, dresses, and many other Ukrainian trinkets. At first everything looked the same just because of the sheer volume. Compared to at home though there are really so many options and it was hard to decide which store to go into and start looking at seriously. Eventually we landed on a store in the middle of one of the main rows. Tyler found a shirt for himself first, a linen one with blue and grey embroidery that is quite fine and definitely hand embroidered. As he was getting close to his decision, I also found a really pretty burgundy blouse with short sleeves. We are both happy with those purchases!

I made a somewhat impulse decision at another shop to get a T-shirt with embroidered flowers on the front. But it was very inexpensive and I’m sure I’ll wear it plenty.

Tyler and I wandered a bit more. It was somewhat on my mind to get a dress but it was difficult to decide where to stop to look. They often would just have one size of a certain item, so if you liked the pattern but it was too big or too small then you’re out of luck on that one. After a few near purchases that I ended up deciding against because I just wasn’t in love, I found a blue dress with white embroidery that I really liked. Then it was basically time to go to the bus. But on the way we stopped at one more place. Tyler found a second shirt, one that is a beige linen with blue and golden yellow embroidery. I really like that one too. I tried on a stunning shirt in the same shop, without knowing the price in advance. Turns out it was 12000 hryvni, which is about 600 CAD. Trust me to find one of the most expensive blouses in the market. It was stunning though. I decided that was a bit too much to justify and my other items are also great but at much more reasonable prices.

I think both Tyler and I were starting to feel comfortable shopping at the market right as we had to rush to the bus. We are going to a Hutsul wedding lunch today. Bus call was 11:30 am. We were a few minutes later than that as were many of the others. Both of us quickly donned our new purchases and are feeling quite well dressed for a Hutsul wedding!

Now the bus is taking us about a two hour journey for a Hutsul wedding and lunch. The Ukrainian music is blasting, the girls are braiding each other’s hair in much more interesting and fun ways than we get to for dance and we are singing along to the music!

I’ll post again after the wedding!!

BrookeRead more