April 2024

April was great because we went to Leeds for jousting, to Manchester for CuppaPug, had a day trip to Winchester, and because I saw Nancy Pelosi at an event in Oxford. But, it was amazing, because we went to Ukraine!

Firstly, these are two pictures with Nancy Pelosi. She is fantastic, on heels, full of energy. She had a meeting in the morning, the talk to which I went, and then a talk at the Oxford Union. I loved her clarity, her sense of humour, and her support for Ukraine. I went in very early and got a great seat, on the first row which was not reserved.

These are a few pictures from Ukraine. I talked so far on the reasons of me going there in Trip to Ukraine. Why and How and I also talked on how Ukraine remembers its heroes.

There are articles on russian jamming, articles in The Guardian and FT, which I mentioned in first post. I think we should all be aware of what russia is doing and so we can demand from our politicians to act accordingly. We should do something before russia does another MH17.

We took a train ride through Lviv which was fascinating. I have in plan to write in May and June a lot of posts on Ukraine and a few on Poland. I will share pictures from Lviv, Kyiv, and Krakow, a few museums I’ve been to, and, of course, how it was like to travel in these two countries as a vegan. I will also share a post with what I bought from Ukraine.

This is a building from Lviv, a church with the glass protected by panels.

Kyiv was lovely.

Of course, I will have a post on burned russian metal on display.

1. Jousting. 2. Cocktails. 3. Cream.dream (from the previous weekend). 4. Piana Vyshnia (from the previous weekend). 5. Picnic. 6. Pastry tasting. 7. CuppaPug Manchester. 8. Books I was planning to read at that point. 9. Watching Perun’s Global Arms Exports – Winners, losers & trends in the race to rearm. His videos are so informative. 10. The bamboo is growing a new shoot. 11. T-shirts I took with me in Ukraine. 12. Preparing for the trip to Ukraine. 13. Crossing the border on foot to Ukraine. 14. Lviv. 15. Territory of Terror Museum. 16. Kyiv, arriving after an overnight train journey (7h). 17. Kyiv, the flag at half-mast after a terrible attack in Chernihiv. 18. Back to Lviv, doing another volunteering session. 19. Another museum in Lviv, Lonsky Prison, also left for Poland in the evening. 20. Nowa Huta, Krakow. 21. Wawel Cathedral. 22. Above us, only sky – back in Liverpool. 23. I shared why and how I went to Ukraine. 24. Lovely gifts from 2 friends from Ukraine. 25. Q&A with Nancy Pelosi at Keble College. 26. Olga Onuch – From the Maidan to Mariupol: Civil Resistance in Ukraine 1990-2024. 27. Vegan Society Meetup. 28. Winchester Cathedral. 29. Winchester (picture from the previous day). 30. Books in April

I finished 7 books in April, one a re-read. I recommend War and the Death of News by Martin Bell, as the rest are either primary sources from the 1940s or secondary sources.

Books in April:
The Kremlin and the People by Walter Duranty – 3 stars
Angels in Stalin’s Paradise by James William Crowl – 4.5 stars
USSR by Walter Duranty – 2 stars
Stalin’s Apologist by S. J. Taylor (re-read)
War and the Death of News by Martin Bell – 5 stars
Search for a key by Walter Duranty – 3 stars
Modernization from the Other Shore by David Engerman – 4 stars