This was always going to be a stranger trip than usual. I always try to combine football with tourism and this trip did that too, but a few additional twists have distorted it a little. First of all, the return to the Premier League of Nottingham Forest gave me a pretty big incentive to return to blighty a bit early to try to catch as many of their games as I could. The fact that the World Cup was switched to the cooler months of November/December, because of being held in Qatar, causing the Premier League to have a mid season break, made this part of the plan perfect and I was able to watch four Forest games in two weeks.
The dark and very nasty twist to 2022 has been the genocidal invasion of fascist Russia against their peaceful, formerly brotherly neighbours, Ukraine. As anyone who knows me will tell you, my life has been turned on its head since 24th February. To say I've been avidly following the news from that part of the world is an understatement. I've almost tweeted 20,000 times now, and most of these have been Ukraine related. I've tried to learn to play (and sing) the Ukrainian national anthem and I wear the yellow and blue colors of their flag (or else the tryzub symbol) pretty much every day.
As I was planning this trip, it soon became obvious that I should also visit Ukraine in this time of great stress for them. I had to pay my respects with at least a small visit. So, in between two weeks of intensive English football before the break, I had a few days before the World Cup started. The perfect opportunity to show my support in another way.
So, after Paul and Lisa very kindly allowed me to use their office to host WHAT Talk #13, delivered ably by Elaine Morgan's son, Gareth, I headed down for a couple of nights in Cambridge where I planned to catch up with my dear old cousin, Vytautas Kavaliauskas, before flying to Rzeszow in Poland to catch a bus to Lviv and then then back again.
It was always going to be a bit of a challenge to continue my monthly series of human evolution related talks whilst away on this trip. I decided, from the beginning that they should be monthly and that a regular slot of the second Sunday of the month would do as the first one, held on Elaine Morgan's birthday on the 7th November 2021 was the second Sunday of that month.
The guest speaker for the 13th talk in the series was her son, Gareth Morgan, who was bizarrely on holiday in the UK like I was. We thought about actually meeting up and doing the talk together live, but it didn't quite work out. So I was hosting from my school mate's house in Leeds whilst Gareth was at a friend's in London. Usually, I'd have ben in Perth, Australia and he'd be in Corfu, Greece!
Anyway, it all went very well and, without getting into a whole different genre here, Gareth gave a fascinating talk where he reported the findings of a pilot study he did to investigate the intriguing possibility that humans are able to actively absorb water through our skin when immersed in water. Benjamin Franklin apparently noticed this over 150 years ago. He did a lot of swimming in the sea and noticed that when he did so he'd usually feel the need to continually urinate. He speculated that our skin was covered with "imbibing pores". Gareth came to the same conclusion independently.
Imagine that. After all those years of thinking being marooned on a desert island without fresh water, like Tom Hanks' character in the film Castaway, would be fatal - what if it turned out that all you had to do was go and lie in the sea for an couple of hours and you'd rehydrate! Talk about a smoking gun for the so-called "aquatic ape hypothesis"!
If you want to hear the talk, here it is...
South to Cambridge
After imposing on Paul & Lisa's hospitality for long enough, I decided it was time to head off south. I'd booked a cheap room in Cambridge city center, close to where my cousin lives. It also gave me an opportunity to do another pub crawl to compare the watering holes of one famous English University city with the one I'd done earlier, in Oxford.
The bottom line for me was that in my opinion the pubs in Cambridge are nowhere near as diverse and classy as the ones in Oxford.
I started at a trendy student pub just up the road from my B & B, called "The Grain & Hop Store".
It was then onto a Wetherspoons pub. As is their style, it is a very elegant, traditional building with decent pints to be had. Nice pubs, shame about the ignorant Brexit-supporting owner.
Next, a bit further up St Andrew's Street, on the corner with Pembroke Street, was The Cambridge Tap.
Then it was the Brewdog pub. Amazing how well this company have done, seemingly on the strength of a few beers. With "strength" being the operative word.
I then visited "The Eagle", apparently the oldest pub in Cambridge. This indeed was a very attractive old pub with several little rooms and friendly bar staff. This was the only pub of the crawl that night I'd definitely recommend.
T'was another great day - 15-0.
Cambridge - Day Two
It was foggy the next morning. I had a stroll into the city center to find a place for another good ol' full English brekkie and was not disappointed by my visit to The Copper Kettle.
Brekkie at the Copper Kettle
The whole reason for visiting Cambridge was because my big cousin, Vytas, lives there and it's been a few years since I last saw him. So that, I did the next day. After a few hours catching up with Vytas and Irene, it was back to Cambridge for some more (rather classy) fish & chimps and a few more pubs before hitting the sack.
My tenth fish & chips experience in England was at the Loch Fyne restaurant. It was a bit posh for me but the fish was good.
I then popped back to the pub next door to the B & B, The Prince Regent, then onto the Old Bicycle Shop (the do like their odd pub names here) and finally over to the Alma for a last one.
So, Monday, 14th November was a bit of a quiet, "only" 6-0 on the mood score.
Tuesday, 15th November - Off to Poland
The next morning, whilst leaving Cambridge, I was going to throw in a detour to the Abbey Stadium, home of Cambridge United, and then on to the Lamex Stadium, home of Stevenage FC on my way to Luton airport to catch my flight. But when it came to the actual "doing of it", I decided not to bother.
See? And some people think I'm a football fanatic!
I decided better safe than sorry and better early than late. So I headed straight for Luton airport to drop off the hire car and then catch my flight to Poland.
I got into a bit of a panic for a few moments driving around the airport when I realised there was no obvious sign for where to drop your hire car off. Luckily, I saw a Sixt van and decided to follow it, on the assumption that it would lead me to the right place. Correct.
So, I got the airport ridiculously early and had a frustrating time waiting as seriously noisy repairs were being done. Guys with pneumatic drills were digging holes into the concrete floors of the waiting areas right next to where unfortunate travelers were sitting waiting for their flights. The workers had protective head gear on, of course, but not the suffering passengers. I decided to film what was going on with the intention of sharing it on social media but a few seconds later I was confronted by a couple of beefy looking security staff members who insisted I delete the video I recorded in front of them.
Next stop... Eastern Europe!
It was at this point, feeling a bit rattled by security police that I got a reminder about how bad things could be. I met my first Ukrainian on this trip. She noticed my Ukrainian flag badge (I'm proud to say that since fascist Russia's brutal invasion started on 24th February I've tried to wear some symbol of support for them every day). She was going back home to Kyiv for the first time since February.
She was so grateful for all the support the west has given, including her personally. "Thank you" she said. "Thank *you*" I replied "You are fighting for the whole world against fascism!"
(Tears in eyes)
Rzeszow
The flight to Rzeszow (pronounced 'Zheshov') was quick and easy. Once I arrived I picked up some Euros and then waited for the next bus to take me to the town center. A guy at the airport, who spoke perfect English of course, was most helpful in making sure I knew where the bus stop was. As I had a half an hour to wait, I bought a beer and sat down and waited. I noticed the Ukrainian lady I'd met in Luton was waiting too for a while too.
The bus journey to the town center was very efficient and pleasant with modern screens and friendly passenger support that surprised me. When am I going to get over my prejudice that former Soviet block countries should be like something from the gulag?
Similarly, Rzeszow is bigger and brighter than I expected too
Once again, trying to get the cheapest option on Booking.com backfired. I went to the address recommended and it turned out to be an apartment in a big block of flats. I pressed the buzzer but there was no reply.
I trundled off to a a small pizza parlor with good WiFi and had an excellent peperoni pizza. Whilst scoffing there, I found a nearby cheap hotel (the Polonia, right next to the bus station).
I checked in and dumped my bag. Then it was off out to explore the town.
It was whilst roaming around the streets of Rzeszow that I heard the latest dramatic news coming from fascist Russia's genocidal war on Ukraine. A missile had landed across the Ukrainian border, a few kilometers inside Poland killing two farmers in the village of Przewodow. Apparently the incident happened as my plane was landing. This wasn't a good start to this part of the journey and was just 100 km away from where I was at that time.
100km from the missile strike on the Polish farmers
This wasn't going to look good to my daughters who had already been gently berating me for going to a "war zone" for a holiday. A family discussion in our on-line group had taken a comedic twist, a bit like that scene in Almost Famous, when the band Slim Water thought their plane was about to crash and they were all going to die. "We love you dad" was a common theme until my dear wife, reassured them that I'd be all right as long as I had wore my orange "John Sweeney" beany.
Early reports of it being a Russian missile were soon contradicted. The story soon being touted was that it was a Ukrainian surface to air missile that went stray. We mustn't be the ones seen escalating, I guess, is the message as always.
A couple of people I spoke to in Rzeszow pubs hadn't heard the news. They were understandably a little disturbed by the news, it has to be said.
My mini- Polish pub crawl...
The Craft Beer bug is everywhere
Rzeszow town hall at night
Rzeszow is a lovely little place. I must come back here again one day.
A great day. Mood score 19-0.
Wednesday, 16th November - On to Lviv, Ukraine
The next morning after a quick stroll around Rzeszow in the daylight and a nice brekkie, I parked myself at the bus station until the bus took me across to Lviv in Ukraine.
The view from my bedroom window
Checking out the bus station
Rzeszow town hall in the daylight
Periogi breakfast!
The roads in Poland are very good and it wasn't long before we reached the Ukrainian border. It didn't take as long to get through as I had feared and soon the road signs had changed to Cyrillic but, please note, not Russian.
Waiting for the bus
At the border
Leaving Poland
Entering Ukraine
Lviv, Day One
My bus finally arrived at the train station in northern Lviv just as it was getting dark. I decided to walk to the city center from there so I'd get to see more of the place. It was mainly down hill, and so quite an easy walk, but I quickly realised it was cold and getting colder.
I had deliberately booked a nice hotel for my three days in Ukraine. One of the points of my visit was to chip in a little to their economy so I was not in money-saving mode whilst I was in Lviv.
The Charles Hotel, Lviv. My home for three days.
The George Hotel is one of the oldest in Lviv and has very impressively grand corridors and the rooms have massive, heavy doors. The hotel is a bit dated but it was very comfortable and, most importantly, was very warm.
My Room at The George Hotel
Magnificent Corridors
... and flight of stairs
Once I'd unpacked I went out to explore the Old Town and found a restaurant to have something to eat.
Meal out
The George Hotel at night
Lviv "pub crawl"
This was a bit of a tiring, gloomy day. So only 5-2 on the mood score.
Thursday, 17th November. Lviv, Day Two
I woke up next morning to the first snow of the year in Ukraine. This was the 17th November, remember.
My view from my bedroom window seemed rather beautiful, I have to admit.
The day's walk around the Old Town had a few objectives. One was to buy a Ukrainian football shirt to take to the World Cup. Another was a haircut. A third was to try some delicious varenyky (Вареники or pierogi in Polish.)
English Speaking Club Bar - went back there later
Lviv Town Hall
Lviv Wintery Scene
Where I had a lovely warming pot of green tea
After stroll aimlessly around for an hour or so, I stopped for a coffee. At least that was my plan. Instead they offered a huge selection of teas, so I had a very nice pot of green tea.
Tea, Sir? I say, yes please.
Next, it was time to pay tribute to one of my heroes.
Since February 24th so much has changed and new heroes have emerged I'd hardly heard of before, if at all. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, of course, would be No. 1 on anyone's list of heroes of 2022. Also on the list would be Timothy Snyder who made available for free, his course on Ukrainian history at Yale University. The world was enriched as a result, especially anyone interested in Ukraine.
It's a fantastic resource for anyone who needs to learn a little about the country in the center of world news at the moment.
Another new hero is John Sweeney. He happened to be in Kyiv as the Russia invaded...
John records a daily diary and posts it to Twitter in the form of a short video.
Here's an example ...
He's also written a great book about Putin called "The Killer in the Kremlin" which I would strongly recommend. Funny, perceptive and very pertinent.
So, when I arrived in Ukraine I wanted to emulate Sweeney as best I could.
I bought an orange beany when I was last in Melbourne to copy John and now I had my clear framed specs too..
After that, it was a lovely day strolling around the wonderful cobbled streets of Lviv Old Town but I couldn't find any sports shop selling Ukrainian football shirts. Don't they like football, or something?
As I often do, I found a national museum in the city center to visit. I must have bought four separate tickets to visit different parts of the museum, all were very cheap.
One room had a small, but no doubt growing, collection of items gathered from the war. Most notable for me were the tiny nail like objects that had been collected from cluster bombs. These, note, are designed to maximize injury on people.
There was a school trip to the museum whilst I was there
War memorabilia room
Cluster bomb nails - designed to cause maximum physical harm
F&ck You, Russia!
Later, I had a lovely plate of dumplings, and bought an embroidered Ukrainian shirt, as I'd hoped.
Exchange Rates
Another task on my "to do" list was to have a hair cut in Lviv. I found a Google-recommended one off the main square. I was not disappointed. The barber did my usual short-back-and-sides. He was immaculate and took unprecedented care to shape my hair to my skull and stop it looking like the koala bear it usually ends up being after a few weeks.
Best Barber in Lviv
Half way through the cut, in the distance... a definite thud.
Half a second later... the lights flickered.
The guy sat behind me, waiting for his turn, leapt onto his feet and went outside for a moment to check. When he came back, I asked "was that what I thought it was?"
"Tak" The barber just rolled his eyes, as you might expect if some annoying uncle had made a typically rude comment. And then he carried on.
I had it confirmed later that night that it was a Russian cruise missile attack on a local power station.
It had been intercepted by a ground-to-air missile, which took it out but the explosion still caused the grid to wobble.
B A S T A R D S !
Brave and technically excellent barber gave me the best haircut ever.
Thermal underwear was a good idea in Lviv
After getting changed, it was time to "hit the town" and visit the English speaking bar.
The owner, a Canadian-Ukrainian who had been running his business for several years was sat at the bar and provided great company for the evening.
It was a relief to hear him say that he was happy and grateful for people like me to visit for tourist reasons. I couldn't help but feel a little guilty, that I was being a kind of voyeur coming to look at their misfortune. The last thing Ukraine needed right now was to have tourists to worry about, but he reassured me that actually tourists were very welcome. I was told that earlier in the year the only business they seemed to get was from journalists and volunteers and every tourist dollar can only help.
Later, an English guy from Leicester, came in. He was a professional Czech translator (both his parents were from the Czech Republic) who was in Ukraine to learn the language so he could extend his career in that direction too.
I was surprised, and I admit quite appalled, to find out he was a Brexiteer. I tried to suggest that one of the key reasons for Russia's brutal invasion was the fact that Ukraine wanted to join the EU and Putin didn't like it, but it fell on deaf ears.
Sign in the English-Speaking Bar
Later, we were joined by an American friend of his who apparently works in logistics. After several more beers in the English speaking bar we moved on to a kind of nightclub/wine bar to have the now famous Ukrainian Flag cocktail, made from pineapple juice and blue curacao.
In Ukraine... got to!
Ukraine Cocktails
Слава Україні
Glory to Ukraine!
There was a curfew in Lviv after midnight so we curtailed our drinking and I set off back to the hotel, which was close by, just around the corner.
This had been a great day. 15-0 on the mood scrore.
Friday, 18th November: Lviv Day Three
I spent my final full day in war-torn Ukraine going round another museum (one about the history of Lviv itself) and visiting the opera theatre as well as having a Georgian meal.
I was impressed to find out that Lviv had a big Armenian community in the past and had a very old Armenian church to prove it.
The Armenian genocide - another people victimized by a big bullying neighbouring wannabe empire.
Armenian Church in Lviv
I didn't realise it when I first arrived in Lviv but I walked right past the opera theatre when I first strolled into the city center. Now, during daylight, it was lovely to amble around among the quite and peaceful people there. You'd never know the country was fighting for its survival.
Tip: Never try to eat propolis. It tastes like ear wax.
Having strolled long enough, it was time to go to the ballet. Now I'm not a *HUGE* ballet fan but since being educated by my dear wife, I think I can appreciate it to some extent. So, when I realised the Lviv Opera theatre was operational, I thought I should pay a visit, no matter what was on.
I plead ignorance that I'd never even heard of the performance before. (This is embarrassing, as it turns out it is quite a famous one.) But I decided to go anyway, at least to experience the famous grand old opera theatre and, perhaps, to feel a little closer to the woman I love.
Whilst queueing for a ticket, I noticed a shocking notice to customers. It was a sober reminder indeed, about what these people were living through.
Imagine that: a warning to theatre goers about the possibility of being attacked by cruise missiles!
Queueing for my ticket
The theatre itself is so beautiful...
As I said, I'm not a huge fan of ballet and I must admit I left after the first act as I felt I had other things I wanted to do and my time in Lviv was ticking away.
Here's a video of the ballet (La Bayadere) in full if you're interested.
Just around the corner from the opera theatre was another museum, focused on the history of Lviv itself. So I thought I'd have a look in there too. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the wax, life-sized models of famous people in the history of the city.
The models were spookily realistic.
Spot the dummy
One of Genghis Khan's lot
After my fill of culture and history, it was time for some food and in East/Central Europe, for me that means dumplings! But, for a change I went to a Georgian restaurant to have some Khinkali. This was the first time I'd had them since visiting Tblisi in 2018. I must say they were excellent.
Best Khinkali ever! (ok, I've only had them three times)
Tamada, Georgian Restaurant on Virmenska Street
There were five kinkhali sitting on a plate, and if one kinkhali should deliberately get ate...
... there'd be four kinkhali sitting on a plate. Four kinkhali sitting on a plate and if one kinkhali should deliberately get ate...
... there'd be three kinkhali sitting on a plate. Three kinkhali sitting on a plate and if one kinkhali should deliberately get ate...
... there'd be two kinkhali sitting on a plate. Two kinkhali sitting on a plate and if one kinkhali should deliberately get ate...
... there'd be one kinkhali sitting on a plate. One kinkhali sitting on a plate and if one kinkhali should deliberately get ate...
There's be no kinkhali sitting on a plate.
Georgian (or is it Armenian?) Church tucked away in a Lviv back street
Finally, upon the recommendation of a Ukrainian acquaintance through Twitter, Oleksandra Zubal, I made the short trip to the memorial for those killed on Maidan Square ("the Memorial of the Heavenly Company Heroes") in the Revolution of Dignity in 2014.
Lovely view of the old town from the monument.
My last full day in Lviv was wonderful. 20-0.
Friday, 18th November - Back to Poland
Next morning, it was time to say "Прощання" (or farewell) to Ukraine.
The long walk up to the station was cold.
Bus ride though a winter wonderland, west, back to Poland...
Next time I visit, let us hope (and act!) that Ukraine will be free of war and fascist Russian invaders.
Krakow
We arrived in Krakow at the bus station which was right next to the train station I remember from my last visit in 2012.
It is so convenient to step from the cold into the warmth of a modern shopping center...
... Galeria Krakowska...
After dumping my stuff in my very conveniently located hotel in the Old Town a couple of hundred meters from the station, I was off to explore!
Of course, it was dumpling time and I found the perfect place. Google maps is such a great thing. How did we ever manage before?
Pierogi Paradise
I wanted it all
One very satisfied customer!
Krakow is so beautiful. No wonder it always ranks #1 on tourist "to do" lists.
Is it really ten years since I was here to watch the 2012 Euros in Poland/Ukraine? Back then, I visited Donetsk and then caught a bus that took me through Mariupol onto Crimea, where I stayed a night in Yalta. How times changed.
One day, I hope will return to a Ukrainian Mariupol and Crimea.
Vodka and Beer. I opted for beer!
I had planned to go on a bit of a pub crawl but it was just too cold!
I just had to get warm in bed!
Another great day, 14-0.
Back to the warmth of football and the Qatar World Cup 2022
The next morning, I was up and away from the sub-zero temperatures of central Europe and heading South to Greece for some warmth and a return to football.
Nice windows at the Hotel Pollera
Do następnego razu Kraków !
It was freezing at the station but nice and warm in the carriages.
Krakow airport is clean and efficient and soon I was on board and heading south to the warmth of the Aegean Coast.
Żegnaj zimno!
Tatra Mountains, I think, were spectacular on the way
Γεια σου ζεστασιά!
It was great to arrive in another civilized country in the EU. No border hassles but, oddly, I still had to do some of that silly currency exchange because Poland still uses the Zloty.
Unfortunately, it seems I had just missed a lovely balmy, sunny spell and it had turned wet and stormy and relatively cool just as I arrived.
Ah well, at least it wasn't minus seven degrees any more!
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