A Scottish/Ukrainian Odyssey

CHAPTER ONE

Our Journey

Three years after the full scale invasion by russia, Dmytro and I made the decision to visit Ukraine. We had been invited by a friend, who has since turned out to be a distant relative of Dmytro's. Victoria was helping Dmytro locate his lost family from the Second World War, the brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles that his father, Teodor often spoke of. He suffered all his life from not knowing what happened to them. Some taken to the Nazi concentration camps and some taken to the russian gulags.

In her searches, Victoria discovered that Dmytro might have had a half brother, born soon after Teodor was taken by the Germans - did he know of this son? We think not as he never mentioned it and he always took his responsibilities seriously, even helping a Ukrainian friend by looking after his financial legacy for the son he'd left behind in Ukraine.

So, Dmytro now wishes to make a bit more sense of the records, some in Ukrainian, but others in russian or Polish and the best way is to visit and meet with people personally. Although Dmytro visited Ukraine in 2006, he has never been to his father's village and it probably holds the answers to many questions.

However, we worried about intruding in a time of adversity, we didn't want to go as 'war tourists'. Then we heard Scottish journalist, Jen Stout give a talk at Pitlochry Festival Theatre and we then understood that by going, we would be giving support, energy and empathy to Ukrainians who wanted people to visit and not abandon them. Jen encouraged us with our plans.

As a Scot who grew up thinking a ten-mile journey was an adventure, who visited the Travel Agent before moving to the East of Scotland for college and who purchased Travellers Cheques when I first visited England at the age of 18, going to Ukraine would certainly be outwith my comfort zone. I have travelled a little, mainly in Europe with Dmytro for his concerts and also once to Canada, so I'm no longer as naïve about travel as I once was. I didn't actually have a passport until I was 34. However, a visit to Ukraine isn't about the travel but more about the love I now have for Ukrainians and their generations of struggle for freedom. We seem to share so many values, love of mountains and animals and green spaces, and a love of freedom, art and music. In my last published book of Isobel Wylie Hutchison essays, the final essay ends with the line, 'He lives at ease who freely lives.'

So although many people see me going to Ukraine as a way to support Dmytro, it is much more than that. It is about discovering why I have such passion about the country and how the people have responded to a brutal invasion with such dignity and strength. I have always hated injustice and the injustice done to Ukraine over many generations shocks and angers me, yet still they endure. Dmytro and I have made many new friends through social media during this invasion, and we hope to meet a few of them in person along the way. We have also lost friends and it is hard to express our emotions around this. Perhaps it will evolve through this blog.

Taken by Dmytro in 2006, a sculpture in to commemorate the victims of
It is engraved in many languages of the world, 'Do Not Kill'.

The journey started with the paperwork beforehand. We like to travel by train so decided this would be our travel choice. It's a long way and there are several options but in the end we chose to go via Belgium, Czech Republic, Poland and Ukraine. I will update this blog after each journey.

Meanwhile, here is a photo sent by a friend in Kyiv that we hope to meet up with. It is of people dancing in Independence Square after being severely attacked with missiles the night before. I hope we get a chance to dance with them.

I have purchased InterRail tickets as it will give flexibility of travel within Europe. I have found the process of setting up the digital tickets quite stressful but I am told by others who have used them, that they are very easy to travel with. There is a Facebook page for users of InterRail and I have found it extremely helpful.

We have purchased a variety of gifts for family and friends, always keeping in mind weight. Because we have these Scottish gifts, it reduces the space we have for our own things. I've aimed to travel light, we'll see!

I've no doubt we will bring gifts home. I love Ukrainian art both folk art such as Petrykivka painting and the traditional block printing of Vybiyka. A couple of years ago we bought Vyshyvanka's which were made to order by a Ukrainian company. This is a traditional embroidery technique which is described as 'Spiritual Armour'. Mine is a collar and Dmytro's is a full shirt. Here we are wearing them at Wilton's Music Hall.

Below is an edited piece by The Kyiv Independent newspaper on train travel in Ukraine.

"Starting late January, Ukrzaliznytsia, the Ukrainian state railway service, implemented additional security measures following a Russian attack on a passenger train in Kharkiv Oblast that killed five people and injured two others. Since then, Russia has escalated attacks on trains. They became a daily occurrence.

Now, train passengers must be prepared for long delays, sudden route changes, and evacuating the train in the middle of the night because of a drone threat.

One of our colleagues recently experienced this firsthand. On March 22, the Kyiv Independent's videographer Olena Zashko was traveling from Kyiv to the city of Dnipro on an electric train.

'The train stopped several times due to the threat of a drone attack,' she told me.

'An hour and a half before our final destination, the train stopped again — Shahed drones were flying over it. We saw them being shot down around us and could hear the sound. We were told that this will go on for a long time. One of the railway power stations had been hit, and there was no electricity. So we had to wait for another train.'

The passengers were standing in the cold near the tracks when residents of a nearby village came to their aid. They opened their local community center, which served as a shelter for the night. Practically the entire train, so many people and children, were sitting inside this club, waiting,' Olena recalled. 'Eventually, another train arrived to take them to Dnipro — seven hours after their planned arrival time.

Many Ukrainians will still travel — and adapt to delays, uncertainty, and moments like these. The urge to be with your family doesn't go away when there’s a war.'"

We are aware that we are taking some risks but Ukrainians have become very good at reducing risk. However, we do not want to add to their burdens so will do all we can to keep ourselves safe.

CHAPTER TWO

Starting at Grantown-on-Spey bus stop, we headed for Aviemore then a direct train to London, an 8 hour journey. Two people were in our booked seats and normally I find another but with the long journey ahead, I politely claimed them, having travelled this journey so often, I knew exactly where I wanted to sit and we were rewarded with a peaceful and comfortable journey.

We stayed at the Docker's Inn in Wapping - not the Wapping I remembered from News reports of my younger years. We had a very old squeaky sign outside our room, reminding me of a favourite pub in Findhorn!

The next night Dmytro performed his final big concert at Wilton's Music Hall. In the introduction, I told the audience that we were dedicating the performance to Ukraine and all those who give their lives to allow us to be here and create such events. I was very touched by the huge response from the audience.

Dmytro then gave a wonderful performance of Nosferatu which received a fantastic standing ovation. (It's strange, in the introduction, when I mentioned Ukraine, I noticed this one gent not clapping, as you do! However, at the end, I also noticed that same gent first to his feet in appreciation) Someone said afterwards, 'I hope he felt the amount of love and respect from that audience?'

A quick look around an exhibition about ageing at the Welcome Foundation, which included exhibits such as Charles Darwin's walking stick and a video about the Hydra. There was a Japanese care robot, which was used to help with the care of the elderly but the idea was abandoned when they discovered that those who used one were more neglected by their human friends. Quite a thought to consider.

We then said goodbye to family and friends and took the Eurostar to Brussels. We had heard a lot about the delays caused by the new passport checks but our transfer through was instant and the easiest I've ever gone through a border control. We were heading for my cousin Lynn and her husband Leo who live in Leuvan. Finding the train transfer from Brussels to Leuvan was problematic as like Waverley Station, the platform signage is either missing or hidden. We dropped on the train with 30 seconds to doors close but otherwise all went well and Lynn and Leo were waiting for us and very kindly looked after us for the evening and we enjoyed a nice breakfast in their beautiful garden the next morning. We went back to Brussels and had time to look at the Grand Place and enjoy the warm sunshine.

There were a few interesting sculptures in the centre of Brussels, the first of which was Don Quixote (this book is the most translated in the world), a story which I will contemplate as we two travel on.

There was also a statue of the composer Bela Bartok, Dmytro says 'he banged a square peg into a round hole'. He certainly didn't look happy about it. 😏 We had time for a beer in the very busy Grand Place and enjoyed the vibe of May Day tourists.

Our next journey was on a sleeper train to Prague. I hadn't checked the route beforehand and was surprised to discover the first stop was Amsterdam. The train itself was once again hard to find and we were booked in to Carriage 22. We ran the whole length of the train to find it finished at Carriage 21, then ran all the way back to find a guard who informed us that our carriage had been changed to No. 10, the last carriage at the other end, which we ran to and got on once again just before departure. 😧

The sleeping cabins are made up of five beds. We were so lucky to have been put in with three young French people (not so sure they felt the same about two old Scottish people LOL). However, the cabin next to us was empty and the guard said we could use it until Amsterdam (that's when I discovered the route). We arrived in Amsterdam at 10 pm so a good time to go to our allocated carriage to sleep, though we ended up sitting and chatting with the French youths until midnight.

There is a lot to be said about spending time with young people. All three were from different parts of France and travelling separately. When we saw the passengers coming on in Amsterdam, we were even more relieved we had these three companions. Sleeping was not so easy, the beds are quite hard and there is no spare space. Dmytro managed better than me. We had put on camping slippers and I was so glad of them as I went to the loo or for a walk in the corridor many times. When I lived in Yorkshire, it used to amuse me that I crossed the same river five times to get to work from Masham to Boroughbridge, now I was crossing, not a river, but borders, and modern technology allows for my phone to send me a text, 'Welcome to France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and then finally Czech. We saw the full moon rise as we came in to The Hague.

The journey was fifteen hours long, not getting in to Czechia until 10 am. However, we were up and looking at the amazing scenery from 8 am. The train went through Dresden and along the Elbe river. The skies were blue and the train gave that familiar constant chugging sound which reminded me of my youth. In fact the train was not dissimilar to those old trains, it had windows you could open and stick your head out (not recommended if moving!) but that was a lovely piece of nostalgia, though I still didn't like walking between carriages as they rocked loudly and gave the impression of being about to disconnect!

CHAPTER THREE

On arrival in Prague station, you can't help but be impressed by the architecture. There were a couple of memorials and I found the one with hands very moving as it in memory of the children who were sent away by their parents for safety and never reunited. Impossible not to think of the Ukrainian children (over 20,000) stolen by russia during their current invasion. A crime against humanity.

The entrance to Prague station.

When we opened the room door of our hotel in Prague, we gasped. I don't know how I managed to find such a room at only £50 more than what we'd paid in London, but we came up trumps. Not only was the room more of a suite, it had a bathroom the size of our house...with a jacuzzi bath. The situation was perfect, on Wenceslas Square with the extraordinary National Museum at the top, but we didn't visit inside, instead I took Dmytro to the outside walls where you can still see the damage by bullets fired by the russians in 1968 when russia invaded Prague with tanks, an abiding memory from my childhood, perhaps one that either engaged me in politics or one that I remember because I am naturally interested.

Prague is a popular city and I came here for my 40th birthday 26 years ago, so I knew some of the special places to take Dmytro. It was much busier now and the Prague Marathon was on the next day. It was warm and glorious in blue skies. Dmytro was surprised at the grandeur and the number of Art Nouveau buildings. We wandered on the evening of our arrival and the next day as our train wasn't until 10 pm. During our wanders we found the wonderful modern art museum which had a fascinating exhibition by Sahej Rahal, and like UK museums, there was no entrance fee.

Then we found a Kafka museum. As Dmytro had composed Amerikan Requiem with a nod to Kafka, I really wanted him to see some Kafka exhibits and this one we randomly came across was perfect. It made us laugh. Full of irony, alienation and disfunction.

Prague gave a real sense of medieval and the Golem (a story created to protect the Jewish community against anti-Semitic attacks.) We passed the Synagogue Staronova where the legend was created.

That evening we were back at the Railway Station to head for Poland. We arrived a bit too early and had a long wait in a crowded area. Once again, we couldn't find our carriage and went the length of the train. When I found the guard, and showed my seat booking, 'oh, you are the one'! I wasn't sure what I had done to merit this but there was a lot of discussion between two train guards and finally we were shown our seats, once again at the very end of the train. We seem to be at the 'coo's tail' on each journey. I queried the seats as I thought I'd booked beds, but no beds on this train. When I double checked, it seemed the bed apartments were removed in December.

We sat opposite a young couple who were jolly and asked where we were from and if we'd been to Poland before, not me, said I, then Dmytro added 'we are going to Ivano-Frankivsk' , she immediately changed her look and turned away. They then both sat scowling for the rest of the journey. It was strange, we hadn't killed their parents, or tortured their children, yet they made their mind up about us in a sweeping instant. My first realisation that a certain small group of Polish people held prejudice against Ukrainians (a mix of historical grievances, economic strain) yet they are few, as we have many close and supportive Polish friends. A reminder of why 'The Golem' had to be created. There are people who apply their prejudices with a wide brush. And as many will know, Dmytro and I are completely disparaging about russians, though if we had sat opposite two russians, we would have given them an opportunity to show their individual humanity. A bit of civility goes a long way. It has always been the problem with the world, ignorant and judgemental. After seven hours sitting opposite each other, they got up to leave at Rzeszow and never turned to acknowledged us. A small low point. At least with them gone, we were able to stretch out a little. The funny thing was we were messaging a Polish friend in the UK as we went through his hometown.

On arrival at Przemyl, probably because of that experience, we decided not to stay in the city for a couple of hours, as planned, instead we headed to buy a ticket for the next train to Ukraine.

CHAPTER FOUR

We found the ticket room, inevitably at the furthest point from where we were and up many stairs. If you do travel these routes, be warned there are a lot of steps and not many lifts, travelling light is recommended, We asked about trains to Lviv. She shook her head and said we must go through passport control first. Ah, so no ticket here? Passport check and then a ticket? Yes she nodded.

Passport control was entirely at the other end, near where we started so back down the stairs and along we trundled. By now there was a huge queue for passport control though we were told it was short compared to normal. After about half an hour, we got chatting with a lady near us. She was surprised we didn't have a train ticket, 'you must get that first' she said. 😕 We hovered, not really wanting to leave our spot so I went online to try and buy a ticket, but just as I was about to buy, the train that would be leaving in an hour, vanished from the screen and the lady also moved to her destination. We went to passport check and mine was fine, yet Dmytro had a problem, where was his residence pass? I could hear him say with indignation, 'I am a British Citizen' and knew there was trouble. I was called over, I explained all was fine with me so what was different with Dmytro. A conversation then developed between the chap that checked me through and the lady who was checking Dmytro. Then we were waved through the barrier where a large train was boarding. However, we had no ticket. 😳

We tried to explain to the guard checking tickets, but she couldn't speak English. She started speaking into here phone and voila! Google translate came to the rescue. After a long time, she managed to work out the problem, we needed to download the English version of Ukrainian railways in order to book a ticket. All tickets are electronic and must be purchased before boarding. However, even though the train was still sitting there (they hold it until all passengers are through passport control) we could not buy a ticket as the app thought it had left. 😂 There was nothing for it but to book the next train which was scheduled for 2 hours later though already sitting in the next platform.

I honestly am amazed at that guard's patience with us and how she managed to check passengers boarding in between helping us buy tickets. As we walked away to wait for boarding of our train, I ran back and gave her a Scottish fridge magnet. It was from Grantown-on-Spey and depicted a Highland Cow, it read 'Nobody is Perfect but being Scottish is Close Enough'. I should change that to 'Ukrainian'.

On the train, we were once again at the last carriage and we were on the last cabin in the carriage! It was perfect, we had the cabin to ourselves and each carriage had its own guard to help and bring tea.

The tea was served in spectacular glass & metal mugs, including decorated metal spoons. I should do another post about all the toilets we have visited, an amazing range but on this train it wasn't like the little toilets back home but a proper room with the necessary facilities.

After about twenty minutes we crossed the border to Ukraine and the train stopped to allow soldiers and police to board. We were asked if were diplomats? That was amusing, then asked if we had anything illegal. I was thrown by the question, and said 'Whisky'? The soldier laughed, 'that's not illegal! Have you any weed or cocaine?' We laughed, 'we are too old for that.'

The soldier asked the purpose of our visit and Dmytro said he was looking for family as his father had been taken by the Germans in WWII, there was an instant acknowledgement. 'Good luck with your trip.' We later discovered that an American chap had a completely different experience going through boarder control.

Arriving in Lviv was lovely, the sky was still blue and it was warm.

I could see on the map that our hotel was a little too far for walking with luggage and the app suggested a tram. We jumped on No. 1 as suggested and it took off. There was what seemed a card scanner and we tried it without success. A young girl with a little English tried to help but still no success. Then a young man with full English helped.

After a bit I realised we were on the wrong tram and going further from our hotel, so we got off and as it turned out it was the same stop for the young man. We got talking and he said he was studying law and hoped to visit Scotland one day. Discovering Dmytro was a composer he was very excited and wanted to know more.

We gave him a card and then we took photos and as he left he said his name was Roman - the same as Dmytro's brother.

I'd booked our hotel at the last minute on the train, taking the cheapest at the best star rating, I also liked the name 'Modern Art Hotel', then when we arrived, we discovered it was an old cinema building, with a piano theme. It had glass stairs in piano keys and piano decoration on the wall with images of Charlie Chaplin. 😂💓 I do love the unexpected which the universe throws our way.

The lovely breakfast room had reproduction of Egon Shiele paintings and we tried Syrniki (a cheese pancake served with cream of dill sauce and smoked salmon) for the first time and I am hooked.

The train for Ivano Frankivsk would leave at 6 pm the next day, so we had time to see a bit of Lviv.

We like wandering cities without a plan and to discover what they throw up. This was an easy city to wander, especially in the warm sunshine. We heard opera singers practice from high windows, we found a local food shop with delicious serve-yourself food. Then a fabulous coffee shop area.

We chose our cakes with difficulty, Dmytro asked for the cat and the lady took a fit of giggles, 'it is a rabbit', she said. We sat outside and enjoyed one of the best cakes we've had in one of the best cafe areas ever.

We could have been in Paris.

But of course, we could not be so flippant because on arrival at our hotel, after giving us our keys, we were shown the 'shelter.' In fact it was one of the first things I noticed getting off the train, the signs to bomb shelters.

When I went to the toilet, a young lady asked if I was a tourist? I said, partly but also we are going to visit my partner's family. She was incredibly grateful, 'we don't see tourists from abroad now, we really appreciate you coming here, and not forgetting us.' We chatted for a while and that sums up our first impressions of Ukraine, beautiful, modern, welcoming and incredibly grateful, to the extent I am embarrassed by some of the things I hear back home.

CHAPTER FIVE

So much has happened since our relaxing coffee in Lviv. Where to start? Perhaps just giving a few overall comments about Ukraine and the small differences that don't matter but are interesting.

The British tea culture hasn't come here, as 'black tea & breakfast tea' are not always available, and serving it with milk seems odd to Ukrainians. It also means that a kettle in the hotel room is not a 'thing'. No late night tea and biscuits. 😔 This was later disputed by a Ukrainian friend, so perhaps it was just the hotels I chose.
We haven't had butter since we got here! Butter is my daily life at home but it isn't served with toast or anything else that I've spotted. Instead soft cheese seems more popular but generally just dry toast, though it is delicious, I think a bit of butter would be the cherry on top.
Talking about cherries - yes, lots of cherry things. Mmmm
They don't have a ground floor, so it is the same as Americans, the first floor is the bottom floor, I will explain the confusion this caused a bit further on.

Our wanders around Lviv took us to the Potocki Palace, a very grand building with a classical art collection, including Titian, de la Tour and many others.

The entrance ticket said to start on the first floor so we went upstairs, after a bit a lady came and spoke to us but we didn't understand each other. She went away and we carried on. Then she reappeared with her mobile phone and showed a translation ' you should start down stairs on the first floor'. I realised what had happened and used my phone to explain how in Scotland, the first floor is one up.

We had a laugh and continued on our way in the wrong direction. The palace also had a contemporary art exhibition by an artist I cannot name, I have tried to find out but without success. But here are some images, I would love some of these hanging in my house.

The colours were the enchantment.

We also looked into the Science Library but public visits were not allowed. Then we came across a little wholefood store not unlike 'Fiona's' in Grantown-on-Spey, so we popped in to buy some dried apricots.

There were a few other odd items and as we browsed the young girl started chatting. She was thrilled that we had visited and quite moved when we told her that lots of people in Scotland support Ukraine. She said she'd been in Europe last year and found them quite disconnected and disinterested. Her friend had been killed in the war and she put 15% of sales towards the army. We left feeling very moved by such a gentle soul having to deal with the horrors of this invasion.

On the way back to the hotel to collect our luggage, we stopped for another coffee, as we relaxed, I received a text from our hotel in Ivano-Frankivsk. 'As you have not arrived, we have cancelled the booking.' Oh no! I tried to ring but my phone wouldn't connect. We rushed back to the hotel and asked the reception for help. They phoned for us and after a bit of Ukrainian discussion and slight amusement, we were reassured that things were sorted and our room would be available.

This time we took no risks and asked the reception to organise a taxi to take us to the train station.

The taxi driver was great and gave us a little commentary about the monuments before dropping us off. We had half an hour before our train's arrival. Once again, the train was very spacious and had information screens. We loved looking out at the scenery which was mostly trees which had huge nests in them and every so often small colourful towns and villages.

But then there were the cemeteries full of flags.

We arrived in Ivano-Frankivsk at 9.30 pm and were collected at the station. The Hotel had our room ready and it was laid out like a small apartment. It was an old building in the city centre, and all very pleasant. For those who know me, I always need a coffee before bed otherwise I get a blinding headache that wakes me at 4 am. So we found a grocery store that was still open which had a coffee machine. It took a while to work out, though not successfully as I ended up with hot chocolate. Anyway, I was so tired, it did the trick and we both slept well. It would be our base for the next two weeks.

CHAPTER SIX

For those reading, I should mention that we must remember Ukraine is under attack from a terrorist state and that I have to censor some of my writing. There are certain photos I cannot share or events I cannot mention at the moment. However, tonight as we wandered around the main square, Dmytro asked how I felt about being here, had it lived up to expectations? I said it had, that it was a grander city than I expected, more open and that I felt safe walking around - then we laughed as we realised what I'd just said. Yes, even though there was an 'Air Alert' alarm on my phone, somehow I felt safer here than in many cities.

Back to the reason we are here: Dmytro's lost family. On the first night with our friends, Dmytro resolved several puzzles which had troubled him for a long time and also the recent belief that he may have had a half-brother. This turned out not to be the case, as the birth certificate showed the father Teodor Morykit, with parents Dmytro & Parasceva and the baby born 1944, the year Teodor was taken by the Germans. However, we had not deciphered further and the maiden name of Parasceva turned out to be different from Dmytro's grandmother Parasceva. So although it seemed strange that there could be two Teodor's from the same village with parents of the same name, I considered it was no different in Scotland. Our town has so many 'Grants' that it is entirely possible that say, there could be two David Grants who had parents with the names Andrew & Fiona. A further look at the birth certificates of siblings confirmed Dmytro's father was indeed not the father. This made sense, as Dmytro thought it impossible to keep such a secret unless he of course hadn't known himself.

We also resolved some questions around photos we brought with us which had comments on the back in Ukrainian. There were a lot of dots joined. A good start and we agreed we would further investigate the archives to try and discover what had happened to Dmytro's grandfather - the man he was named after.

Next day there was a festival in the square and there were many dressed in traditional costumes, embroidered shirts and blouses and flowers in the hair. We listened to a wonderful choir with a host of bandora players (a bandora is a traditional Ukrainian instrument).

On hearing this distinctive sound, Dmytro became emotional. The music had brought back memories of his childhood and the shellac records his Dad had played. He said, ' Standing in this very square where Dad had been,

I can't imagine what it must have been like at 19 years old to be taken from your family and never see them again. His life in effect stopped here. The trauma never left him, even at ninety two years old, on his death bed, he was right back here.'

Dmytro had just finished wiping his tears when a young man thrust a large microphone towards him and chatted in Ukrainian. When we replied in English, he immediately changed to English himself. He was from a TV company and could he interview us about the festival? We agreed. Next thing we were standing in front of a camera and microphone.

Where were we from?
Why were we here?
Were we not scared?
Do we think it is appropriate to have a festival when the country is at war?

We both agreed that such cultural events were important, especially in such hard times, to raise spirits and remember why they are defending themselves and their culture, we don't just exist, we create. I've no idea which TV it was for or whether or not it was shown but it broke us out of that melancholy moment.

We plan to go to the Archives on Monday. Already we feel this trip has closed a lot of loose ends.

There is also another excursion in the planning for next week which I will tell you more about if it goes ahead.

Meanwhile, here are a few photos I've taken as we wander. I do ask permission before taking photos of people.

Ladies sewing. I said 'Slava Ukrainii' and they all cheered!

We met the old lady with the frame twice as she went around cafes asking for help. We wondered how many wars and losses she had endured.

Fantastic wood carving and ironwork throughout the city.

And never to be forgotten, the young men and women who gave up their lives to defend their families and country. Sadly, this went on for some way across two streets.

Each stand depicting a murdered defender, many the same ages as my own sons and daughter.

This light shop was collecting money for arms, you can see the row of bullets on the counter and the collection box.

11th May 2026

CHAPTER SEVEN

We went to the archives this morning, but first a few other stories.

In Ukraine you generally buy bus and train tickets in advance, so we went looking for the bus depot to buy tickets for an outing on Tuesday. We were told it was near the train station and that was a landmark Dmytro wanted to visit. We were directed into the train station for a ticket. Ah! They must sell both, we thought. A very stern 'soviet-style' lady was serving and we could tell she was annoyed we couldn't speak Ukrainian as she had no English, so I used my phone to show where we were going, then a calendar to show the day and then she wrote down all the times for us to choose one. Success! Two tickets were printed after we showed our passports.

I then asked where to find the bus stop - she pointed in a particular direction and when we went off to look, there was only a train. Our puzzled look drew the attention of a young girl who spoke English. Turned out she was from Zaporizhnia and like a young Mum we met on our first day, had moved here after the invasion.

She explained we had train tickets and not bus tickets - oh well, it still took us to the same place.

We headed home and stopped at a church where the lovely singing drew us in. We saw an old beggar man outside and Dmytro gave him some cash, I then went to get my purse and it was not there! The only place it could be was at the station so we headed on back at speed. There was a large queue at the ticket office but no sooner had we joined it than the ticket lady spotted us and started waving my purse in great joy. What a relief and what a transformation to that ticket lady, full of smiles and animated at our return for the purse. We were very grateful.

In the afternoon we did some browsing of nearby shops, as we wandered through a china shop, the shopkeeper and assistant called us over, I was wary, would I be sold something I didn't need or would she lecture me about touching things? When we reached the counter she handed us a plate of cheese and garlic sausage, then pulled out a small bottle of vodka and four glasses from below the counter. 😋

There was a lot of Na Zdorovya and Slainte Mhath. At one point, she pointed to each of us and said 'good', I smiled and said, yes, not monsters. Immediately she nodded, monsters, then shook her head and raised her arms in disbelief and horror. After sharing photos of grandchildren (it was Mother's Day), she gave us both a big hug.

Before arriving, I did wonder if it might be difficult to show open support for Ukraine, if there might be russian supporters lurking, but of course it isn't. Everyone supports Ukraine. I asked Yuriy what happened to russians who lived here when the invasion happened, he said 'they became Ukrainian, although some used their Ukrainian passport to leave and live in other European countries.' It is a weird world where russians who hate the west, still want to live there and do very little to improve and invest in russia.

This city is like most other modern European cities, a mix of old and modern, I'm still considering making a separate blog about toilets 😂 today I saw a brilliant one in a cafe, a place that also allowed dogs and served them with their own bowl of water. Many restaurants and cafes expect you to order via QR codes on the tables. There are generators outside and inside businesses to enable them to carry on when russia attacks the power grids. They are adapting regularly. I was told that the city are now implementing more disabled access because of the number of disabled veterans.

The buses are a mix of old and ultra modern.

We went to an exhibition and an outdoor concert of Ukrainian music of the 90s and met some young people who were very pleased to meet us, one had a grandfather with a similar story to Teodor and he had ended up in Ayr. He told us he had gone to that family in Ayr at the beginning of the invasion but missed home too much so after six months he came back to Ukraine.

There was also a lad called Nikita from Odesa and Dmytro enjoyed telling him about the Strictly dancer called Nikita from Odesa. When they discovered Dmytro's Dad was in the Divisia, they were in awe, which needs a little explanation...

The Divisia (The 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galician), commonly known as the SS Galicia Division was a WWII military unit formed in 1943 to protect Ukraine but in 1944 at the Battle of Brody it was significantly destroyed by the russians.

After the war, most of the surviving members surrendered to British and US forces. The Deschenes Commission reviewed the case of former Galicia Division members and found no evidence of war crimes or criminal affiliation by the unit.

In Ukraine it was rebuilt and re-designated as the 1st Ukrainian Division of the Ukrainian National Army (UNA) in April 1945.

Dmytro's Dad was not involved in the Battle of Brody, he was sent to the unit by the Germans later in 1944 after he was forcibly taken whilst the Germans were retreating and needing manpower against the Red Army. He was an engineer, building pontoons and blowing up bridges. He often recounted going through Slovakia and the former Yugoslavia in German Uniforms yet the partisans never fired one bullet because the unit sang Ukrainian songs as they passed through.

Apart from in Ukraine, where the full story was known, the narrative about this unit was altered after the war by the russians. At the start of WWII, the russians signed an early treaty with Hitler (Molotov Ribbentrop Pact) although they fell out within a couple of years and became enemies. Stalin had shown Hitler how to commit genocide as evidenced by Holodomor in the early 1930s, and suppressed information about it. Teodor witnessed this Great Famine.

After the war, with russia in control of Ukraine and many smaller Eastern European nations, in order to hide their own Nazi affiliations, russia spread the false information that Ukrainians were Nazis. Yet Ukrainians (including several of Teodor's siblings) were killed in the death camps...German (concentration camps) and russian (Gulags).

The disinfo was successful for the general public, though Churchill knew exactly what was going on. He brought Ukrainians to the UK and then used many of them to go back and spy for Britain. He wisely never trusted the russians. However, when Dmytro told people in the UK that his Dad had been in the Divisia, it was often viewed with suspicion. His entire life has been about defending his father and Ukrainian history, he was regularly told that Ukraine did not exist as it was a region of russia. There were times even he doubted his father. Now, suddenly here he finds people are almost dropping to their knees in admiration and appreciation of him. Ukrainians know their history and are proud of it.

There are many books written about this subject, and it has finally found its Ukrainian voice. The penny is dropping.

What I see, because of this history, is that Ukrainians will never be russians and will never be terrorised.

Even after over four years of constant terror, imperialist russia has only occupied 20% (including Crimea) of this huge and diverse country. One of the most offensive things that you can say to a Ukrainian is that they are 'proxies'. They have spent generations fighting for their right to exist and not be genocided or written off by anyone.

When you see the cities, modern, vibrant and functioning, then the true horror of what russia is doing hits hard. One friend asked 'why are they not bombed-out in the photos?' Well, think what would happen if London was bombed, we would immediately repair and clear up and that's what Ukrainians do. Of course some cities near the front have been totally destroyed with the use of trillions of pounds of arms and the cost of 1.3 million russian deaths. Barbarism by monsters.

We went on a sunny walk around the city this afternoon, much of the centre is pedestrianised. We came across a lovely lake and park, people were sunbathing, ducks were swimming and young girls were playing volleyball. Any moment an air raid can go off and a random missile can drop and kill any of us. It is total madness that the whole of Europe is not up in arms to stop this. Shame on anyone who finds excuses or ideology to justify it.

Oh the archives, that is next! Run out of time tonight as we have to get to bed early to be up for a big excursion tomorrow.

CHAPTER EIGHT

The Archives

On the outskirts of Ivano-Frankivsk, a small, inconspicuous building. We arrived just before 9 am, so stood outside to honour the defenders which happens every day for one minute.

Well, there is no way we could have navigated the archives without Yuriy, he spoke on our behalf and found the books we needed. There was a severe-looking young woman in charge and we had forms to complete and passports to show. Unfortunately, the records for the years 1910 to 1930 were missing. Yuriy couldn't understand this because he explained that at least six copies were made of each church registration book as they were sent out to different offices within the region. It was a puzzle and a very annoying one because it covered the year of Teodor's birth as well as all of his siblings apart from the youngest.

The youngest, Maria, born in 1931 we found almost instantly in the large handwritten, yellowed and fragile book.

We then looked for the births and marriages of Grandparents and Great Grandparents. Again, we found these with Yuriy's help. All recorded in the records of the Greek Catholic church of Nadorozhna. However, the one answer we really wanted, what happened to Teodor's father? Well, this we could not answer with these records. Yuriy then discovered more records online so we have a bit more research to do from home. There was a moment of enlightenment when Dmytro mentioned that his Grandmother's maiden name was Jewzick; Yuriy explained that would be the Polish spelling and it should be Yevchuk in Ukrainian. The complexities of Ukraine is that many records are not only in Ukrainian but can be in Polish or Russian, depending on who was occupying the area at the time! Now he knew his grandmother was not Polish, or unlikely to be, but Ukrainian.

So our next hope was to visit Nadorozhna to see if we could find a grave or someone who knew what happened to Dmytro's grandfather.

CHAPTER NINE

We were lulled into a sense of false security. The first nights in Ukraine we worried about being woken by the Alerts and how to get to bomb shelters. However, after a week of no alarms, travelling around by bus, car and train and enjoying lovely food, beautiful scenery and shopping, we forgot about the alerts as though all was well in this world. Then yesterday when we were in Nadorozhna, standing at the site of Teodor's family home, the alarm went off. The Ukrainians looked at their phones then carried on talking so I took it that it was OK not to panic. A few hours later we were back in Ivano-Frankivsk and our friend walked us back to the hotel.

We stopped for a photo at the fountain and said goodbye.

A couple of minutes later I heard the sound of a drone above us, I said to Dmytro, 'run!' When I reached the doorway of the hotel, I looked around and saw Dmytro looking to the skies, then an earth shattering explosion. Dmytro ran and we headed inside, both shaking like leaves, terrified and hearing a young woman cry. We were now fully initiated into russian terror. Such an experience does change you. Dmytro said 'everyone that harps on about politics, needs to experience this.' We were safe but a residential apartment not far from us took the blast and four were injured.

The day had begun with a drive to Nadorozhna. We had seen photos and heard often about Teodor's awful night being taken by the Nazis, the grim stories, the black and white photos had not prepared us for entering a beautiful village with grand houses, flowers and a golden-domed church.

It was like driving in to our nearby local tourist village, Nethy Bridge. It was also very emotional for Dmytro, it had taken almost 70 years to reach this point and it was so different to what had been in his mind's eye. Yet, when we eventually reached Teodor's home, we went back in time.

The house he grew up in was no longer there, the small replacement home had been built closeby and Dmytro met a cousin who now lived there. The same shy smile of his father.

Unfortunately, Mikhael, spoke no English and although we had a local historian with us, he was a quiet chap and a bit overwhelmed by us all landing on him. He wasn't able to give any information on what had happened to Dmytro's granddad.

The one thing that had the biggest impact on me, was the slope down from the house towards a den of trees. This was just as Teodor had described it, how he had initially run from the house down the hill and hid amongst tree roots until he heard shooting, then frightened that his parents might be shot, he went back up the hill and a German soldier on a horse took him - he said 'broich, broich' (bread) and was allowed back in the house where he said goodbye to his mother but his father was ill in bed and he didn't get to say goodbye. His mother and sister then ran after him and his mother said 'go west'.

I wasn't prepared for the emotional impact seeing that sloping field would have on me.

There was also the well, we had photos of Teodor's mother standing at the well and then later his sister standing there. The well had been long closed and another had replaced it, but the replacement must have been some time ago as it also looked old.

During the conversations, this was when we had our first Air Raid alert on our phones, as mentioned above.

We then visited the cemetery and saw graves of Dmytro's aunt and cousin, also called Dmytro and born in the same year as his brother, though sadly now dead ten years.

We met the village priest, Father Bogdan and he took us to the old church where Teodor had been baptised.

He explained that during Soviet occupation it had been closed from 1946 to 1991 and was only allowed to be used as a museum. However, they did continue to hold services by having them at night.

It was an amazing building, built entirely of wood without nails, in the traditional style. The interior was surprisingly decorative.

There was an outside bell tower and the children of the village were allowed to ring the bell at Easter.

We then went on to the new church (with the golden dome) which had taken almost 20 years to build. Then we had a snack and drink and in the village cafe. Victoria's sister, Iryna invited us back to her mother's house nearby. She put on a delicious spread of cheeses, meet and salads. There were a few drinks also taken. We had a lot of information to take home and think about. It had been a busy day so when we arrived back to Ivano-Frankivsk, we had forgotten there was an air alert for the region and sauntered along the square, taking a photo at the fountain. No sooner had we said our goodbyes than I heard the horrible sound of a drone above us. Then the rest I posted above.

CHAPTER TEN

(The flats opposite)

By chance the next day, we came across the building that was hit just a couple of streets away. They had already started repairing it, we could hear the saws and drills and a huge facility had been set up.

It took about half an hour in the bomb shelter before the alert turned green, and the famous voice of Mark Hamill said 'May the Force be with you!' indicating it was now safe to go out. In the shelter, we had chatted to a Jewish American lady from New York who was staying a few days before going to Lviv. I asked if she had family connections with Ukraine, but no, she just wanted to support Ukraine so had come over and worked for a radio station. She believed many of her countrymen had gone mad and she found sanity here.

It was such a beautiful evening we decided to walk back to the fountain, an impressive structure where you can walk below the water without getting wet.

I took a photo of Dmytro but then the darn Air Alert went again. We weren't hanging about this time and ran towards the shops, there was an entrance to what seemed like an underground bar, so we ran down into what was a deep cellar area. There was a bunch of young men at a table. We sat down and Dmytro tried to order beer but had to use the translator on the phone and then was given a Carslberg.

We giggled, as though we couldn't read the graffiti or signage on the walls, the beer tap decorations showed we weren't the expected customers.

Then we saw the clear plastic seats had the famous Scottish Johnny Walker (from Kilmarnock) sign on them. The green alert to say we were now safe happened in about half an hour and we headed out, as we left, we pointed to Johnny Walker and said 'Schotlandi'! It was the magic word as we'd discovered throughout our stay. The next day as we walked around, a group of young lads pointed to us, I realised they had been in the bar and gave them the thumbs up. This is a small city.

I'd actually spent a couple of hours typing up a piece but then a thunderstorm hit and everything closed down and my typing had been wiped. I don't have the time or inclination to type it up again so instead I will put a summarised version below with more photos. The piece was about a day trip to Yaremche,

which is the equivalent of the Cairngorms National Park.

This lady who made us the most delicious pancakes with stewed apples is waiting on the return of her son from the frontline. Her daughter is in Canada as a Tattoo Artist.

I gave her a bunting heart that I'd knitted and she gave me a huge bear hug!

The restaurant in the old style building of wood and no nails and very steep roofs.

Some examples of the diverse architecture from the traditonal wooden buildings above to modern ones on the left.

An old-type house which is derelict and some lovely modern houses.

It is noticeable the variety of architecture and unlike in the UK, they don't seem to have vast schemes of similar buildings which end up looking like prison camps.

Even in the cities, the apartment blocks have variety and colour.

An old derelict house.

Golden domes are a regular occurrence. And they really are golden! Glistening in the sun or shining against grey skies. The pictures can never do them justice.

Victoria had arranged for Lesia to meet and show us around Yaremche. In return we did a conversation hour with her English language pupils; all teenagers.

That proved to be interesting and informative. I would like to write more about this day when I get home.

The poorly focused photo of the horses was taken through the train window, hence the strange colours. The views from the train were wonderful and I saw a brown bear, no time to take a picture or show Dmytro but I can't think what else it would have been on the edge of a forest.

This I'm told is a Coypu - very cute.

There is more to tell about Ivano-Frankivsk, in fact it has been arranged for Dmytro to give a concert!!

Meanwhile Kyiv took a terrible battering a few nights ago, killing 24 people which was widely reported, however, not so widely reported is that Ukraine struck several key military targets across russia yesterday including in Moscow. The Kerch bridge has been struck and closed for at least 10 hours. russia are now paying a heavy price for this invasion, though no doubt they will intensify their attacks.

We booked our hotel in Kyiv, friends asked us to reconsider going but we have friends waiting to meet us, they live with this horror daily, our lives are no more important than theirs. As the line from Nosferatu states, 'we cannot outrun our destiny.' We want to be safe and not frightened but we are not alone in that.

More to tell about meeting a Welsh Blacksmith working in Kharkiv and of course the concert.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Victoria's sister, Iryna, is a cross stitch artist and we saw her beautiful works after our visit to Nadorozhna. She also kindly created a gift of two angels for us.

THE CONCERT!!

On our first day in Ivano-Frankivsk we stumbled across a lovely 'Royal' grand piano in a beautiful Art Museum. We asked the lady taking the entrance fee if Dmytro could play it but she obviously wasn't authorised to allow it.

We mentioned it to Victoria but only in the general discussion of what we had done that day.

Two weeks later, Victoria messaged us to ask if Dmytro could play a concert on that very piano for a group of schoolchildren in a couple of days time? Of course, and so set something magical in action, though Dmytro was exceedingly nervous not having touched a piano in two weeks, I knew that would not be an issue at all.

The concert was confirmed and we received a copy of the message that had gone out to parents:

Good afternoon!

Dear parents!

We would like to share a special event that will take place tomorrow for our children at the Museum of Art of Prykarpattia. A talented professional pianist from abroad, Dmytro Morykit, who has Ukrainian roots, will visit us. Despite the fact that he has been living far from Ukraine for many years, his heart remains close to it.💙💛

His big dream was to come to Ukraine precisely at this difficult time to support people with music and faith.

This will be a special meeting - about the power of music, love and unity that knows no borders.

Starts at 14:00. Duration - 40 min

Children will have 5 lessons and lunch and we will go by bus to the concert. And after - we will all return to school together. Estimated arrival time - 15:30-16:00.

We hope that this day will leave bright emotions and inspiration in the hearts of children!

An air alert went off at lunchtime but cleared quite quickly so we kept our fingers crossed that the concert would not be interrupted. The Museum of Art is an ancient 17th C renaissance Collegiate Catholic church which was converted to an Art Museum and Cultural Centre 46 years ago. It has a beautiful ornate interior and the cupolas provided a fabulous reverb acoustic for the piano.

One hundred children and adults listened attentively as Dmytro played some of his iconic pieces. The response was wonderful, the sound of the piano was magical, listen here,

children lined up to have his signature and gave him pictures they had drawn. They were absolutely astonishing. Then children asked questions, such as 'what age are you?'! 😂 (He was honest and there was a notable gasp). As well as 'Do you have any pets?' 'Have you any brothers or sisters?' (Another gasp when the name Roman Andrij was given.) 'What is your favourite instrument?' 'What countries have you played in?' and 'What is your favourite country?'

The answer there had to be Ukraine without any arm twisting. 💙💛😊

Here is a link to a short clip of Vienna

It is hard to describe the emotions, there were many tears and so much joy. A brief moment when time stopped and everyone felt connected to the possibility that a better future was coming.

Dmytro on request finished with the patriotic song Chervona Kalyna and the audience sang along brightly, a stirring moment. It's strange that both Scotland and Ukraine have a patriotic song referencing flowers.

I've put a YouTube video of the drawings with music here.

We thank all those who made this event happen and believe this is a moment that will stay in these children's hearts, and certainly ours, for many years to come.

CHAPTER TWELVE

We are now in Kyiv (that's a tale) but first there are a few things to catch up on back in Ivano-Frankivsk.

Victoria asked if we wanted to go to a workshop, being of the mind to say yes to everything, we agreed but weren't sure what kind of workshop though she did ask if we could fit vases into our luggage - perhaps not. Anyway on the day, we arrived at an artist studio andthen were set the tasks of painting cushions or tote bags with sunflowers, it was a super relaxing couple of ours and we were guided and encouraged in our attempts by the artist who runs art.therapyif (instagram),

We also stopped for tea and cake and for the first time had Kyiv Cake which is a traditional meringue layered cake with hazelnuts and chocolate. Delicious!

I don't think either of us would win any prizes for our art work but we were pleased with the acceptable results and the very enjoyable experience.

Next day we visited the Shevenchenko Park, a large green space in the centre of Ivano-Frankivsk, as we wandered, there was a lot to see, ornamental gardens, lakes, unusual trees, a big funfair and coffee shops.

We then came across the football stadium and training ground.

There were some young girls singing and recording their song which no doubt they'd hope to go viral on some platform. On heading home we realised we were going the wrong way when we saw a noticeable landmark we hadn't seen on the way there. We tried to get back on the right route by using our phone maps but we ended up amongst blocks of flats. Asking a young couple in our useless Ukrainian, the lady understood and was able to point us towards the centre.

We spotted a hotel which had a sign 'English Music Club' outside, thinking they'd have some English, we went in for a coffee. Turned out no one knew about the sign and no one could speak English although there was an old British Aristorcracy feel to the wallpaper,

though I suspect their usual clientele was football fans as there was also a large football outside.

So much seems to happen each day, there are always several encounters where people stop to speak with us, often thanking us for visiting, for our support and asking if we are not frightened. We always say, 'yes, but it's just a few weeks for us, you have had years of it!'

As Dmytro and I sat at our hotel cafe, relaxed, a man and lady approached from outside and over the barrier, he handed me a strawberry. His girlfriend just smiled and I didn't know what to do but take it! He spoke to me in Ukrainian and then they walked on. Several people in the restaurant had seen the interaction, they smiled and shrugged.

At the local 'spar' type shop which we frequented most evenings to buy my late night coffee, one day a young girl who had served us frequently said 'I think you are a really cute couple'. 😂 We think of ourselves in lots of ways, but not 'cute'!

Then another day two young girls approached us and asked if we were tourists? They explained they were journalist students and wanted to interview us. After a short chat, I took a photo and they took a selfie of us all.

We clearly are the odd couple wandering around Ukraine, so much kindness has been shown to us.

I should finish this piece by telling of our trip to Kyiv and will return again to Ivano-Frankivsk with a few other stories - I haven't forgotten about the Welshman we met.

However, we had booked a train to come to Kyiv and meet up with our friend, Serjey. It is a long way from Ivano-Frankivsk to Kyiv (15 hour train journey) so we were once again on a sleeper. Unfortunately, this train wasn't as modern as the other Ukrainian trains we'd been on, though the sleeping carriages were roomy, the toilets were more like UK trains. We had two top bunks and there were two middle aged Ukrainian men in the bottom bunks.

We had been up early and busy all that day so I was hoping being tired would ensure I just slept most of the journey. However, I had to keep getting up for a pee about every hour as I think I was a bit anxious. It wasn't ideal as being on the top bunk, I had to do a sort of swing manoeuvre down the tiny metal steps and slide open the compartment doors.

When the train pulled in to a station, I got up thinking I wouldn't disturb everyone too much as there were passengers getting on. However, I couldn't open the toilet door, after waiting ten minutes I tried the other one, but no luck. I asked the train guard in my best sign language, she replied in hers by taking me to the door of the train and pointing across the platform. Well, there was no way I was getting off the train in my slippers and flimsy top without phone or documents. What if it left without me?! I shook my head, she frustratingly said a few things then threw up her arms in defeat. I sat on the little chair in the carriage aisle and crossed my legs wondering how long I could wait but then considered that perhaps it was like the old British trains where you couldn't use the train toilets in a station as they emptied directly on to the tracks. After half an hour in the station, it began to move and the guard indicated to me 'two minutes', ah, that was it. I was annoyed at my incompetence with language. Ukraine call the train workers, their Iron Family, as the network has been crucial during the war and a lifeline for families. These are the kind of people who have kept the country working, they too are defenders of their country and over 1000 have been killed since 2022.

And so as I lay awake around 3 am, then the train seemed to slow right down and begin to creep, this seemed odd, trains this size are not designed to go slow, meanwhile the three men were snoring away happily and suddenly there were cracks of fast moving light across the sky which lit up our cabin window - air defence, I held my breath and it felt as though the train was holding its breath as we squeaked slowly along, then I heard what sounded like a drone, it got louder. I was completely panicked and didn't know what to do - should I wake Dmytro, perhaps it's better to be asleep if we get hit, I wished I was asleep. I thought of how silly we'd been to put ourselves in this situation and considered texting the kids to apologise. The train got slower and in a state of sheer terror, I got out of bed and went into the corridor expecting to see other anxious faces, but none, I sat on a little chair and prepared for the worst. Then a lady came out from her cabin, sauntered past me to the toilet and returned unperturbed. Suddenly, I realised it was lightning, there was a storm as there had been the previous night when I looked at lightning photos over Kyiv shared on the media. What a relief. I went back to my bunk but didn't sleep the rest of the journey.

On arrival in Kyiv, I told Dmytro of my long night and my anxiety. We asked a cleaning lady the way to the Metro and not only did she tell us but she did a long walk with us to take us there. Once again, showing the incredible generosity of heart shown by Ukrainians.

Kyiv was stunning. Huge and bright in this sunny May day. Dmytro was very excited and pointed out several landmarks, I was still too anxious to get excited and only wanted to find the hotel and get a shower.

On arrival at our hotel, we were told it was on the twelfth floor! Still anxious and on edge, we were then told the bomb shelter was on floor -4, I thought, no, I can't cope with getting myself and Dmytro down 32 flights of stairs during an air alert. I asked if we could be put on a lower floor and although there was nothing available, the receptionist said to ask in the morning and they would try and find something. Of course this was to prove the point of my earlier quote, 'you can't run from your destiny', as we were to discover.

About an hour later there was an air alert and we went to the shelter, it was a big area filled with sofas and duvets. In this large hotel, there were only five of us in the shelter and when we were given the all clear, we went back to the reception area to see many people hadn't moved. In many ways this reassured me and I was beginning to feel more relaxed. We were safe and there were many things in place to keep us safe. I was so tired that night that I slept right through.

I'm trying to learn some basic Ukrainian but even when I think I have it right, I am not understood. Dmytro laughed today as I said one thing and heads were shaken then he repeated what I'd said, and everyone instantly understood. I'm told my Scottish accent is the problem.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Once again I am going to skip a day to take you up to date. It's quite ironic that this is Chapter Thirteen, although my Mum always found the number 13 to be her lucky number and at the moment it could be either way for me.

Thinking about what I was going to say helped me get through last night but I will come to that, first we will talk about the day. Another wonderful blue-sky day. We began with a short walk and having a cup of tea in the Co-op! A Co-op like no other, a grand stone building looking across Independence Square, it had a small cafe (once again they couldn't understand my request for milk with my tea and I didn't express myself in full for 'cold milk' so ended up with a cup of hot frothy milk!), I can soon get used to having my tea without milk probably long before the Ukrainians take it with theirs.

There was some lovely art work in the building.

We then headed along Chreshchatyk Street, a wide double boulevard lined with shops on each side, but not just shops, a huge building devoted to Chanel, a Samsung building then other department stores and mind-blowing architecture from many periods. In WWII it was intentionally destroyed by the retreating Red Army but it has since be rebuilt and renovated. The shopping area is raised from the busy street so it doesn't give bother from fumes and it has many benches and sculptures along it. Even the pigeons seem exotic.

We got back to the hotel in time to meet our friend who we'd first connected with at the start of the invasion. It would be strange to finally meet Sergey and I think he was nervous as his English was limited and he was used to having time to use a translator when communicating with us.

However, none of us need have worried as we instantly got on, and as Sergey said, we can't speak all languages, therefore to be able to communicate in other ways is important. Sergey took us on a walking tour of his favourite parts of the city. First stop was the Maidan Memorial, he had participated in the famous demonstration for Independence and lost several friends, so he showed Dmytro their faces on the wall. They are known as the Heavenly Hundred, though there are 108 of them.

Behind it was an ugly Soviet building, so quite a contrast.

We then climbed a hill to the city park where there were beautiful outlooks across the Dnipro River to the left bank of the city. The park was busy and filled with people and sculptures.

It was hot and we were getting hungry so we headed down past St Michael's Golden Domed Monastery which is devoted to the Holodomor and where the wall of remembrance is situated.

(Some years ago, Dmytro composed a commission to commemorate that particular genocide of Ukrainians by russia).

We then wandered around the artist area, Podil where Sergey showed us the mosaic heart he'd photographed and we'd used on the album, Ukrainian Medley. There was a lovely little independent theatre where they were showing an English play (in Ukrainian). As we walked away from looking in the theatre, the lady in charge ran up the stairs and gave me a huge hug. It's hard to express the emotion these unprompted displays of gratitude (for nothing) create but I treasure them.

The cafe Sergey was taking us to was closed so we just jumped into the next place that sold food and it turned out to be a Belgian Fondue restaurant.

We then used the Metro to head back to the hotel. I could see why the Metro's are used for bomb shelters as they are incredibly deep.

By early evening we decided to have a bowl of soup but we had no sooner started to eat it when the air raid alarm went off. Then I received several texts from various Ukrainian friends in quick succession all saying to take the alert seriously as we were in for a rough night...

We knew things must be bad when teenagers started arriving in the shelter about half an hour after we'd settled down. And so the next hour continued with more and more people arriving. One man said his room was on the twelfth floor and he'd seen drones being shot down by air defence outside his window, 'I've not taken this seriously enough with my kids.' he acknowledged. A couple opposite had a young teenage girl who looked very traumatised. They lay her in a bed and sat beside her all night holding her hand and reassuring her.

The terrorists of russia launched a ridiculous amount of ballistic missiles across the country, then we heard several loud and deep 'BOOMS'. It was very scary and we could only imagine what was going on.

An American we met that day did a video blog of the day which describes it much better than I can.

https://youtu.be/y_Dc4MfxuIs?si=Yu0nUbj_PlmS8wYu

News came through of hundreds of drones, dozens of ballistic air-ballistic, and cruise missiles, all directed at this beautiful country and its peaceful, proud people. Just terrorism on a grand scale, yet that man is treated with fear and respect by civilised nations. It is quite galling in every way. Looking up the BBC in the morning, there it was, a little headline about Kyiv being bombed alongside another spouting some absolute shit from Putin.

Meanwhile many of the rooms in our hotel no longer had windows, including ours. Glass scattered the beds, and in the bathroom the air vent had blown out and there was a crack in the ceiling.

Our balcony was covered in glass. The sun was out and the city still looked beautiful though there was a cloud of heavy smoke rising from it.

I saw the cleaning lady, she held her hands to her heart as she looked around. I put my hands on my heart and said, Slava Ukraini, she responded Heroyam Slava. It was time to clean up, but we had no room and there was none available in the hotel. If we had remained in our original 12th floor room we would have been fine, so it did show you cannot run from your destiny. We contacted our friends in Ivano-Frankivsk and they helped to find another hotel.

It's been rushed but I wanted to let people know that we are fine, we've had a nice breakfast and met and spoken to many people, lots of stories to tell but for now we will keep our fingers crossed that tonight is peaceful, not just for us but for these people who've put up with this terror for over FOUR years and they feel no one cares that much, so that is at least something we were able to show - care - and they have certainly shown that to us.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Well, when I last updated we'd been ejected from the hotel with a free breakfast beforehand. We had a new hotel and I'd ordered a taxi through an app, something I've never done and certainly should not have done for the first time in a country where I can't speak the language! I'd checked the hotel on the map and it was fairly central and easy to get to the train station. However, I began to wonder why we were speeding along a busy motorway out of the main city. Then as we went on to a huge bridge to cross the Dnipro river, I interrupted Dmytro's excitement about the views to say "this doesn't feel right". I've never been on such a large bridge before and in my state of bombed anxiety I came close to panic. Once on the Left Bank of the Dnipro, the driver who couldn't speak English but had guessed there was something wrong pulled over to a parking space. I showed him the booking of the hotel and he realised I'd put in the wrong address on the app and tried to explain this to me. I gestured that it was fine, just please take us back over the river and to the right hotel.

He did and I calmed down a little as once again Dmytro became excited by the views and pointed out the statue, Mother Ukraine, the taxi driver also got excited and drove a bit closer - I watched the road, but managed a quick photo. It is taller than the Statue of Liberty. In fact Kyiv is full of surprises, the city itself covers more than 800 sq km, that's bigger than Berlin, Paris or New York.

The taxi driver was embarrassed to tell us the fare and even said, 'maybe my fault'. I wouldn't have it, I knew it was mine, we shook hands and said 'Slava Ukraini'.

Now I need to take you back to the night before in the bomb shelter, a labyrinth of rooms and corridors filled with sofas and duvets. We were there early so had a comfy sofa, but over the next couple of hours the shelter filled with people we hadn't seen before. The young woman on the opposite sofa was in two minds as to whether to stay or go to the Metro station which is well known for being a good shelter as it is very deep. Whilst we were dozing she had gone off. Then a young American came in, sat on Sophia's sofa without checking if anyone was using it and started making lots of noise opening bags and charging his phone. The couple looking after the sleeping child kept looking around at him but never said anything so finally I had to do something and asked him to be quiet as the child was sleeping. He took it fine and then began chatting to us in a lowered voice when he realised we spoke English. He lived in Prague as a student and was from Kansas. When I asked him if his mother wasn't worried that he'd come to Ukraine, he said 'no, it's crazy, she's more worried that I might go to Mexico!' At one point after some very loud 'booms' he decided to go take a look, when he came back I asked if he saw anything, he nodded 'it's best to stay here'. A bit later some other guys came for him and he joined them further down the shelter leaving his bags and phone charging on the sofa. After some time I looked at two young Ukrainians who'd spent the last 3 hours sitting on the floor. I suggested they sit on the sofa but they seemed concerned to move his bags, so I did. They both squeezed on the tiniest corner of the sofa, then said thank you.

I thought how this young chap summed up America, confident and loud with little awareness of others needs. When we said goodbye the next morning, we wished him a happy life and said 'when you get back to America, give your fellow citizens a good kicking' he looked surprised but then the penny dropped and he nodded in agreement.

Sophia never returned so we were worried but the next morning we bumped into her and she confirmed she'd gone to the Metro and spent the night worrying about us! However, she said that although they couldn't hear anything, the place shook several times. I was glad we had remained in our spot.

At our new hotel we lay down and fell asleep and missed an appointment with a friend, then almost missed another friend but jumped up when one of us realised the time. We headed to town with our three Ukrainian friends who chatted and laughed about lots of things. We found a bar and looked in wonder at this city alive and thriving.

'Do you not suffer anxiety after such a night?' I asked through Google translate. "We did in the beginning, but we are used to it" was the reply, "We have to get on with our lives". It just seemed so tragic, and every so often I want to howl for these people who carry on and openly display pride in their country with symbols on their clothing, their buildings and their words. By the time we arrived back at the hotel, my anxiety had gone.

Today we met with another friend that Dmytro had connected with in Edinburgh originally. He told us his office had been hit and that his cousin had lost her house. We talked a little about poetry and I learned of the English poet and translator of Shevchenko's works, Vera Rich, and how she had told Tolkien that she would translate Ukrainian works and his response was to say there was no such thing as Ukrainian. It shows how successful russian propaganda was that even very intelligent people chose to believe it without examining the facts.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Dmytro first met Dmytro Drozdovskyi seventeen years ago in Edinburgh when he was working on a translation of Janet Paisley's work. They had both been interviewed for Leith FM about Ukraine, so it seemed a nice idea to let the person who'd interviewed them know that they had now met up in Kyiv all these years later, we shared the photo on LinkedIn. It was the completely wrong thing to do as she responded, "oh did he not go into the army? "Not that i am aware of" was Dmytro's response, "He is a writer and academic". "Ahh yes, those are the ones who usually scream for war but never step up when called."

To say we are shocked, is an understatement. Dmytro's D's cousin's flat was completely destroyed on Saturday night by the russian attack and his personal offices also suffered damage. As Dmytro says, "this is what we are up against, people who have had an education but are as thick as mince, with no humanity".

We go onwards in the hope that there are more people like us than her. We are now in Brussels having left Ukraine on Tuesday. Before we left we met with an Astro Physicist friend of a friend. Just as we were deciding where to go for a coffee, an air raid alarm went off, I immediately wanted to head below ground but Oleksiy was looking at his phone and saying, don't worry it's a drone to the north of the city. We went below ground but the cafe Oleksiy wanted to go to had been closed off, so we headed back above, I began to panic and said I really wanted to get inside and not stand outside, but Oleksiy tried to reassure me that he trusted the app and we weren't in immediate danger. I wasn't convinced so we went to the underground and waited. Ten minutes later it was over.

Out to a cafe in the sunshine and soon we were laughing and chatting with the waiter as though this was a normal situation. My thoughts kept returning to a young lad I had seen in the square, about fourteen years old and on his phone most likely to his mother, he had such an anxious look on his face and was clearly trying to reassure the person on the other end of the phone that he was going to go underground but equally anxious for himself. I wanted to offer help but I knew without the language I'd just make things worse. His face haunts me.

After a nice afternoon with Oleksiy, he walked us back to our hotel to collect our bags then accompanied us to the station and we said our goodbyes. I thought how he was such a mild-mannered man who remained calm and focused even when I was in a panic. Just the kind of person you need in these situations. He has a 5 year old and said he didn't want to pass any anxiety on.

The Kyiv railways station is a site to behold. Faded glory, and then the waiting area stopped us in our tracks.

We'd never seen anything like it, about 12 chandeliers containing about 30 light fittings each, big leather sofas and tall decorated windows. We sank into a sofa and messaged family to let them know we were on our way - but a bit too soon as suddenly there was another alarm. We were instantly ushered out of the waiting area, down the stairs and out into the large plaza and towards the underground. The whole station emptied quickly and without panic.

This is one of the things not discussed enough, just how much Ukraine has put into protecting its citizens. People complain of sending money to Ukraine for a war, but a lot of money has been used to ensure people are warned early about an attack and can be sheltered in as safe a place as possible. Shelters are all over the city, marked by signage, and various apps are available to warn of raids, track drones and give other advice. There is no doubt the death toll of the bombing would be much higher if this hadn't been done.

Of course there is also the excellent work the defenders do in shooting down drones and missiles. There is a very high percentage that never reach their target.

Another image remains with me from that day. As we headed to the air raid shelter in the Metro, about 40 children aged about 6 to 10 years, with back packs and uniforms ran ahead of me, clearly understanding what and why they had to do this.

In the shelter we received a text from Oleksiy to say the threat had passed, i believed him this time and we headed up towards the station and then a few minutes later the official clearance was given. His help meant we got back through security before the main crowd arrived.

We were going to Warsaw on the overnight sleeper. I had left it a bit late to book so Dmytro and I had beds in different cabins. We also had the highest beds of the sets of three. The beds were OK, wider than others but not very much headroom. You get a fresh pack of bed linen and a towel but other than that the only service is the carriage attendant will make you a coffee in her little cabin.

It was a noisy train and one that had to have the wheels changed to fit a different gauge when it reached the Polish border at about 2 am. This was very noisy and took over an hour. More interruption at the border when we were checked by Ukrainian border control including a sniffer dog and then a bit later by Polish border control who went through the entire train taking photos of each passenger. This new procedure made the train two hours late, meaning we were on it for 17 hours!

With a couple of hours to spare, we had some breakfast in Warsaw Station which was huge and immaculate and then we went on the train for Berlin, The train had nice seated cabins of six and two young Polish lads came in beside us. We immediately started up a conversation when one offered his jumper so that Dmytro could lean his head on the seat. When they heard we'd been to Ukraine, they wanted to know everything. A great discussion followed about politics and divided societies. We later discovered they were musicians and when they heard what Dmytro did, they were thrilled and honoured to have met him. It was a most uplifting experience.

We did a selfie before they left at Poznan.

We arrived in Berlin and our hotel was at Alexanderplatz, Dmytro wasn't very impressed, it seemed very clinical, although partly I think he was just exhausted, I know I was and we once again got on the tram the wrong way. This has been almost consistent throughout our journey, we end up on a bus or tram going in the wrong direction so have to get off and then cross over to find the one going in the right direction. It wouldn't be so bad if we weren't dragging two heavy cases and two backpacks around with us. In all our journey this was the first time we snapped at each other. We knew we needed a rest.

Once settled in the hotel, we went out for a late evening meal in what Dmytro described as Blade Runner territory. 😂 We hadn't drunk very much on our travels so decided to treat ourselves to a cocktail. We ended up plastered after buying only one cocktail. I don't know what they put in it but we were hardly capable of walking back to the hotel. The day before I had realised that we couldn't leave the next day and needed a second night in Berlin but the hotel couldn't give us an extra night so I sat at 4 am looking for somewhere else in the city, then I had a great idea...

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

We are now home, so this is a brief chapter before I read through the whole blog again and then can add sections I missed and elaborate on our experiences without frightening my family!

Firstly, to where I left off... the great idea.

That was to find a hotel near to the David Bowie Memorial. I managed it and when we arrived we were delighted to discover the hotel probably was as it had been when David Bowie lived down the street. The bed had inset 60s radios and the furniture and decor were definitely of that period.

We found the memorial quite easily, although the original plaster head had been stolen, another artist had painted an image alongside the plaque. Some people told us about the bar a few feet away where he had drank and although closed it was filled with Bowie memorabilia. Bowie had been a great influence throughout Dmytro's career so this was a moving moment for him.

The area had been a Jewish area before WWII and sadly many Jews had been taken to the camps from the surrounding streets. There were a number of memorials, reminding us how the pain of such genocides continue for generations.

I wondered about the history of our hotel which had originally been a grand house, it felt like the ghosts of the past were very present.

Early the next morning we headed for the station to get the train to Cologne. We managed to get an earlier train to allow us a bit more time in Cologne before we took the train to Brussels where we'd stay the night and then get the Eurostar to London with only half an hour to catch the last train to Stirling.

The train was fast and comfortable and we arrived in Cologne to a heatwave. Dmytro had always wanted to see the Cathedral which is right outside the station so as I had been to Cologne before, I took him firstly to the Museum Ludwig next to the Cathedral where we left our luggage and had a quick wander.

There was an exhibition by Yayoi Kusama but it was sold out. When we tried to get into the Cathedral, they'd closed off the main entrance as a severe thunderstorm was forecast. It meant walking back around the Cathedral to the other side in the scorching heat so when we finally got in to the Cathedral itself, it was a great, cold relief. I sat down and contemplated the many tiny burning candles as Dmytro investigated the incredible architecture.

We arrived at Platform 7 in plenty time for our train to Brussels, however, it did not appear on the signage, then we noticed it on the sign of an adjacent platform. We moved over and as the departure time arrived, a train came in. We showed our ticket to the guard but he shook his head and pointed to a train further down the platform, we ran. Once again we just managed to board before the doors closed and we were about on our knees in exhaustion.

Our hotel in Brussels was opposite the station and I wasn't quite sure how I'd managed to get it at such a reasonable price as there was a board saying 'no rooms' and a queue of people trying to find one. A standard mass modern hotel room, but it was all we needed for that night. We ate in the hotel and had an early night and no cocktails.

The Eurostar was straightforward, and we made our train at King's Cross on time.

We'd forgotten it was Saturday night but heard a loud reminder when we boarded the Stirling train in Edinburgh. Loud and wild and half-naked passengers celebrated something or were just enjoying their evening. Then we were held up in Stirling when we arrived at midnight and there was a long queue of merry young people waiting for a taxi. It was a bit of a contrast to all we'd experienced and we were definitely back in Scotland but as the taxis rolled in, the young all jumped forward to tell us we could have this one and kept us right. The sight and sound of them may be enough to frighten the French but if you're Scottish, you know that their bark is louder than any bite and mostly their hearts were in the right place as mine was now, though I admit I've left a little bit of it in Ukraine and will have to return sooner than I would have imagined.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

We are home with gifts, stories, memories and many new friends. We will need to sort through all of these and I want to share some of them on here.

We are giving a presentation to the Grantown Society so if you know anyone that would like us to do a presentation and Q&A then get in touch.

hazel@buchan-cameron.co.uk

Forging Ukraine

One of the stories I never managed to fit in when travelling. Ivano-Frankivsk is known for its iron work and held an annual Blacksmith Festival for many years before the war. This year was the first time the festival returned and we were luck to be there for it.

When listening to the lovely orchestra, someone stood on the stage and started speaking in English - so when he came off, we immediately introduced ourselves and he said he was Welsh. He had a team at the festival although since the war he has been working on the frontlines making staples for trenches; Log Dogs as their otherwise known.

He showed us a rose they make from Shahed drones shot down. Every one saving lives. It was so beautifully symbolic that we had to buy one. We didn't have a way to pay there but he gave it to me anyway and said, pay when you get back, which of course we did.

If you want to support Forging Ukraine, they can be found on Instagram.

They hope to return to their usual blacksmith duties soon.

For me they are a symbol of why this war will be won; because of the number of individuals who have stepped up to help and support Ukraine in so many different ways, even where our governments and 'big names' have let them down. It has often been at great personal sacrifice but every one that I meet stresses the importance of doing so, and how it is just the right thing to do.

Another day which I haven't mentioned properly was our visit to Yaremche. This is Ukraine's National Park and is very similar to the area we live in, the Cairngorms. In fact Highland Council recently signed a formalized a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to build ties of friendship, trade, and education. The agreement focuses on knowledge exchange in forestry, tourism, and renewable energy.

Victoria spoke to her friend Lesia who lives in Yaremche and she met us at breakfast to take us to the waterfall where Dmytro's Mum and Dad had been photographed in 1996. We took a photo in the same place but didn't put on the traditional costume. 😊

The bridge was now draped with Ukrainian flags.

Look up the Yaremche region on Google, it has lots to offer and is a favourite place for those who love the outdoors. We had to be careful about taking photos as there were reminders that certain bridges and buildings should not be photographed.

In early afternoon we visited a small zoo and a garden ground with miniature buildings of Ukraine.

More golden domes, this church was in the process of being built.

At the end of our wanders, Lesia asked if we would meet her English Language students and give them practice in conversation. This was such an honour for us to meet young Ukrainians. We sat around a table each and Lesia had prepared prompts, however, the conversations developed naturally and there was a lot of interest in Scotland and our own personal journey. Their English was excellent and they even coped with my Scottish phrasing. Lesia explained that they used to get more practice before the war when English speaking tourists came to the area.

Almost ending this blog but several times I was asked by Ukrainians what I thought of Ukraine. It definitely exceeded my expectations in many ways, some small, others more important. I don't think most of Europe understands what a large and modern country it is. It is more technologically advanced than any other country I've been in, with small things like QR codes in all cafes and restaurants which contain the menu. Rarely are there paper menus and in fact when we arrived in Germany to paper menus it seemed quaint!

Ukrainians are immensely proud of their country and this shows in the most basic things, like keeping it clean. The place has no litter and I almost caused a diplomatic incident when I accidently dropped a tissue. 😍 Every day people can be seen sweeping the pavements and streets. I'm not sure how many are paid by the council, but shopkeepers cleaned around the front of their shops and the Ukrainian love of flowers can be seen everywhere. Like us they have graffiti but no one seems to even consider dropping a piece of rubbish on the pavement. Coming back into the UK, it just looked filthy in comparison.

Every morning at 9 am, everyone stops for a minute to honour their defenders. Ukraine has over the course of this invasion put a lot into defensive systems and also repair and renewal. They have constant reminders of why they are still a free and independent country.

It is absolutely tragic to take in the number of young people who have died, not just soldiers but innocent civilians. It breaks our hearts as it is so unnecessary. Ukrainians were willing to be friends with russia, but not to be either controlled or killed by them and this seems to surprise russians. 😨 Even at the start of the war, many didn't understand who was bombing them, it seemed unbelievable.

All russians must go home and stay within their own borders, making something better of their own world, they have enough of it and justice for Ukraine must be properly given. Personally I have no time for any russian unless they show open shame about their country's actions, sadly not many do, especially those who use the platforms of sports and art, too often they present themselves as victims and never acknowledge the harm their country has done, not just to Ukraine but many other nations, the current harm they are doing to African nations is little reported. Until that changes, in my personal opinion, russia should NOT be considered part of the civilised world but treated as a terrorist state.

If you have time and are interested, one of the people we met in Kyiv, an American, Tim Jansa, has put together a video blog of his similar experience. It is really excellent and is split into six sections, so it's easy to flick through.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLptM-h8FvVDZ4QANpTdKTMWHQUp8q2ZXm

We look forward to returning, there is so much more to see and do. Ukraine is bubbling under at the moment, once the war is over, it will just take off. It will lead the way to a better and more civilised world. I'm sure that the early deaths of all these incredible people will not be in vain but will make a better future for generations to come.

Here are images taken by photographer Roman Pilipey. Before the invasion, I followed Roman on an early photo-journalist site then on Instagram because I enjoyed his photography. He was in China photographing the Olympics when russia invaded his home country. He has gone on to win many awards for his work since.

https://www.instagram.com/romanpilipey/ an other example of an individual who stepped up.

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