Day 16 – (day 4 of 10 day waiting period) - Sightseeing Pictures

Monday, January 03, 2011

We had a great visit with Andrei today. No fits at all, and he did great taking turns. He also had on clean clothes and had been given a bath. Randell and I also had on clean clothes. : )

We did not take many pictures of Andrei today, but I do have this one.

He is in desperate need of a haircut. That little tail has to go!  : )

After our visit we spent the day with the other Texan family. We decided to walk down some different streets and maybe find different places to eat. We did walk down to the river and found a nice walking area with shops, but we ended up eating at the same Pizza place that was in a different location. It’s good pizza, and for a medium size pizza and two cokes we paid around $4. It’s sometimes safer to stay with what you know when it is good and cheap! We might try the Asian food restaurant next time. The side of the river we ended up in was not the walking area. It was more of a shipping yard. We will probably walk down there again to see the “nicer” side. We also found a park that has a carnival. We may visit there as well this week.

It is hard to describe Kherson. It is a big city, but it is not a tourist town. The “river walk” area we were in today seems to be more tailored for tourists. We went into a couple of shops, and everything was expensive. Throughout the city, you can see some areas that have been abandoned and the building are in need of repair and other areas that are very nice and well cared for. I love the architecture and details of some of the old building. Unfortunately many of them are in great need of restoration. There are pieces of beautiful iron work throughout the city that was left from long ago. The city is filled with trees, and there are lots of parks with walking paths, playgrounds, statues, fountains that no longer work, and iron or wood “art work”. In the summer it must be very green. The city must have been gorgeous when all the buildings, parks, and fountains were in their prime. I still find a lot of beauty in those old building. Here are the pictures from our sightseeing.

These are pictures of the park accross the street from our apartment.  The walking paths are surrounded by trees and lots of benches for resting. There are a lot of people walking througout the park.

The playgrounds are usually all metal on cement or brick. This one looks like a hamster wheel.  Some are in good condition others are not, but there are lots of playareas througout the park.

The grassy area at one time was a manmade lake with cascating fountains.

These are examples of some of the art work in the park.

This is the main street. It runs from the train station down to the river. We usually turn right on this street, but today we were feeling adventurous and decided to explore to the left. You can see the river at the end of the street.

This was a shopping area near the river area. It has lots of places for sitting and fountains that are not currently working, probably because it is winter. It reminds me of a river walk. There were also several places to buy ice cream, coffee, pastries, and chocolate. The clothing stores were expensive.

This was a carnival game. They where using a pellet gun to shoot at items.

The mural and the carved tree trunk were also in the “river walk” area.

There is a naval academy in town. The men look so handsome in their uniforms.

This is an old Orthodox Church. There churches we have seen here are not as elavorate as those in Kiev.

These are some of the buildings around town. Some have been restored and others have not. I love the iron gates!

This is a WWII monument.  Someone had left some flowers at the base.  I am not sure what it said, but I did recognize the year 1944.

We made it down to the river. It was cold! It is the more industrial side. We hope to visit the other side sometime this week. The Dnieper River runs from the Black Sea all the way up through Ukraine.