True Love 3

Back to the lovers' bridge for a third time, this time with our own lock and key!

Despite all the borsch and vodka consumed the previous evening, Sasha, Igor, D, and I still managed to roll out of bed (or off the couch, in Sasha and Igor's case) at a decent hour the next day. We set up camp on the balcony with 2 blank locks, an arsenal of nail polish, and a single red paint pen.

Not as easy as it looks! Glad that D could pull it off :p

Despite the fickle weather usually found in early March, that day was not bad- rather blustery and hopeful and warm enough for a little extra sightseeing on the way to the bridge.

Handicraft market. Were you able to look left, you would have seen 3 wedding parties posing for pictures at the eternal flame monument and nearby overlook. Wedding season begins!

View of Poltavskiy Shlax highway from the staircase. Follow the road long enough and they say you'll wind up in Poltava.

As much fun as it was to be out with Sasha, Igor, and Zhenia (Igor's cousin), it was also a little bittersweet, for Sasha and Igor have since immigrated/returned to the U.S. As we wandered the city that day, I kept wondering when and if we'd see each other again. Sasha was my hallway break buddy during a long winter semester of classes, and it's hard to find good friends like that.

The park near the lock bridge was still a study of winter. The branches were black and eerie against the woolen sky. The benches and playgrounds were empty. Dirty patches of snow refused to surrender to the weak rays of the sun.

The Lopan river, at least, was moving swiftly and had finally shed its temporary coat of ice. Time to start the countdown to rowboat season!

Pizza Maranello, my unwavering answer to that old question "If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life..."

And at last, the lock bridge! We had a few solitary moments to enjoy the view...

...before the wedding-dodging began as photographers posed their coy brides and compliant grooms.

Because we were focused on our own lock ceremony, I didn't get to take as many pictures of new and unusual additions to the bridge railings. Here are the few pictures I managed to snap-

Now it's April. The tree branches are no longer bare, the stubborn snow piles have finally disappeared, but sadly Sasha and Igor aren't here to witness spring's shy arrival. I miss you guys!



For more locks (and summer), onward to True Love and True Love 2.