We made it into Russia!

Right now we are sitting on a train somewhere in Russia. It is only 6am, but the sun is already up and we are watching the very green landscape go by outside our window. The border crossing was a piece of cake. A couple guys came on the train and checked our passports and visas and looked at our bags. That was it. No searching of anything. No intense questioning. Hopefully we get out just as easily!







Yesterday, we spent the day seeing all the sites in Kharkiv. Nate commented that the city is a lot nicer in parts than it was when he was serving here. There are a lot of beautiful parks with tons of trees and benches.

We ate breakfast at the Chichikov Hotel, which was a good European hotel, before we checked out. One of the guys who worked at the front desk was from the branch we attended on Sunday, so he took good care of us. I will leave space for Nate to detail the names of everything we saw since I can't remember or pronounce any of it!







We ate lunch at an authentic Ukrainian restaurant. Nate had some more borsch, which was not as good as Luda's, along with grilled pork and onions. I had some sort of ham and potato salad along with steak and pasta. It was all very good food and relatively cheap. Our whole meal cost about $12 for both of us together.

For dinner, we decided to purchase some bread, cheese and fruit to take on the train. A small loaf of French bread is about 30 cents and apples are 60 cents a pound - it is great! We also had to find some of these amazing gold candies that Natalie was introduced to at church when Sergei gave her one. They are milk chocolate with caramel and more soft chocolate inside - so good!

Luda and Sasha met us at our hotel at 6pm to accompany us to the train station. Luda is the "mission mom" and insists on taking care of her missionaries. Whenever we are with them, they insist on buying our bus or metro passes and Luda is always making sure Nate knows where he is going - which he usually does!







As we were walking to the train station, Natalie asked Luda if we would be able to find more of the delicious gold candies in Russia (remember, life is all about priorities!) Luda said she wasn't sure, so she took it upon herself to find and buy us more. Nate said it is a cultural thing and that she was now on a mission to help me leave the country with an adequate supply of candy! She finally found some at the train station and bought a bunch, along with another type of candy she also likes. She is very sweet and generous!





They accompanied us onto the train and visited for a while. Then we said our goodbyes and settled in to our sleeper car. We are in a 4 person couchette, but there is only one other guy in here with us. He is a businessman from Kharkiv and he is nice. Kept mostly to himself, didn't smell bad and didn't snore - so we are happy. We slept pretty well on the train last night, but it was extremely hot. We think that is because it is raining outside and it is very humid. Hopefully the rain has cleared out by the time we reach Moscow because we have a busy day ahead.

Highlights of Kharkiv: Luda and Sasha, attending the branch, and discovering a new favorite candy!
Lowlights of Kharkiv: walking too far in bad shoes and learning that Nate served a lot of his mission in a very scary part of town!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:On a train between Kharkiv and Moscow