Oct 21st

This week was a hell of a week. And I don't mean that in a good way.
But, moving on.....

Since D arrived last Saturday (just as my work week was about to begin), today was the first full day we've been able to spend together. This morning we battled the crowds at the massive Барабашова market. Check this place out on Google maps. Yeah, gigantic. We went with a long shopping list of desperately needed items and $300, and emerged with...... 2 jackets, an egg slicer, a set of 3 pots, and a kitchen strainer. $200 went to D's jacket. What can I say? It's a man's dress jacket: long, black, business/military style, and he looks hot. Seeing him in such a jacket has been my dream for many years- every time I opened up a fall J Crew catalog- so I practically forced him to buy it. Anyways, this market is crazy intimidating. It can simply swallow you up. It's filled with people from not only all over Ukraine, but from all over the world as well. Meaning, finally a place where people speak Russian with a worse accent than I do :p I think we'll go back to the market again sometime, but more to browse than to try to shop off a list.

The market closes early- by 3 PM- so we headed home, dropped off our purchases, had lunch, and headed back out- to the zoo! As previously stated, I love the zoo!

And this video is was taken later in the evening...I can't figure out how to make it post in the proper place, so this will have to do. This fountain is across the street from the opera house and is a popular spot for (daytime) wedding photos.

You guessed it- Lenin. This statue is in the middle of Freedom Square, the 6th largest such square in Ukraine. Since my private helicopter is still in the shop for repairs, check the view out here. A wonderful place, just be careful of the cars whizzing through it at high-speeds. 

I thought this was cool. It's a restaurant/karaoke bar and that's the fearsome Russian double-headed eagle....except the heads are each wearing a chef's hat and holding spatulas and wine glasses.

The zoo, at last!

"Primate House"...unfortunately, this was an employee locking it up : (

Llama with the cityscape in the background

This says слоны (elephants). It's written in kind of a Nepali-style script

The elephants were inside for the night. No feeding the elephants today. This was the only one I saw!

This says "Warning: elephants can present a danger to your life. Keep an eye on your kids."

Hippo in the "Hippo House"

Dinner time!

Evening in downtown Kharkov.

A normal-looking Ukrainian shoe. Told you so! :p

A well-lit church

Sweet; a pre-party restaurant! What exactly does that mean? Can I just go straight to the party restaurant instead?

Dinner. It cost less than $10, including the drinks. And D's beer cost the same as my soda!