After 36 hours of being awake and traveling, we are safe and sound in our apartment in Kyiv! We ate our last American meal in the Minneapolis 
Airport at Axle's (same owner as the one in Loretto near our house). Not sure why, but we ate Walleye. I guess that is something we will not be able to get in the Ukraine. After a perfect flight over the Atlantic, we had a 6 hour lay over in Amsterdam that became an 8 hour lay over when high winds in Amsterdam slowed air traffic to a crawl. Lara and I passed the time shopping, eating, reading and people watching. Lara purchased a new pair of Euro sun glasses and I found a small set of speakers for the iPod. After the delay we took off and arrived in Kyiv around 6:30 pm. After a one hour wait to clear customs and another half hour to go through declaration, and we were met by our coordinator and driver. We drove to a grocery store to purchase staples, a phone card for the cell phone, and exchanged some money, we drove the rest of the way over the river (Dnipro) and into the heart of Kyiv. 
We pulled up to our apartment and, as advertised, it was right off of Independence Square and a short walk to the adoption center. Very reasonably priced for the location and very clean and tidy. After unloading the groceries we were met by a fireworks display right outside our window. You can click on the "play" arrow below the fireworks image and a movie of the fireworks should play.
Airport at Axle's (same owner as the one in Loretto near our house). Not sure why, but we ate Walleye. I guess that is something we will not be able to get in the Ukraine. After a perfect flight over the Atlantic, we had a 6 hour lay over in Amsterdam that became an 8 hour lay over when high winds in Amsterdam slowed air traffic to a crawl. Lara and I passed the time shopping, eating, reading and people watching. Lara purchased a new pair of Euro sun glasses and I found a small set of speakers for the iPod. After the delay we took off and arrived in Kyiv around 6:30 pm. After a one hour wait to clear customs and another half hour to go through declaration, and we were met by our coordinator and driver. We drove to a grocery store to purchase staples, a phone card for the cell phone, and exchanged some money, we drove the rest of the way over the river (Dnipro) and into the heart of Kyiv. 
We pulled up to our apartment and, as advertised, it was right off of Independence Square and a short walk to the adoption center. Very reasonably priced for the location and very clean and tidy. After unloading the groceries we were met by a fireworks display right outside our window. You can click on the "play" arrow below the fireworks image and a movie of the fireworks should play.Tonight we are exhausted and I will not go into all the sensory detail. Now it is time to sleep. In the morning we will meet with our coordinator and go over the game plan and perhaps see some of the city. We are anxious to get going, but we'll have to wait.
Our hearts are warmed by the tremendous support from everyone. Thank you for all of the well wishes. Please keep them coming! They are very motivational and have kept us going throughout!
r
2 comments:
Wow, we are so excited that you guys made it there! Now it must seem real and a bit surreal. Your apartment does look nice from the photo and we loved the fireworks.
We really miss you two already and are anxiously awaiting your return.
Keep us posted, we love your blog!
Love,
the Sorensens
Fireworks are better than bombs, I suppose, but not as cool as the sound of shotguns in South Dakota!
The Kipster
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