Reset search
Brooke&Tyler Dance in УкраїнаBrooke&Tyler Dance in Україна
SatelliteEdit route
We are travelling to Ukraine this summer with our dance group Tryzub to take part in dance workshops, perform in Ukraine, and experience the culture and homeland of our heritage! We'll be sharing our experiences and thoughts along the way. Read more
  • 29footprints
  • 3countries
  • 17days
  • 146photos
  • 0videos
  • 20.3kkilometers
  • 18.3kkilometers
Follow Calendar Share Bucket list
Date ascending
  • TravelerBrooke&Tyler Dance in Україна
    2
    Day 7

    Workshop and Travel to Vinnytsia

    August 3, 2019 in Ukraine ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    After a lengthy 5 1/2 hour sleep, we had to wake up and start getting packed up. All of our costumes actually dried (by the way, at the theatre we sprayed our costumes with a vodka / water mix to actually kill some of the odour and bacteria) and we had to get them all packed up along with the rest of our luggage since we were checking out this morning. Checked out and then loaded up the bus to head to our morning workshop.

    The workshop was with the group Aelita and their director Vasyl Bosyi (everyone calls him Bosyi). It was folk choreography at a quick pace with less precision than we are used to. We got to learn a new buko dance that Bosyi had choreographed and that we are going to get to bring back to Canada and perform. What that meant is that we had to learn an entire dance in 3 hours from a great Ukrainian dance instructor who doesn't speak English.

    The combinations and steps were difficult and it was challenging to pick it up because Bosyi was going at such a fast pace. There was barely enough time to figure out the one combination before he moved on to the next. It was especially challenging once the music picked up in speed. I found it almost frustrating at times and had to calm myself down once or twice and remember that this experience is amazing.

    We did get through the whole dance and ran it multiple times. Shane was recording it all on video so that we can rewatch it later. Then afterwards they wanted to show us a gypsy dance, which was amazing. The men were so precise and sharp (one guy named Genna) and the girl was seductive, intense, and very in character. Shortly after we were invited to learn and dance behind them. Didn't spend a ton of time but it was a ton of fun to give it a shot and try to match their intensity.

    Side note, they had a live accompanist on an accordian again and it was humorous to watch the director and musician bicker at each other. Then the director would start dancing and the accordion player would pick up exactly where he was. One comment from Nathan was that the director didn't need to go find the spot in the music, just tell the accompanist. This made the transitions between run throughs quicker than usual, probably partially why we were so tired.

    The other thing to mention was that this workshop was probably the most I've ever sweated in my life. The room was hot, humid atmosphere, low air flow, lots of people in the room and we were constantly moving. My clothes were absolutely drenched and I just kept sweating. My dance pants felt extra heavy at the end so much so that the weight felt like it was pulling the legs down. At the end of the practice, I was able to wring out my shirt and drip sweat onto the floor, my guess is that I got 25ml total volume.

    Overall, the workshop was intense, absolutely amazing, and un-replicable. It was fun watching everyone really focused and trying to learn everything. And the director, Bosyi, was fun, passionate, animated, full of energy, and almost 80 years old.

    Right after the workshop they served us lunch in a side room. Salad, borscht, cabbage rolls, and cherry varynyky for dessert. Bosyi also brought out a special homemade shot called samohonka served with a herb called kalhan. We were told that it gives you long life and is really healthy for men. The taste was slightly caramely and didn't burn that much.

    The schedule for the day had us hitting the road immediately after the workshop to head to Vinnytsia. That meant that 30 sweaty and stinky dancers had to load up onto a bus without a shower. Jordan and I draped our sweaty dance clothes in the back of the bus and boy did they smell bad!

    We left at 2:30pm and got in around 9:00pm. Probably travelled 400km. Brooke passed the time on the bus watching a show she had pre-dowloaded on Netflx (Jane the Virgin) and a bit of napping. I was in the back playing Kaiser and Mario Kart again. This time we had a couple of the new girls join us and learn how to play Kaiser. We coached two of them along and they were starting to figure it out (except when one of them just bid 9 out of the blue without fully understanding it). Jordan and Joren won both games easily, but it was all fun. Mario Kart was a blast but I felt like the bus ride was too short and could have gone another couple of hours.

    We had one gas station stop and I finally tried a famous Wog Dog, which is essentially a pocket dog but is at all the gas stations in Ukraine. Our other stop was an impromptu photo-op on the side of the road by a field of sunflowers. Got a couple of nice pictures.

    When we arrived in Vinnytsia we went through the check in process again at the Podillya Hotel. We are only here for 1 night as a stop on the way to Chernivtsi. The hotel room was an interesting experience. The bed was tiny for two people (probably about the size of the downstairs bed at Baba's or just a bit smaller) and the shower was incredibly small. Side note, Brooke couldn't figure out the hot water in the morning and had to have a cold shower, hot water worked fine for me though.

    There was the possibility of walking to see a fountain show, but since we knew we would only make the tail end of it, decided it was better to get something to eat. Went and found some dinner with Jordan Chrisitne and Joren at an Italian restaurant called. We ordered way too much pizza and I'm pretty sure the waitress laughed at us when she took our order. Made some decent progress and left less than half a pie behind. After dinner we went for a drink at a cocktail bar with some rockin headbanger music. Nathan and Audrey showed up as well.

    Headed to the hotel to get a solid 6 hours of sleep and then we are back on the bus in the morning!

    Tyler    Read more

  • TravelerBrooke&Tyler Dance in Україна
    Day 8

    Long Bus Day #2, Vinnytsia to Chernivtsi

    August 4, 2019 in Ukraine ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    This morning we woke up in Vinnytsia at the very Soviet Podyllia hotel. There wasn’t much to pack up as we didn’t really have enough time to unpack anything much. The tap for the shower was shared with the sink and in spite of trying, I wasn’t able to get any hot water going. I think I warmed it up for Tyler though who had plenty of hot water.

    Breakfast was not the best meal of the trip - instant coffee, tomatoes/meat/cheese and then rice with schnitzel (there has been some discussion and we are not sure if the schnitzel was chicken, pork, or fish). It was probably one of our more efficient load outs, time to hit the road for the second half of the journey from Kropyvnytski to Chernivtsi.

    My main plan for the day was to sleep. Part way through the morning though, the people that wanted to play cards decided to set up right beside our seats at the front of the bus. I think some people didn’t really understand the unspoken rule that the front of the bus is quiet and the back of the bus is louder. I tolerated it for the morning but we have since established the general etiquette for the bus.

    So the morning was spent trying to sleep but not succeeding much. I think Tyler played Mario Kart the entire bus ride. At one point, we had to turn back a few minutes because the other bus had a minor break down. Luckily it didn’t take very long to fix. We were about an hour behind schedule for lunch though. Our lunch stop was in Kamanets-Podillskyi which has a 14th century castle/fortress and the deepest gorge in Europe. Lunch wasn’t the favorite meal of the trip either but it was ok. Salad, soup with meatballs and a plate of stewed chicken and potatoes with a sweet and sour sauce. We took a short walk down to a vantage point for the castle to take photos and the hopped back on the bus for the last few hours of the travel day.

    There was another bus breakdown after lunch. Again probably about half an hour of a pause. I was trying to watch Netflix but was sleepy so ended up napping. We arrived in Chernivtsi at 6 pm and checked in. Looking forward to our evening in Bukovyna!!!

    Brooke    Read more

  • TravelerBrooke&Tyler Dance in Україна
    1
    Day 8

    Chernivtsi, Saskatoon's Sister City

    August 4, 2019 in Ukraine ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    After checking in at Hotel Bukovyna, we hopped on the bus to go to the centre of the city for a walking tour. Our guide was very informative. The main take away points were that Chernivtsi is quite an old city (>600 years old) and that there was a lot of Austrian influence in this city. There are quite a few beautiful buildings. We learned that Mila Kunis was born here. By the end of the tour I think we were all just tired and hungry.

    Dinner was at the hotel restaurant - chicken with mixed vegetables and polenta. Then nalysnyky filled with apple for dessert.

    After that, we decided to go to the hotel pool. Ten people could be there at one time. The pool was a little chilly but was pretty fun to hang out. Tyler and the boys played with a tennis ball which turned into a game of volleyball. We dried up with the bed sheets that were laid out instead of towels.

    Now I’m finishing this blog post in the hotel lobby with a Zakarpatskyi Cognac. Tomorrow is our workshop with the Buko State Ensemble which was my favorite workshop in 2013 so I’m pretty pumped!!!

    Side note: the title of the post is a fact I learned the last time I was here. Chernivtsi is Saskatoon’s sister city! I’m hoping we’ll get to see the place it says that tomorrow!

    Brooke    Read more

  • TravelerBrooke&Tyler Dance in Україна
    2
    Day 9

    Bukovyna State Ensemble Workshop

    August 5, 2019 in Ukraine ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    This morning we went down to the breakfast at the Bukovyna Hotel. It was absolutely the nicest breakfast so far! There was a wide selection of different cheeses for Brooke and some pastries for myself. They even had a Bukovyna food table for local regional selections. We were very impressed.

    We then changed into our dance gear, packed up and checked out. The workshop today is with the Bukoyvna State Ensemble and was actually held on stage inside a local theater. The workshop was only with the their director, Leonid Sydorchuk, and a male and female student. I think their main cast is on summer vacation right now.

    The workshop consisted of the director / lead dancers showing us combinations, breaking them down, and then we would try and replicate. Of course being in the Bukovyna region it means a lot of complicated and quick footwork, right up Brooke's alley! By the way, Brooke had done a workshop with this group in 2013 and was a giddy little girl going into it, I compare it to her smile when she was walking into Disneyworld.

    The combinations started off simple but then got progressively harder and more complicated. The instructor did a good job of breaking it down, but it still took a lot of focus and attention, especially if you were in the 2nd line. One frustrating part was when the male lead dancer took the guys to the back to explain a combination and we spent a lot of time figuring it out, then the instructor comes and says it is supposed to go the other direction.

    Part way through we got to have a short performance by the Choir. Their voices were beautiful and the male chorus was astounding! There was a song where a female soloist would sing and the men would answer... her voice was so expressive and varied in tone and volume. It was mesmerizing!

    Afterwards we kept going through combinations and partner work. Of course the guys had to go through multiple groups of girls, so once again I was absolutely soaked at the end of it. I'm hoping we'll be able to remember some of the combinations because they were very interesting to perform.

    Afterwards we changed out of our sweaty clothes and loaded up on the bus. Headed off for a quick lunch before our afternoon tour. On the way back to the bus Brooke hit up the ATM in preparation for the market tomorrow and we did a quick tower picture in front of a Heroiam Slava sign.

    Our afternoon tour was at one of the main sights to see in Chernivtsi, the Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University. The university has a very castle look to it and some people were comparing it to Hogwarts Castle.

    The university was built by an architect Josef Hláka and took 18 years to construct. Construction was started in 1864 and was finished in 1882. At the start of construction it was not planned to be a university but instead a residency for the archbishop. Later during construction there was a need for a university east of Vienna and it was decided to build in Chernivtsi because it could be built for low cost. The estimated total cost was 1.8 million of local currency, if built today it would cost $2 billion.

    The long length of construction was due to multiple reasons, one of which was sourcing construction materials. They could not get construction materials from Vienna because the train station was not yet finished. So they had to start sourcing materials from nearby areas and bringing it in by horse and cart. There was also worker shortage until the train station was built and then they could throw more labour at it.

    The architect, Josef Hláka, didn't actually get to see his finished because he got very sick and had to stay the rest of his years in Prague.

    The inside of the university was absolutely gorgeous and Brooke was in awe by the craftmanship. One of the highlights was a lecture room with very interesting and efficient desks. We finished off the tour by wandering around the park that was part of the university.

    Then it was time to load back on the bus to leave Chernivtsi. We loved it here and would come back in a heartbeat, but not sure if it will ever be in the cards. Now it is time to head off to Yaremcha and the Carpathian Mountains. The bus ride this time was only about 2.5 hours.

    The hotel we are staying at is called Karpatski Zori and feels very much like a mountain ski resort in Canada. Our room was again two single beds and we decided to go ask if we could be switched. Luckily enough they were able to accommodate our request and actually got put in a different part of the hotel with more log-cabin style rooms. Upgrade! Quick moment to dump bags and do a load of sink laundry, then went back to the lobby to find some dinner as it was getting pretty late.

    The consensus from the group of dancers we were with was to walk 25 minutes into town and find some non-hotel food. Saw some interesting viewpoints and then eventually found a nice local restaurant. Everyone decided to sit outside and we set to work trying to decipher the Ukrainian menu, after about 10 minutes the waitress came back out and asked if we wanted an english menu (pretty sure she did that on purpose to laugh at us). Brooke ordered a beer and I took my Baba's advice and ordered vodka straight up.

    The unfortunate part about this plan was that I did not bring a jacket and was still in shorts and a T-Shirt, plus since we are at a higher elevation the temperature was starting to drop. I was starting to get quite cold and my wonderful wife could somehow tell that I was not having a good time. Brooke made the decision for the two of us to go sit inside and the restaurant gave me two blankets to warm up with. I was slightly annoyed that everyone wanted to sit outside in the first place. But then in about 20 minutes when everyone came in because it was too cold outside, my mood slightly improved.

    For dinner we ordered a Hutzsul goulash (nice and hot to warm me up), Yaremcha meat, and potatoes pancakes with mushroom sauce (sorry Dad). I really wanted to try things we don't normally get at home so I think we succeeded. Everything was really tasty and we finished off the meal with a Carpathian tea with an amazing honey.

    Considering that it was dark and a long way back, none of us wanted to walk home. We weren't really sure if there were taxis in this town, but luckily Christina was with us. She asked the waitress about taxis and then a different guy said that he has an 8-person van and could drive the 12 of us home for 300 hryvni (spoiler alert, we did not get sold into the sex trade). We all looked at each other and said all right let's see how this goes. The guy's name was Stanislav and we loaded up into his 8-person van and he took off with electronic dance music blasting. Once we saw one of the hotels we saw on the way in I knew we were good. Arrived at our hotel safe and sound. Turns out that Stanislav makes a living by driving tourists around.

    Finished off the night with a night cap in Nathan's room and then it was time for bed. Tomorrow is market shopping!    Read more

  • TravelerBrooke&Tyler Dance in Україна
    2
    Day 10

    Mountain Getaway / Yaremcha Market

    August 6, 2019 in Ukraine ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    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!!

    Brooke    Read more

  • TravelerBrooke&Tyler Dance in Україна
    Day 10

    Hutsul Vesilia

    August 6, 2019 in Ukraine ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    When we arrived at the location in Bukovets (the events took place at the school of their village) we were greeted by an entire Ukrainian Hutsul family. They welcomed us and sang for us with a live band. Everyone was dressed in gorgeous beaded blouses and zapaska (hutsul panelled skirts). They also had beaded necklaces on and some of them used toonies as medallions! The welcome shot was a homemade spirit with a ‘golden root’ in it. After the shot, they passed out pampoushky and bread with salo and pickles spread on it. A tasty snack and we were already quite hungry as it was about 2 pm.

    Then it was time to select the bride and groom. The hospodar and hospodyna Slavko and Svetlana decided to select people that were dressed similarly. They chose Nathan and Audrey who were wearing similar shirts that they bought at the market today. Maybe it’s a sign?? Jordan and Christine became their wedding party and they also selected parents for the couple as well. The hutsul babas proceeded with the ritual of dressing the bride and braiding her hair. They braided her hair together with yarn and coins (they had a string with coins attached that they weaved in as they braided. Then they twisted the braids around her head and attached a beautiful headdress. Probably best to look at the pictures to understand what it looked like.

    The next tradition was to decorate a fir tree. The tree symbolizes the new family/life that is starting with the marriage and all of the wedding guests help decorate it. Today we decorated the tree with flowers made with streamers but traditionally they would also hang honey (for sweetness) and money (for wealth) on the tree.

    We headed outside for the procession to the church. The bride and groom go on horseback and the guests walk behind. It was a tiny bit rainy but luckily just lightly spitting. There was a priest ready for the service in the church. He did a short service chanted in Ukrainian. Then we kissed the icons and received morovynya (anointing with oil). After leaving the church the bride and groom tore apart a korovai and shared it with all the guests. When they tear the bread it is like a wishbone, the bigger piece is good luck. Nathan’s half was the bigger part. We took a group photo and then the priest blessed us with holy water. He had a huge amount of water, the container basically the size of a big soup pot. His tool for blessing people with water was the largest we have seen and he was able to absolutely soak some people. He even noticed a few people trying to hide from the water at the back ... I think he managed to bless everyone!

    There are too many nice photos for one post so I’m going to continue this in another post.

    Brooke    Read more

  • TravelerBrooke&Tyler Dance in Україна
    2
    2
    Day 10

    Hutsul Vesilia Continued

    August 6, 2019 in Ukraine ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Nathan and Audrey got back on their horses and we headed back to the school for the wedding reception. By this time it was about 4:30 pm and we hadn’t eaten since breakfast at 8 am so everyone was ready to eat! I was impressed that Tyler actually didn’t really get hangry. We sat at the head table. There were salads, salo, cabbage rolls (probably the best ones we’ve had in Ukraine so far) and meat and potatoes. There were trays of pampoushky on each table too. There was also more golden root home brew instead of vodka and the hosts led the traditional many shots once again.

    After eating, the musicians played for us. A couple younger children (I’d guess 10-14 years old) played the tsymbaly and a baian. The baian looks like an accordion but has buttons on the side instead of a keyboard. They even did a rendition of Despacito. There was also an older man who played a variety of woodwind instruments. He played a trembita which was amazing to see in person. One of the instruments looked like a shotgun but was actually some type type of a flute. He was truly amazing, it was hard to see how he could play such intricate hutsul tunes with such simple instruments. As it turned out he basically didn’t need an instrument... after his set he did a shot and then played a tune using only the empty shot glass.

    Next it was time to dance! We did some folk dances in a circle including one where the boys had to crawl under the girls legs. Unfortunately one of the neck tassels in Tyler’s brand new shirt broke off during a sit lift from the strain of having someone on the arms.

    After the dances, it was time for more food. They brought out banosh... which is essentially a corn meal pudding. It was delicious and very buttery. Dessert was a dough filled with a sweet poppy seed mixture! They look like really large perogies but the dough was more like bread.

    It was a day filled with amazing hospitality and was lovely to learn more about a traditional hutsul wedding. After a few more budmos, it was time to head to the bus. While we were waiting for everyone to file out, we had a little impromptu photo shoot with the mountains/sunset.

    We arrived at the hotel at around 10:45 pm. We were supposed to be back at 7pm so I think you can understand what we mean about the hospitality. Really wish we could stay in the Carpathians longer but we head out in the morning. Instead of going out for a drink with the others, Tyler and I made the wise decision to go right to sleep ... getting 8 hours straight for the first time this trip!

    Brooke    Read more

  • TravelerBrooke&Tyler Dance in Україна
    2
    1
    Day 11

    Pysanka Museum

    August 7, 2019 in Ukraine ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    This morning we actually got to sleep in, all the way to 7:45am! Got almost 8 hours of sleep, but also starting to feel a bit throat sick, hopefully it doesn't turn into too much more. Our bus call was at 10:00 AM and Brooke had been talking about trying to go to the market once more since it is really close by. She ended up going quickly with a couple of girls and was successful in finding something small.

    We then loaded up the bus and departed for Kolomeya, this time it was just over an hour away. The name Kolomeya comes from the words circle/wheel and washing, so washing the wheels in the river. It was said that the salt merchants would wash the wheels of their carriages in this town and that is why it has this name. In Kolomeya we visited two separate museums; the Pysanky Museum and the Hutsulschyna Museum.

    Our first stop was at the Pysanky Museum. It was the only one in the whole world and was founded in 1988, but the actual building location was made in 2000. The outside of the museum has a massive pysanka built into the building. The guide told us that it measures 14m high by 10m diameter and that it is the largest pysanka in the whole world, but I beg to differ. Christine later downloaded an egg volume calculator and determined that the Vegreville pysanka is larger by 461 m³. Point Alberta!

    We were first given an explanation on how pysanky are written, but I think we are fairly knowledgeable on that front. They also have a special way of preserving the eggs by cracking it open along the middle to fully remove the yolk, then they line it with some sort of paper and then carefully put it back together. Not really sure why they don't blow them out, but there must be a good reason for it.

    The museum has over 12,000 pysynkas in it. One of the most interesting pieces was the oldest pysanka in Ukraine at 500 years old. It was excavated recently in Lviv.

    They had a section of pysanky that were all done with natural colors instead of egg dyes. Examples would be tree bark for brown, beet root for red/purple, and onion peel for orange.

    There was one wall of pysanky that were all done with a pinning technique. This involves making a drop of wax on the egg and then spreading it in one direction with a pin. Then it is dipped in a single color of wax. Very cool technique, Brooke said she might try it one day.

    Finally, they had a section with pysanky from all over the world that were provided to the museum by the ukrainian diaspora. Interesting ones were eggs from Australia with kangaroos on them and a replica of the Vegreville pysanka.

    There were also Canadian coins in the shape of an egg (worth $20). There are only 5,000 in the world and of course Brooke immediately wants one (says she wants one for her birthday........how am I supposed to make that happen?).

    At the end of the tour Brooke bought a book on the history of pysanky origins and pictures of pysanky from the various regions of Ukraine. She was quite thrilled.

    Then it was off to see the Hutsulshyna museum (which will be in a second post).    Read more

  • TravelerBrooke&Tyler Dance in Україна
    Day 11

    Hutsulchnya Museum

    August 7, 2019 in Ukraine ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    We then walked a short distance to the Hutsulschyna (Hutsul) Museum. It was starting to get quite hot out and right in the middle of the day, so we were happy to be doing activities inside (by the way, Brooke didn't get a sunburn).

    The Hutsul museum had many different artifacts from the Hutsul region in their day to day lives. There was a section on the different musical instruments that are commonly used, most of which we saw last night at the wedding. The trembitas are typically made with trees that have been hit with lightning. An instrument we hadn't seen before called a lira was a very unique instrument that uses a crank to make a similar monotone sound similar to a bag pipe, and then has a set of keys to add in different pitches.

    There was a room of axes and different weapons. Included in this room were the typical Hutsul belts that we usually wear on stage. We learned that they are very wide in order to provide back support when cutting down trees.

    The rest of the museum were collections of typical Hutsul dressings, paintings, dishes, and artwork. Another feature point was a replica of a Hutsul house that they had put together. I don't have too much more to say on it, partially because I'm a bit museum'd out and also because we were starting to get very hungry.

    After the museum we made a stop at a Ukrainian church that was on the way. It was a Ukrainian catholic church and was the largest church in all of the Kolomeya region. I was told that the name of it is the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The icons inside were beautiful and the church had a very grandiose feel to it. Unfortunately we only had a couple of minutes to appreciate it.

    I don't think I've mentioned this before, but our typical days have had us eat at very long intervals. Lunches have been quite late and then dinner times are usually after arriving late to the hotel. Everyone has been doing pretty good with it, but by the end of the 2nd museum, everybody was famished and ready to eat.

    Luckily the lunch stop was just a short bus trip away. The starter was a tasty salad that Brooke said was the best one we had yet (I think it was because we were so famished and anything would be the best one we had). We were also served a cup of soup and the best perogies we've had yet 😉! I was so hungry that I was on garbage disposal duty with the young girls we were sitting with and was vulturing over some other plates. I was also trying to fuel up the body because we have to perform tomorrow.

    Then it was back on the bus to head to Ivano-Frankivsk where our second major performance will be.

    Tyler    Read more

  • TravelerBrooke&Tyler Dance in Україна
    2
    131
    Day 11

    Found Our Show Poster!

    August 7, 2019 in Ukraine ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    The bus ride to Ivano-Frankivsk was actually quite short, less than 2 hours. I actually was a bit more reserved on this bus ride, partially because I'm starting to get prepared for our show tomorrow and also to catch up on some blogging.

    We arrived in Ivano-Frankivsk and repeated the check in process once again. The room we have actually has a ton of space and has one main bed for the two of us! This evening we actually have the entire time to ourselves, which has been a rarity! After a moment of chill out in the room, we walked across the street with one of our tour guides to the supermarket to stock up on water and bananas for tomorrow.

    Our hotel is literally right beside the theatre where we are performing tomorrow. While walking out of the hotel we noticed our show poster in the theatre window!! That was super cool to see! Stopped to take a picture and then we headed off to find some dinner.

    Ivano-Frankivsk is really beautiful and super cute. We walked down the main pedestrian drag which is lined with different restaurants, cafes, and storefronts. While walking, we saw our show poster two more times on billboard advertisement walls! It's starting to make us super excited and feels sort of celebrity like. We also heard from other dancers that they spotted some different ones.

    We looked at a couple of menus and nothing really caught our attention. So we leaned on the power of Google Maps and found a pasta restaurant which had good reviews. The restaurant actually turned out to be a Ukrainian farm-to-table type of restaurant. They only use ingredients that are found in Ukraine. We had dinner with Nathan, Audrey, Jordan, Christine, and Joren and we were all in the mindset to fuel up for the show tomorrow.

    The restaurant actually had Ukrainian craft beer, so we ordered something that looked interesting and the menu said it was from the Hutsul region. Brooke and I shared a pasta dish and then each ordered a steak to get some solid protein. Side dishes of fried potatoes and grilled veggies along with a garlic sauce. Christine said her spaghetti bolognese was to die for. It was an excellent meal and we were very impressed with the restaurant!

    We took a meandering pace back to our hotel and then spent the rest of the evening ironing our costumes and getting prepared for tomorrow.

    Tyler    Read more

  • 2024© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Blog
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Support
  • Legal notice
  • English