got in Friday night, but the drive started ominously. stopped for gas in Victor, and the truck wouldn’t start, needed to get a jump to get going again. figured i should make the 4 hour drive anyway. woke up Saturday morning and hoped for the best, but more of the same. no doubt the battery. flagged someone down for a jump, and it turned out he was headed to the auto parts store, so got a ride instead. bought a battery, went back and switched it out (glad i keep tools in the truck). bingo! on to the DZ and the next challenge… was expecting to pick up my new rig, which should have arrived while i was in Europe. it didn’t… bummed. Brian hooked me up with a loaner for the weekend though, which was cool of him. did 3 jumps, biggest was a 6-way. early evening went to the wind tunnel for a little more practice and learned how to side slide, then returned to the DZ and caught a beautiful sunset and twin rainbows. hung out for a while with the crew long after the last load, then eventually made my way back for some sleep.
July, 2010
25
Jul 10
finally home
relaxing morning, and Neha’s wonderful vegetable briyani for lunch. joined Kunaal at the YMCA for Aroo’s swim class. was really cute watching the kids get introduced to the pool. took a short driving tour nearby, then on to the airport and my flights home. disappointed to see no progress on the roof.
24
Jul 10
Belmont boogie
got breakfast across the street from the hotel at e.leaven. shockingly, is a restaurant in Jackson that has also expanded into Chicago. was nice to see a photo of the Teton Range in the restaurant, and realized how it can be a small world sometimes. Kunaal picked me up and we went to his place. spent the day with Neha and the family and had a good time hanging out and chatting. not to mention the fantastic food that rolled out of the kitchen all day and night. 🙂 Tarun and Neha came by for dinner, and a good time was had by all.
23
Jul 10
EDL day
all day meetings at the James Hotel, then on to a dinner cruise on Lake Michigan. had some incredible views of the city at sunset, and was great to catch up with some good friends.
22
Jul 10
back to Chicago
early alarm, showered, packed and in a taxi back to the Kiev airport. flight to Paris was painless, and managed to speak 3 languages in a 15 minute span at CDG. on to Minneapolis and no longer on foreign soil. but, looking at my fellow Americans left me missing the Ukrainian streets with its beautiful women all dressed to impress. KBP -> CDG -> MSP -> ORD, and won’t be getting home until Sunday night. the last flight put me into Chicago for the yearly company meeting. got to the hip and posh James Hotel feeling horribly jetlagged, but rallied for a social downstairs in the bar with some coworkers.
21
Jul 10
Odessa & Kiev
had my first breakfast of the trip as it was included with my hotel room. spent the morning taking a nice extended walk around the center of Odessa. saw the Opera House, the Potemkin Steps, the waterfront, and a whole lot of pretty parks. witnessed some sort of religious event at Sobornaya Square on the church grounds. was a huge gathering with lots of security. packed up and checked out, and taxied to the airport. waited at the airport for a while, then an uneventful flight back to Kiev. on the plane heard the guy behind me speaking to his girlfriend in English about taking a taxi to Maidan, so asked him if he’d like to split a cab. was a good guy, and enjoyed chatting with him during the drive. checked back into my apartment on Myhailivs’ka and hung out on the square until dinner time. of course we had sushi, back at Kitsch. 🙂 finally got back to the apartment and managed to get a couple of hours of sleep before my flight back to the States.
20
Jul 10
Odessa
took a morning walk then packed up for the drive to Odessa. was another pretty drive watching the fields of sunflowers pass by. stopped at the bus station on the way into town, then was dropped off at the Continental Hotel on Deribasovskaya. had a really cool room there – unpacked and changed, then went off to the hotel cafe. walked the streets for a while, and was dragged into numerous stores in search of some overly expensive shoes (Jimmy Whoo? 😉 ). as the day wore on, stopped by a few different cafes, finishing at a neat one right on the city garden. had dinner at an Irish pub, then spent some more time walking the streets and getting to know the city.
19
Jul 10
Nikolaev, day 5
slept in, then continued my morning walk ritual around town. went to the river, stopped at the store, got some cash, and hung out by the free wi-fi. stopped by the Continent Hotel at the end of Sovetskaya and ran into a large group of westerners, so stopped and chatted for a bit. had a festive afternoon then taxied to the edge of town and toured a beautiful old cemetery outside of town. finally made my way to a fantastic Ukrainian restaurant further outside of town. had a great meal and got to watch a storm roll in. got back to the apartment pretty late, and was satisfied with my last night in town.
18
Jul 10
Nikolaev, day 4
took my morning walk down Sovetskaya and again sat outside the burger place and used their free wi-fi. taxied to the local zoo, which was unfortunately built in the pre-humane days – small enclosures and lots of bars. had a good time walking around and the zoo actually had a great assortment of interesting animals. the highlight was playing with 2 baby wolves that were out for a walk and a swim in one of the fountains (bet most people can’t say they’ve had a wolf chew on their head 🙂 ). back to town, spent some more time strolling down Sovetskaya, then had another nice dinner just outside of town. tried going to the Dixie Barbecue, but it was closed.
17
Jul 10
Nikolaev, day 3
early start and an early taxi ride to the airport. ended up waiting around for quite a while, then received another instructional class, again in Russian. eventually loaded up the 1950’s Soviet plane and we were off into the air for a static line hop & pop on old military round parachutes. perhaps a bit insane, but was a cool new experience. back into town, picked up some food from the grocery store, found a place with free wi-fi, then went back to the apartment and took a nap. got up and took another walk to the river and the surrounding area. had a nice dinner nearby and shared stories from the jump.