war

Index of the ten articles of our two trips through Nicaragua

When I first started to write of our experiences in Nicaragua I did not think it would require ten articles, but that is what happened. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Hmm, according to my Flickr site I have 2,296 pictures of Nicaragua, so I guess it could have run to a lot more then ten articles!

Here are the article links and a short excerpt from each of them:

Nicaraguan Adventures
“When I first planned to write about our trips to Nicaragua I thought I would just make it a one-off. But the more I looked at the many photos I had to choose from – and the more those photos brought back memories almost forgotten – I realized that this will be another multi-parter, just like my Ukraine articles. Oh well, too many photos and too many memories is a good problem to have.”

Nicaraguan Adventures 2: Ometepe Island
“Volcan Concepcion dominates the left half of the photo. This was taken as our ferry approached Moyogalpa, also visible on the left. On the far right distance is Volcan Madera, the other volcano that makes up this dumbbell-shaped island. Most nature enthusiasts try to make it to this more remote volcano because the wilderness is better protected there. But, at least when we were there, the roads were worse and the hotels more expensive.”

Nicaraguan Adventures 3: Granada
“What a contrast this Granada was with the one we had seen in Spain, the city this one was named after by Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba in 1524, after having, along with Ponce de Leon and Hernan Cortes, conquered the country! Things did not go so well for him in later years when his patriotism lost its luster in the eyes of the new king. He was beheaded. But – on the positive side – his head was immortalized on the new national currency named after him – the cordoba!”

Nicaraguan Adventures 4: Diria and Masaya
“This town, founded 1523, is famous for medicine and magic, curanderos and shamans. On the festival of San Pedro the excited locals “accompany” the saint as he inspects the village, dancing (the townfolk, not Saint Peter) and, in the case of two or three men I saw in a video, waving around machetes like batons. I guess people come here from far and wide to see this, but my wife and I have seen such goings-on before.”

Nicaraguan Adventures 5: Jinotepe and Leon
“These two towns have at least one thing in common although they are not real near each other: They both had no decent hotel available for us. Consequently we spent only one night in each town. So there will be less commentary and more pictures for this segment.”

Nicaraguan Adventures 6: Jinotega, Selva Negra, and Matagalpa
“This is the scene my wife and I, sitting down after a hike up the mountain, were enjoying when the masked young man came out of the bushes. “I want that phone”, he said, holding up his machete. My wife threw down some money, but he didn’t want that.

“Give me the phone or I’ll kill you.“

“Kill me then“, I said, standing up. At the same time my wife stood up and yelled, “Ladron!” (“Thief”). At this point he lost his nerve, running back into the bushes. I threw a rock at him but don’t think I hit him. We were a bit shaken after this and reported the incident to the police. They faulted us for not going up the mountain with a police escort! I doubt if they even filed a report.”

Nicaraguan Adventures 7: Sebaco, Boaco, and Juigalpa
“The high point of the town of Juigalpa – literally – is the Mirador Loma de Tamames also called the Mirador Sandino boasts a
two dimensional representation – also literally -of their heroic General Sandino. A pleasant enough setting to enjoy the view and relax on benches decorated with paintings of cattle and birds that are now rarely seen near the town.”

Nicaraguan Adventures 8: Somoto & Chinandega
“We stayed at the aptly-named Hotel Panamericano, two blocks off of the international highway of the same name. Of course, “highway” may be misleading. This is just a main two-lane road cluttered with slow-moving traffic, pedestrians, and donkeys. In fact, Somoto is also called “el Pueblo de los Burros” – “Town of the Donkeys”.”

Nicaraguan Adventures 9: Esteli
“In many ways Esteli is quite the contrast to Chinandega (see previous article). The city , 3rd or 7th largest in the country, depending on which website you believe, it manages a laid-back atmosphere without the sketchiness of the previous town.”

“Many of the murals had revolutionary themes. Not surprisingly seeing that this city suffered immensely during the revolution in the 1980’s. The Nicaraguan populace finally won freedom over the Somoza dictatorship but not before serious bombardments from the latter. Esteli, especially, suffered major damage.”

Nicaraguan Adventures 10: Ocotal & Mozonte
“American history that did not make it into most American history books, certainly not the ones I taught with: Uncle Sam turning Nicaragua into its own bloody stomping ground. I have taught high school and junior high history for several years and never came across the embarrassing information I learned from my visit of the local history museum here in Ocotal. I knew the general strokes, the “who” and “where“, but never really processed the underlying “why” of it all. From the 1930’s to the Iran-Contra Scandal of the 1980’s our country’s actions were quite at odds with the democratic platitudes we preached. We were not on the side of the angels on this one.”

Nicaraguan Adventures 10: Ocotal & Mozonte

My last entry for Nicaragua will be of Ocotal and a little town just a bend or three down the road, Mozonte, a pleasant half-day trip. Both towns, in contrast to their recent sad, shared history of warfare against Somoza‘s Contra army, now seem very relaxed and peaceful. By the way, these are only my impressions. No one staying just a few days in a place gets to be an expert. All I have are impressions and experiences.

And photographs. I hope you like these. These photos, as is the case with almost all of my pictures, can be enlarged for better viewing.

Left: One of several statues around the Parroquia Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion. The church is right across the street from the well-shaded plaza. Right: A brickmaker taking advantage of the cool morning hours. Along with being backbreaking work there is the recently discovered occupational hazard among these brickmakers (along with sugar cane workers) of drastic upsurges in CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease). It seems that pesticides in the soil these men come in constant contact with are to blame. CKD affects men much more than women, which fits with the profile for these occupations. it is now so common in Central American countries that it has its own medical term: Mesoamerican nephropathy.
American history that did not make it into most American history books, certainly not the ones I taught with: Uncle Sam turning Nicaragua into its own bloody stomping ground. I have taught high school and junior high history for several years and never came across the embarrassing information I learned from my visit of the local history museum here in Ocotal. I knew the general strokes, the “who” and “where“, but never really processed the underlying “why” of it all. From the 1930’s to the Iran-Contra Scandal of the 1980’s our country’s actions were quite at odds with the democratic platitudes we preached. We were not on the side of the angels on this one.

Two good books for further reading (with the appropriate caveat lector ) are:
“Lies my teacher Told Me” by James W. Loewen and “A People’s History of the United States” by Howard Zinn.
Where town and nature meet: The steep valley of the Rio Dipilto.
Left: Soursop Tree. Center: Path along the Rio Dipilto. It should rather be called a “rillito“. The current is fast but it is not very far across. Top Right: River Crab. Bottom Right: Metalmark Butterfly, Calephelis laverna
Above and Below: Views of the center of town.
Eat, Sleep, Eat: Simple food, simple accommodations. This is how we like to live. Left: One of our favorite eateries a block or two from the plaza. The glass container has chili peppers of sufficiently potent firepower. Center: Our hotel room was, if I remember correctly, under $20. We get a fan, good and loud to drown out the occasional loudmouths walking by out front. The bed was sufficiently soft (unlike the one we are enduring these last two days here in Thailand!) The tiny TV works but the picture is snowy. By the way, those pieces of of paper on my keyboard are where I had to put the “correct” keys. This was a laptop I suddenly had to buy in Peru (long story!) and somehow the keys pressed did not always match with what you would think. (The “q” was the “z” and vice verse.!) Right: Vegetable broth with parrot on the side. Side of the wall, that is. Do you see him? He was quite tame.
Left: Community center. Right: Schoolgirls in front of a mural of historical events that happened way before they were born.
Bus Terminal
Unlike several other bus terminals this station has excellent timetables clearly posted “that he may run that readeth it”, Habakkuk 2:2. (Yes, I know that is out of context!)
Above and Below: Loma Santa, the site of many battles and prayers. The above photo shows a main street, such as it is, and in the distance, on the other side of town, Colina Sin Nombre (“Hill Without a Name“), on the north side of which is the town cemetery.
Miguel Angel Ortez Guillen, staring into eternity, presumably died with his boots on at the tender age of 24.
Behind the little hilltop chapel of Loma Santa is this approachable, pettable burro. There is a lot of good nature in the background and on the other side of the Mozonte River valley on the left.
Another view of Mozonte from the Loma Santa. The prosaically-named Iglesia Catolica de Mozonte and plaza are in the center.
Crossing the Rio Mozonte brings us to this pleasant country road, with a few fincas (farms) on one side and, on the other, woods that extend magnificently up the hillsides.
Four birds surround an Epiphyte, growing on a telephone wire (Center). They are, Top Row: Clay-colored Thrush, Turdus grayi, and Tropical Kingbird, Tyrannus melancholicus. Bottom Row: Gray-breasted Martin, Progne chalybea, and the ever-present Great-tailed Grackle, Quiscalus mexicanus. A graceful bird. This photo looks like it could have been an Audubon painting, don’t you think?
The peaceful Rio Mozonte
The day trip to Mozonte being ended, we went back to Ocotal and to the bus terminal. In a short while we left the country to return back north.

Next: I plan to finish up on our trip to Botswana, Africa. This will take maybe a post or two. Or three. Who knows?

Here is an index of all ten of the Nicaragua articles with links and a short excerpt of each:
https://wordpress.com/post/fromnowhere2nowhere.wordpress.com/2287

Nicaraguan Adventures 9: Esteli

In many ways Esteli is quite the contrast to Chinandega (see previous article). The city , 3rd or 7th largest in the country, depending on which website you believe, it manages a laid-back atmosphere without the sketchiness of the previous town. Or maybe we were just in the better part of the town. The people did seem a lot friendlier. Taking the city bus to the terminal several high school students were very interested in who we were and where we from and what we should see in their city.

But, like Chinandega, we did not stay long here. We never found a hotel to our liking and in our budget range at that time.

We were impressed with the variety of murals throughout the central part of town, many of them very well done.

Above: Environmentally-aware and whimsical murals. The caption reads, “We were born to be free. I don’t buy wild animals.“
Below: Many of the murals had revolutionary themes. Not surprisingly seeing that this city suffered immensely during the revolution in the 1980’s. The Nicaraguan populace finally won freedom over the Somoza dictatorship but not before serious bombardments from the latter. Esteli, especially, suffered major damage.

Left: Che Guevera Center: Map showing Esteli and Northern Nicaragua. The surrounding dark green areas are the several nature areas. Right: Demonstration or “Manifestacion”.
Left: Bullet holes still visible in what is now the “Association of the Mothers of the Heroes and Martyrs of Esteli” Right: “Nuestros derechos hasta cuando?”, loosely translated to “How long before we get our rights?”
Demonstrations seen on our hotel TV showing that we did well to avoid Managua. A little too much excitement.

Above: A lot of cattle-raising in this area. The ones we saw look sleek and healthy. The horses also. Not like the unfortunate gaunt creatures I saw in Chinandega.
Below next three rows: Views of the downtown area.

Next: Ocotal and Mozonte

Daugavpils: Latvian City Near Russia

There is something mentally massaging about a train ride. It is not hurried. You are not driving. You are simply watching the scenery scrolling by, a leisurely left-to-right change of view, often very interesting. We left busy, crowded Riga for the much more laid-back Daugavpils. It was a nice change of place. This city is the penultimate one we visited, Vilnius, Lithuania being the last.

Walking through the train station we continued straight down this pedestrian way that traverses the center of the town. On this street were two decent-sized malls with good grocery stores, marketplace, restaurants, an old, apparently no longer used church, and restaurants. It was pretty convenient that our apartment we were to stay at was just a block off this walkway.
Another view of the well laid-out pedestrian walkway, with the train station on on end and the shopping district on the other.
Also along the pedestrian way (behind the building) is this disused church.
Not as picturesque as Riga, but the old town still had some architectural beauties.

Daugavpils Fortress: The (Military) Glory Has Departed. The six photos below were all taken at this fortress.

This sprawling, star-shaped fortress (the last of its kind) was built in nervous anticipation of Napoleon’s sweep eastward. Construction began in 1810 but was only fully completed in 1878. But long before this time it was already obsolete; cannons were soon able to fire from much further away and thus arc easily over the walls causing many casualties and much damage, just like Lieutenant (later General Stonewall) Jackson demonstrated in the 1847 siege of the similarly-walled city of Veracruz, Mexico.

I tried to research what this is a picture is of. There were several of these openings. It would have been helpful if there had been information here or a military museum. But there is only, strangely enough, an art museum!
My first impression as we entered the fortress and climbed up the grassy ramparts, was of a ghost town. But there are actually over a thousand residents within these walls. And a hotel and restaurants and stores also. A town within a town. A town ssurrounded by a ghost-fortress greatly in need of careful renovation.

A good part of the fortress walls and some of the buildings within (photo above and below) are dilapidated, giving the impression that the fort had once seen serious battles. But not a single battle happened here. The decay was entirely caused by neglect over the years. Also, the Soviets tore down at least one of the gateways to make room for their tanks.
Eroded ramparts, horse stables, and (I think) an armory.
The Yellowhammer, Emberiza citrinella, sings from the ruined ramparts, “A little bit of butter and no cheese!” At least that is how my bird field guide puts their song.
Back in town, these Eurasian Jackdaws, there were two of them, were shamelessly stealing from the dog’s dish.
Above and the two photos Below: Wooden houses make sense where wood is plentiful.
A side street near our apartment.
One of the main attractions of Daugavpils, located on Varsavas Iela (Warsaw Street), is the Shot Tower, the oldest one in all of Europe. The shot (lead balls) is made by melting the metal on the top of the tower, passing it through the sieve (usually made of copper). The balls thus formed are dropped down into a water-filled tub. The result is perfectly round lead balls. Once a year the tower makes these balls by this traditional method.
Above and Below: Two views of the neighborhood (formerly town) of Griva, which is just across the Daugava River from the main town. Walking over the bridge seemed also like walking a few decades back in time to a more relaxed and bucolic Latvian town.
Also in Griva: A colorful Orthodox Church. From what I read, a friendly and “comfortable” place of worship.
Back in the city: Orthodox Cathedral of Saints Boris and Gleb.
A most inhospitable church, the Pomors Church of Latvian Veterans. My wife and I wanted to see this church. Before entering she was sure to have her scarf on and we were both modestly dressed.
But we couldn’t even get close to the door. This old woman with fierce-looking eyes shooed us away like we were dogs! How bizarrre! The congregation is part of that staunch Russian sect called the “Old Believers”. Reading the reviews of this church on different sites I find that our experience was not unique.
Our apartment was quite comfortable. We wished to stay longer but were told that the apartment would not be available in the next days. I wonder sometimes if they maybe were balking at letting us have the booking at our “genius rate” that Booking.com gave us. So we gathered our belongings and walked the three blocks to the bus station.
… and, for a while, puzzled over our options. We knew we wanted to go to Vilnius but didn’t know when or how. But finally, with my Russian and appropriate gestures we were able to conjure up the needed tickets.
But events often do not pan out as planned. The bus was over two hours late. By the way, according to the yellow sign, buses or vans left from here to Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Minsk. At least they did at one time.

As the minutes turned to two hours I went back and forth outside and inside, trying to get updates on just what happened to our bus. The interior of the us station was decent enough. Snacks, Soft drinks, tea were available at the far end. As we waited those two hours, I noticed that the usual hubbub in the station was getting louder and louder. A couple of men were being quite boisterous, alternately singing and shouting, obviously drunk.

Eventually the bus came. And, even with the occasional inconveniences here, I mentally added Daugavpils to the list of places that I wouldn’t mind visiting again.

But we probably won’t.


Next: Vilnius.

Ukraine Between the Wars. 4: Kramatorsk, Mariupol, Berdyansk

Soviet era frieze in Kramatorsk park

At first we were going to just avoid the entire southeast area of the country but finally decided on venturing in, at least to the northern and western section of this region. Its a good thing we did this at that time. We were able to see those oblasts while things were relatively peaceful.

All of that has changed now of course.

The first city was Kramatorsk, at the time in the western part of the Donetsk Oblast. See the map below. The three cities in blue letters are the ones this blog entry will focus on. As you can see, the first two cities, Kramatorsk and Mariupol, are part of the Donetsk. (Those two oblasts – rather, republics -in yellow make up the Donbas Region.)

Recycling Center close to our apartment
Young family in front of the stairwell next to ours.
Before and After. We stayed on the fifth floor of the building on the left. . Play area marked out with colored tires. The photo on the right, from this year, shows extensive damage of a building nearby.
Yuir Gagarin, Soviet cosmonaut, was from Ukraine. Back then it was The Ukraine (“the border”) – a reflection of Soviet hegemony.
Above and Below: 1. Old and new factory and power plant. Novokramatorsky Mashynobudivny Zavod. The company manufactures various machine parts and products, including military items like submarine components. Not sure if it is still operating. There have been no Google reviews for 3 months.

For that matter, many of the plants and business have shut down or been seriously hampered by recent events. Over three-fourths of the city (per a source a month ago) have left the city. Power, gas, and basic necessities are in short supply.
Military poster at the entrance to a park.
A resident of the Bilenke neighborhood on the northeast edge of the city tends her cornfield.
This city, like much of Ukraine, is divided on their attitude concerning the neo-nazi factions.
Helicopter patrol over the central part of the city.
A the entrance to our apartment building was this bulletin board. The flyer on the left warns about unexploded ordinance still present in many areas. This warning concerns the ordinance from the last eight years of shelling. Since the time of this photo (September 2020) this danger has increased dramatically.
“God is ahead”? Hmm. There are two ways to take that. But I hope the sign is right. This country is seeing so much suffering.

As bad as the infrastructure damage was in Kramatorsk it was much worse in Mariupol. Surely it was more of a priority owing to its strategically important port on the Sea of Azov, as well as the Azovstal Steelworks. Having eliminated the army units within that factory complex, Russia is in the process of renovating the entire area as part of their beautification of the city. If I had known how important this place was to be after we left Mariupol I would have taken lot more photos!

The Mariupol Cathedral is in the city center. We were not able to go inside, maybe because of the construction.
The next three photos are of the downtown area. I am sure it has all changed considerably.
March 16 of this year Mariupol’s Donetsk Regional Drama Theater (above and below) was bombed resulting in 300 dead. The number is not certain, this figure being asserted by the Ukrainian government. Both CNN and BBC treated that number as reliable although the latter even admitted that “it is hard to independently verify information”. What becomes increasingly more uncertain is the original media narrative that is was a Russian missile attack. The only source for both the number and the cause was a person who, we know now, had already evacuated the city! Evidence now strongly points to the Ukrainians. According to many who were in the building it was soldiers of the Azov nationalist battalion that pre-wired the explosion days earlier, planning to blame the Russians. The Kiev government and western media were, of course, quite willing to repeat this. With this information finally leaking out, many news outlets are quietly moving on, with the exception of BBC.
A detail of the pediment of the theater in the city center. A good representation of different segments of society, poet-musician, miner (just guessing here), a man who looks pretty much like Samuel Clemens! though I doubt it. Maybe a statesman. And the lady with the sheaf of wheat.
Mural in a nearby playground. The fixtures are themed in patriotic blue and gold. I have seen these colors in many playgrounds and buildings throughout the country.
A sad view of old Mariupol. We saw many houses like this, though more were of wood than of brick. The sad part is that these buildings were in for some rough treatment in the coming year and a half. City authorities say that 90 percent of the homes in this city were destroyed. Not merely damaged. Destroyed.
Our apartment we stayed in had a great westward view. To the left I could see the Sea of Azov, including the port (next picture). To the right I could see the beginning of the downtown just a few blocks away. Running right parallel to our building was a beautiful tree-lined street, the main road from city center to the train station and the port, not too far away. The stately sycamore trees shaded our 4th floor balcony in the evening. Just a few feet away was this striking couple of Syrian Woodpeckers, male and female. All of this, I am pretty sure, is all gone now. Some of the main fighting early in the battle was on this important street in front of our apartment.
The Port of Mariupol, now in Russian hands, as is all of the coastline around the Sea of Azov. Aside from restructuring the city, much of it from the ground up, the Russians are faced with the ongoing dangerous task of mine-clearing. As of this writing they have already cleared over 12,000 mines along the Azov coast and around the Mariupol Airport.
Military checkpoint. Around here was where I saw (2019) more infrastructure damage from the ongoing eight year-long conflict. Most likely the flag has since changed colors.
Miles and miles of Sunflowers. A friend recently told us about the lady, when she saw Russian soldiers coming, gave them all sunflower seeds. “Why?”, they asked.

“So that when our men kill you and you fall in the field – some thing good will come of it.”

I also hope for something good to come out of this. Something infinitely better than sunflowers. Somehow. For both Russians and Ukrainians.
.

See also the related post written last year. Link immediately below. Below that link is a continuation of this present series.

DONETSK DETOUR: September 2020
Before we came to Berdyansk we encountered this odd-looking castle-mansion.
Digging for mussels and clams in Berdyansk harbor. This area is rich in marine life, as I could see from all the Ducks, Mute Swans, Great Crested Grebes, and Gulls, some of which hopefully hang around the muck probers here.
Big and little boats closer to the port. In March of this year the Russian Alligator-class transport ship Orsk, the first Russian warship to ever dock here, was attacked and maybe sunk (hard to know who to believe) by either a Ukrainian drone or missile. Not only the Orsk but other vessels as well as an ammunition depot and a fuel terminal in the port were seriously damaged.

The port area of Berdyansk, as well as the region up to Mariupol has now been de-mined. That is the official word, at least.
These two photos are of the spit that juts south from the city. It seemed that on the spit I heard a a lot more Russian being spoken than where I was in the city. I can imagine that this was a desirable tourist destination for them, seeing that that country is just on the other side of Mariupol. An easy day trip.

Or it was. According to what I read on a Russian site, the whole spit is now mostly deserted. Tourism is way down. Understandable.
Ukrainian patrol boat on display near the city seaside promenade.
These facilities, even back when we were there in 2020, were mostly deserted. Here the paying customer could enjoy mudbaths, and various relaxing treatments. A place to rest.
Another place of rest is the cemetery north of town. This is Number Two Cemetery, Number One being nearer town. This place seemed more interesting, not only for the cemetery itself but for the broad salt marsh valley across the road to the north. More on that, and several photos, can be seen in the other entry linked above and below, Donetsk Detour.

The fifth and final installment in this series will be on Zaporizhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Kryvyi Rih, and Kropyvnytskyi, four cities that are as interesting and history-crammed as they are unpronounceable!

Ukraine Between the Wars. 3: Poltava, Kharkiv, Izyum

The Exaltation of the Cross Monastery was the site of the fateful Battle of Poltava, 1709. Although not yet finished Charles XII, Emperor of Sweden, used the site as his headquarters, ousting a monk from one of the cells for his personal quarters. On the outskirts of the present city and sitting upon a moderate rise, it was a suitable choice for the coming conflict.

We stayed only a couple of days in Poltava, not being able to find a suitable place to stay long. Consequently I did not get to see the city like I wanted to. A shame, because this is a city where a major historical event happened, the Battle of Poltava, which signaled the rising of the Beast to the East (Russia) and the demise of the one to the North (Sweden). I don’t mean to imply that Russia was more “beastly” than Sweden. I just liked the sound of the phrase! If anything the Swedish Empire of Charles XII was worse than the fitfully enlightened reign of Russia in the time of Peter the Great.

The Column of Glory, celebrating the victory of Peter I over Swedish forces.
A glimpse of times somewhat more recent. This beautiful building has been repurposed into a grocery store as well as other ventures.
A detail from the previous building pictured. One of the the signs pointed to a store titled “Comrades from Europe”.
A mosaic depicting that momentous battle. This photo and much more information can be found at:
http://www.battle.poltava.ua/index.html. (Note: My browser flagged the site as “insecure”, not having the https prefix. Use at your own disgression.)
This is just one of the many of the gorgeous homes along Monastyrska Street. The city has several areas with houses like this as well as others which, having been damaged in previous wars, have given way to huge Soviet-style buildings (especially those surrounding the Column of Glory Plaza) or more modern Western style buildings.
. Back to school for little Oleg. He rides the same bus we take to the train station and on our way to Kharkiv.

I was so pleased that we were able to make it to the city of Kharkiv, just twenty miles or so from Russia. And it has a lot of Russian character to it, as can be expected. We had better apartment options here so we stayed a bit longer.

Eighty years ago my Uncle Erich, in the Wehrmacht under General Paulus, may have trudged right through this city on his way to the fateful encounter in Stalingrad. As far as my mother knew he never made it back from that Russian city. I often read memoirs and websites on this whole topic, hoping to come across mention of one Erich Kotenbeutel.

Left: Erich Kotenbeutel Center: His unit before they pulled out to Russia. Erich is behind the table, right side, grimacing into the sun. Right: My mother, Martha (Kotenbeutel) Riggle. She was stationed in Leeuwarden, Holland, in an anti-aircraft site intercepting British and American planes. Five years later she intercepted – and married – Leslie Riggle, my father.
Our first proper view of the city was looking back at the grand train station where we arrived from.
What we appreciated very much was the large expanses of green spaces within and on the north-east edge of the city. These were easily accesible by metro.
The supermarket. This is where we would do our grocery shopping when we lived here. A lot of food we sorely miss: good bread, chocolate, buckwheat…
Pedestrians near Freedom Square. A very modern city.
Just like in the previous city of Poltava, there are many examples of old architecture. I believe this one was converted to a Bed and Breakfast.
This grim hero was once a Soviet soldier, I think. He has now been given a new identity – and a new flag! I am sure the flag is not there now.
There are some buildings that were damaged but I am not sure how. There certainly is a lot more damage as of this writing. Painful to think about it.

This artful facade is over the entrance to the Kharkivsʹkyy Derzhavnyy Akademichnyy Teatr Puppet Theater across from Constitution Square. The building, formerly a bank, since 1925 converted into its present iteration. The building is now listed as “damaged or destroyed”. Note the doll on the right has CCCP on his helmet. A glimpse of the Kharkiv – and the Ukraine – that might still be. Peace and harmony between different peoples.

More to come later.

Grain elevator, Savyntsi, Kharkiv Oblast, between Kharkiv and Izyum. I was impressed by the number and size of these storage facilities. And I have lived in Kansas! Truly Ukraine is the Breadbasket of the World. Or was.
Two unusual sites greeted us as we arrived at the Izyum train station. This sign that showed the change of Izyum’s  Square from “Lenin” to “Lennon Square”. All part of the country’s desovietization. The second site was this quirky statue of a lion and woman. I could not find any information on this. Anyone?
Finally lunchtime! Elementary school.
Commemoration of the many citizens from Izyum who died in the Chernobyl disaster.
War Memorial. Rocket launcher. This whole area, known as the Izyum Salient, changed bloody hands a couple of times in the Second World War. A few hundred meters to the east was a fortress, built in 1681, the same year as the founding of the city. The city grew. No trace of the fortress remains.

The uphill walkway that leads to the grand statue complex (next picture) is lined with tanks, howitzers, and other “chariots of firepower”.
Scythian Kurgan “Mother” statues, 5th century BC. This hilltop in the west of Izyum is the site of many battles and remembrances over the centuries. Cimmerians, Scythians, Mongols, Cossacks, Ukrainian, Nazis, Soviets, Ukrainians, and now Russians. I am sure I left out many others.

Next: Kramatorsk, Mariupol, Berdyansk (link below).

Ukraine Between the Wars. 4: Kramatorsk, Mariupol, Berdyansk

Ukraine Between the Wars. 2: Chernihiv, Nizhyn, Myrhorod

For a while we were sure we would get into some kind of trouble by overstaying our visa in Ukraine because of the Covid travel restrictions, but once we were convinced (at maybe the fourth visa office we visited) that there would be no problem we decided to make the most of it and go around to the farther corners of this country. We started with Chernihiv. a city around 50 miles south of the border with Belarus (or 30 miles east of it, because of a finger of that country poking southward). More concerning to the residents of Chernihiv was their being less than 50 east of Chernobyl. Many from this city lived, worked, and died in that city.

Conversation and ice cream at the Chernihiv Train and Bus Station.

Chernihiv, like almost all of the sizeable cities of Ukraine, have a Soviet-era tank on display.
I love these buses. They remind me of the “Killer Tomatoes” in Guatemala City. But these are much safer, of course. We were fortunate that our apartment was right on this avenue, Five stories up. We were able to do a lot of people-watching while enjoying our pizza. By the way, in all of our time in Ukraine we hardly ever stayed in hotels. It was usually apartments that were available. Available though often hard to find!
Chernobyl Memorial of the Disaster of 1986. Not only did many of the citizens of this city die during the meltdown and cleanup, but also prevailing winds over Chernihiv brought additional problems.
One of the best features of Chernihiv is this very spacious forest park extending southward from the city to the Desna River. Aside from the wildlife we met some interesting people. This friendly lady met us with her farmyard entourage, a cow, two goats, and a mule, all looking rather well-fed. With my halting Russian we were able to have a conversation of sorts for several minutes. I wonder how she is doing now.

This is one of the biggest draws of travel for us – meeting local people and trying to make a connection, trying to understand a country by its people, not merely gawking at, and “selfie-ing” in front of touristic “must-see” sites.

A Tale of Two Cities … and Two Airplanes: Chernihiv and Nizhyn

I could not ask for a better segue from the last city to this next one.

Two Tupolev Tu-22 airplanes from the Nizhyn Air Base collided quite near that city. The two pilots ejected from their planes. So far so good. But one of the planes flew on! Unmanned. For 52 minutes. Heading right for the next city I am writing about! After 52 minutes the plane finally crashed a few hundred meters from the train station on the south side of town. Of course, the terse Wiki article I read this from raises twice as many questions as answers:
Why did the one pilot so quickly leave an apparently functioning airplane?
What happened to the other plane?
Were there casualties on the ground?
Were these pilots, presumably still in training, ever held responsible?

Here is a woman memorialized who was a much better pilot, a World War Two hero for the Soviet cause, Gubina Lyubov Mikhailovna who, says the inscription, “died a brave death“.
A closer look at that delapidated church behind Gubina in the previous photo. The Trinity Church was built in 1733. I am sure this place of worship had auspicious beginnings but, for decades now, the glory has long since departed. The church is fenced off. No one can get inside. People were breaking in to take what was not nailed down. Others, more respectable, spaded up the yard to grow potatoes, hops, and who knows what else. Money for restoration was available but it had been siphoned off to other priorities or pockets.

Nizhyn was a very interesting city. I wish we could have stayed longer. Not only are there a number of ancient churches and other buildings but also some of the homes were quite quaint and arresting in their variety. Also, we had occasion to go on some enjoyable nature walks.
“When Goldenrods last in the dooryard bloomed…” (Apologies, Walt). The four photos on the ends show the variety of private homes in Nizhyn. (This image can be selected for a much better view.) The center photo is of our nature walk along the Oster River. The path, after a hundred meters, trends right through the woods and comes out at an oxbow, what used to be river, now a luxuriant marshy area. And, judging by the many fishermen we saw there, rich in fishes. It would be great to come back here.

Well, I thought that – until I came across a recent news report of mines being detected on the outskirts of the city, one person already seriously injured. Maksym Kyrychuk, the Ukrainian army battalion commander was unclear as to who had laid the mines.

“It could have been Ukrainian territorial defense units.“, he admitted.

A sad update on those houses pictured above: I received a report yesterday (May 17) that Russian missile strikes have damaged or destroyed eighty percent of the homes in Nizhyn.

Local transportation. They also had much more modern buses. I was just intrigued by the four Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) canisters mounted atop the bus. Good idea. I wish America would embrace this method more.
Lots happening around the Neptune Sporting Goods store. I love the brickwork design on the store. I hope it is still undamaged from the recent fighting in this city. More importantly, I hope the people are finally able to get back to normalcy and peace.
As we are waiting for our train to Myrhorod this Jackdaw is waiting for a handout.

MYRHOROD: City of Peace

And up until recent months the city, for the most part, lived up to its name. It was founded as a fortress on the turbulent frontier of Kievan Rus. The 12th and 13th centuries saw this area at times threatened on several sides by powerful entities: Poles, Lithuanians, Turks, and others. It is said that that peace treaties were hammered out here, thus the name “City of peace” – Myrhorod (Миргород).

Fishing the still waters of the Khorol River. I think maybe the river at this place is dammed up or possibly even cut off from the rest of the river. Behind him are a couple of the Kurorts (health resorts). There seems to be from six to eight resorts in this town. “Since 1912, Myrhorod is known for its underground mineral waters.” (Wikipedia).

How many are operating now (May 2022)? Reading several of the reviews of these resorts in Google I have not found any that are more recent than March.

Left: Entrance to a Health Resort. Center:Hops. Like several towns in Ukraine, Myrhorod has hops growing all over like weeds. Very useful for nighttime teas. Right: Candid shot of a sidewalk market along the main street, selling local produce. Onetime local resident Nikolai Gogol would heartily approve. He wrote that “a man who works on the land is purer, nobler, higher, and more moral.“.
Speaking of Gogol, we meet him again at the train station. This Russian author has written quite a lot about Ukraine, especially this town and the region around it. The most famous of these works is Taras Bulba, part of his Myrgorod Tales.

This is the train that takes us to our next destination, Poltava. Trains in Ukraine are of two varieties: Modern, quick and expensive, like this one, and old, creaky, and cheap, like the one we rode into Izyum.

But this, also, probably has changed I read that this rail line has now been severed by the Russians.

More to come later. These blog entries always get more involved than I originally plan. The more I research the more interesting bits of information I find. I hope you find this interesting too.

UKRAINE BETWEEN WARS

Photos can be enlarged. From left to right:Odesa, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Kharkiv, Kiev, Mariupol, Kiev.

Of course, the word “between” is a misnomer. The country, in some part or other, has witnessed intermittent conflict for many years now.

We were in Ukraine in 2020, from March to October, over seven months. During that time we unlearned and learned many things about this vast country. To begin with, I learned that the the country is “Ukraine”, not “The Ukraine”. We also learned how beautiful and varied the country is. Thanks to not being able to fly out after the three months our visa allowed, we were able to tour almost all the areas, from Odesa in the Southwest to Kharkiv in the Northeast. Also Kiev, Lvov, Berdyansk, Mariupol, Uman, and many other places.

Now witnessing the sad conflict this land is now seeing it is painful to imagine what must be happening in many of these places and to the friends we have encountered there. This post focuses more on the people than the landscape. I wonder how they are doing now.

Ivano-Frankivsk. Happy to finally graduate. Photo was taken in the old town area.
Ivano-Frankivsk. City square near the main cathedral.
Ivano-Frankivsk. Statue of Stepan Bandera, Ukraine hero to some,, neo-Nazi radical to others (who know their history). The controversial figure is flanked on both sides by the Ukrainian and red and black flag of the UPA, Ukrainian Nationalist Movement. The colors symbolize Ukrainian blood shed on black soil. The enemies of national Ukraine were not only the Germans and Russians but also, at various times, the Jewish residents.
  • Shevchenko Park, Odesa. We just happened to be in the park when they were having this commemoration ceremony. May 9th is Victory Day in Ukraine marking the surrender of Nazi Germany. Actually Germany capitulated on the 8th but it was already the 9th in Moscow.
Kiev. Motherland Monument ironically facing the direction of Russia, with sword and shield – and on the shield a hammer and sickle! Bordering this is, I think, Ukrainian wheat. The hammer and sickle survived the otherwise thorough desovietization in Ukraine starting in the 90s.
This whole area is an open air museum, filled with Soviet-era statues and military hardware from several eras, from the 40s to quite recent.
Also from the Military museum. Too young to experience any of these previous wars, this girl enjoys the outing with her parents and older brother. I wonder how things have changed for them in these last months.
Kiev family crossing in front of the Brodsky Synagogue on Shota Rustaveli St. built in 1898 by sugar magnate Lazar Brodsky. Damaged by the Nazis, repurposed as a puppet theater by the Soviets, it went back into the synagogue business at the turn of this century.
Kiev. Ancient and modern warriors together at Sophia Square. Rearing up on his high horse is hetman warrior Bohdan Khmelnytsky. He fought against the Poles in the Cossack Rebellion 1648-57. Because of his growing role in this the decade was known first as the Khmelnytsky Uprising and, after killing 300,000 Jews (not a typo), the Khmelnytsky Massacre.

Interesting contrast between these two warriors. Khmelnytsky was the first to have a treaty with the Russians. The modern soldier in the background, I would guess, takes a different view of the Bear from the East.
Ternopil, close to the border with Poland. This is one of a series of posters along a downtown street near the castle. As far as I can tell these are modern military enthusiasts reenacting famous battles sites and scenes from the past. My reading of Ukrainian is not too good, though. I welcome any comments on this.
Uman. This city has a large Jewish presence, especially during the time of the yearly pilgrimage to visit the grave of the famous and controversial Nachman of Breslov. Why does this seven-story broadside tell (at the time) President Trump that he would love the man? I have no idea. But he is two centuries too late to meet him.
Hamming it up outside the fenced-off Lviv National Opera House, closed due to Covid and renovation at the time we were there.

During the brutal last days of Nazi occupation all 40 of the opera orchestra were surrounded and forced to play the “Tango of Death” and were then stripped and shot, one by one.
Odesa. Service at the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral. We were amazed at the number of cathedrals in this city, and at their lavishly ornate interiors.
Beautiful blossoms hide an ugly scene. The Trade Union Building in Odesa. A Russophile group had a demonstration in front of this building in 2014 seeking for the Oblast of Odesa be declared an autonomous republic when they were confronted with a larger masked contingent with bats and torches. This latter force pushed the protesters back and, eventually, into the building. The hooded pro-Maidan group then started setting the building on fire. Many of the demonstrators jumped out of the building only to be clubbed to death by the pro-Maidan group. Over 100 were killed, either from the fire inside or from jumping outside.

This incident gives insight on the current situation in Ukraine (April 30, 2022). The war here is not mainly a war between Russia and Ukraine. It is a war between Ukrainians and Ukrainians. A civil war. The majority who died in the above incident, and who died earlier in Maidan Square, were Ukrainian citizens.

Personally it saddens and irritates me when I read about clueless young idealistic men from America desire to fight in a war that does not concern them. A civil war is a slow, long-lasting burn. Americans, of all people, should know about that.

This series is continued below.

Ukraine Between the Wars. 2: Chernihiv, Nizhyn, Myrhorod

We also spent time in the Donbass Region, including the cities of Kramatorsk, Mariupol, and Berdyansk. More on that part of our trip is linked below:
https://fromnowhere2nowhere.wordpress.com/2021/09/15/donetsk-detour-september-2020/

Remembering Hiroshima

Today being the tragic anniversary of the atomic bombing of this city I thought it might be a good topic to cover in this blog. I noticed that Wikipedia did not see fit to list this anniversary on its short list of “On This Day”. Apparently it is more important to remember that, on this day in 1861, “Dosunmu, Oba of Lagos, ceded the island of Lagos to British forces.”!

What happened on that day was a terrible stain on the professed moral character of our country. I guess I can see why Wikipedia, clearly not the relatively unbiased trustworthy source it used to be, would want to downplay this.

Also clearly in the immoral column was President Truman’s disingenuous announcement shortly after the bombing:

” The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a military base. That was because we wished in this first attack to avoid, insofar as possible, the killing of civilians. “

The base was a few kilometers away from where the bomb dropped – right in the middle of the city.

We did appreciate our visit here, not just seeing the Museums and Memorial exhibits but also the city itself, its people, culture, and food. Hiroshima had a lot to offer. If it were not so hard on our budget we would have been tempted to stay longer.

I took a lot of photos here. Unfortunately, my best photos from our 2018 visit to Hiroshima were on my phone which was subsequently stolen in Rome. (Bus number 64, nota bene). Thankfully I do have these other photos from my camera.

Downtown