Kyiv Trip re-cap part 10

These are pictures from Thursday, the 2nd day of the week that Tara and I were able to get out and spend some 1 on 1 time.

This first pic is horrible quality but I want you to focus on the little dog in the center of the pic on the steps. Tara says that dogs run wild around the city and that in some cases poison is being put out for them (since Kyiv does not have shelters for the strays). This makes me sad as a dog-lover, but what infuriates me as a lover of children is that the Ukrainians have been known to put the poison intended for the dogs in parks where children would be playing! As if parents don't have enough to worry about with their children in a public area. YIKES!

I digress. Back to our little furry subject.

See him between the two people going up the steps? I think he was a terrier/Chihuahua mix. Very cute fellow, but quick! I tried to get his pic up close but by the time I fumbled with getting my camera out of my bag and turning it on, the little guy (or gal, I didn't check!) had run away.

After lunch we went to a very nice mall. I saw some familiar signs:

Tara and I ate our lunch in Independence Square, in which is a statue of St. Michael, the patron saint of Kyiv:

Here is a view from where we ate our lunch in the square:

St. Michael from afar

And where did we eat lunch that day, you ask? Again Blogger is working against me with the placement of my pics, so I'll say about the next one, some things are best said in English, no matter where you are!

Yes, we were at Mickey D's! They had traditional McD food there as well as some regional fare. Tara and I had yummy cheese lavashes, which I think are middle-eastern. It was kinda of like a cheese quesadilla with a thicker bread...very good! We also had McFlurries. :)

Building that held the McD's from afar. I will say at this point this was a very welcome view for me, not because I was hungry (I was), but because my feet were killing me and I wanted to get to our destination to rest. I packed one good pair of walking shoes, which I THOUGHT I had broken in before my trip. I was wrong. I lost count of the number of blisters I had and even with band-aids (of which Tara's stash I nearly exhausted during my visit!) it hurt to walk. Next time I think I'll bring 2 pairs of walking shoes. It became quite the entertainment for the little Yellow Hats to watch me doctor my blisters every morning. I'm not sure why, but I guess they weren't nearly as grossed out by my uglier-than-usual-feet as I was! They called me the Blister Doctor at one point--gotta love kids' imaginations!

It was wonderful for Tara and I to have some time just the 2 of us on Monday and Thursday the week I was there, when the housekeeper/babysitter came. I enjoyed being around her family but sometimes it's nice to have adult time, and girlfriend time at that! We even watched a couple "chick flicks" when the kids were resting...one of which was very bizarre (Ladies in Lavender) and another which was good (Falling for Grace)...gotta love Netflix!

Stay tuned for what we did that Thursday morning before our McD's lunch!