Mid-May update

This mid-May update is going to be a long one, which means my idea of splitting the monthly update this month too was a good one. I am sharing a lot of pictures. I already blogged about Volya’s journey home, which took 3+ days and involved 3 trains, 1 flight, 1 very-long car drive, 1 ferry crossing, and stops at 3 different hotels. Do read that post if you are curious.

At the beginning of the month we were in Ukraine, we left for Poland, stayed there for a couple of days, then Volya and I flew to France. My husband flew back to the UK on the previous day, got in the car, and drove to France to pick us up. Finally we reached the British shores and we arrived home. So, with so many things happening, there are a lot of things to talk about, including voting in the Romanian elections, which is happening this weekend.

Firstly, enjoying the small things in life, like having a sour cherry cotton candy in a park in Lviv, Ukraine.

While in Ukraine, I did ~115 hours of volunteering, in 5 weeks. It was better than expected, considering that it was also Easter and most places were closed and I also wanted the free time to celebrate with friends. On top of that, I adopted Volya, so I went from 3-4 hours shifts in the morning and 2-3 hours shifts in the afternoon, to only 2 hours shifts and longer breaks for lunch. This way I could spend more time with her, which was very much needed, of course. I could take her with me to the camo netting and that meant I could do longer shifts on those days. She loved going there.
My husband joined me and we went volunteering together. He was expected by the places he was there before, like the camo netting.

Another place he went to before was the kitchen. Above is a lovely vegan pea soup. We were encouraged to eat it even if we already had lunch before. The ladies there were not particularly impressed that we had eaten before. So, we had lunch twice that day.

Something new for my husband was the dog walking. It was very enjoyable, even though we couldn’t walk in the forest because it was sprayed against pests, so we went to walk on the streets.

Domvika had a lovely 2-days event to fundraise. It was very busy with lots of different activities, such as painting, doing music with the instruments left for the visitors, relaxing in the hammocks, enjoying food, drinks, and singers in the afternoon and evening. There were things for sale and I bought 2 pins, one with a black cat and another one with a ear of wheat. I also bought a Domivka T-shirt which I really love. All the things sold there were donated and all the funds went to Domivka Animal Shelter.

I was very impressed with how parents interacted with their children, playing with them, drawing with them, and not spending time on their phones. There were prints with the dogs and cats for adoption which were very popular with the visitors. The place was very busy, especially the parts where the stalls and music were.

These beauties are cakes!! They were not vegan, obviously, or we would have bought them. I am so impressed with how delicate, detailed, and gorgeous these are.

Domivka asked for books and that stand was packed! There were so many people browsing and buying. I could only snap a picture without getting too many people in it. Both adults and children were interested in the books, it was so lovely to see.

One very interesting thing was to spot these cocoa pods in a supermarket in Lviv. I was tempted to get it, but I saw it just before leaving Ukraine, so we didn’t have time to prepare it, especially as we have no idea how to prepare it in the first place. The pod costs just over £12.

My husband and I went for coffee at our favourite place in Lviv and I got to try something I haven’t had before, pine cone jam.

This is the pine cone jam. My husband discovered a place that sells jars of it, but it was over 200g, so I couldn’t fly with it home, as I didn’t have a check-in luggage. I am very tempted to get a check-in bag next time, just to get a jar of this jam and maybe a couple more things that are not suitable for the carry-on option.

We visited the House of Scientists and I will blog about it next.

On our last evening in Ukraine we had the going away dinner and many of the volunteers were there to say goodbye. It was lovely. I had vegan varenyky with a lovely smooth sauce instead of sour cream. We picked a vegetarian place and everybody seemed to enjoy their food.

In Krakow we went to a restaurant we like and we had a very special dinner. I would happily eat any of those again. Krakow is a great place for vegans.

We went to vote in the Romanian elections. Our T-shirts indicate with whom we’ve voted. I hope there will be positive news this evening, when the voting ends. Tomorrow we will know the results, as the votes are going to be counted overnight.