Day 1-Destination Ukraine

Leaving home was nothing more than a heartbreaking experience...the girls, Tami and I left the airport with not a tear left to produce. But, we all know that this trip is well worth it! Nastiya, HERE WE COME.

Trip from DIA to Atlanta was uneventful. However, catching the flight from Atlanta to Paris was something more than calming. We began leaving the concourse to the runway when all of a sudden the plane began to return to the concourse. Overhead, the Pilot announced we were returning to the concourse due to a leaking faucet. I being a non-plumber believed that I could take care of the situation knowing full well we only had a one hour lay-over in Paris to catch our flight to Kyiv (Kiev, Ukraine). Tami told me to sit down and that it was being taken care of. 2 hours later-off to Paris!

Sorry Reaghan, no time to see the Eiffel Tower but look at the pictures of the Fields' version of the Eiffel Tower! Obviously, we missed our flight from Paris to Kyiv and being told by someone I was relying on---flights to Kyiv only occur 1x daily. Not possible. Our appointment with the Ukrainian State Department is before that. As the One who has gided us this far, 4 hours later we were boarding a plane to Kyiv! After the process of getting through customs, we located the luggage area and frantically began searching for our European phone, thanks to the Matthews for loaning it to us. I found the phone, immediately called Valentin to inform him we finally made it. Valentin, as we soon found out, doesn't have an anxious bone in his body kindly informed us that our driver has been waiting for us near the baggage claim. Right about that time, Tami yells Sergei! Tami and I must have walked right by Sergei in a mad rush to find our luggage and failed to notice the large sign Sergei was holding which spelled "FIELDS". I guess we were looking for the Ukrainian translation of "Fields". Wisked away to the car with Sergei constantly telling Tami and I, "don't worry", "everything's o.k.", "I'll carry the luggage" etc. Well, if you saw how much luggage Brian packed you'd be feeling sorry for Sergei as well.

Alright, all you previous Ukrainian travelers warned us of the "driving" but you can't appreciate it until you're here. Imagine, traveling down the highway, glimpsing over the driver's seat to look at the speedomoter, and seeing the numbers in triple digits. not sure if it was in kilometers or MPH but either was, we were traveling at the speed of light. Just when you thought it couldn't get worse, Sergei mums the words, "good bye little car" and began merging into the other lane with the little European version of a small size car being taken off the roadway. With a gentle laugh, Sergei says something to the effect of "small cars don't have a voice". However, if your driving a Mercedes the Police actually stop the lanes to allow you to turn wherever you want. Trading in the large SUV for a Mercedes when we return to the US to see if we get the same treatment.

First night in Kyiv was amazing (once we finally arrived there in one piece) Photos of Kyiv will be posted later today on the photo web link Tami posted on the previous blog.