I have to admit, the Egg McMuffin in Ukraine is tons better than the US version for some reason.

The crop of this bus photo provides a small glimpse at the comfort level inside.

The brand spanking new train terminal at Donetsk, ready for throngs of football fans.
Also not quite ready, but it should be ready in time.

Most of the signs outside of towns, small or large, where pretty darn fantastic.

Welcome to Eastern Europe, the smoking section.

One of my new favorite subjects is people taking photos of food.
Here Temo captures his dessert.

Short shorts are in for constructions.

A new church outside the train station.

Walking into the brand spanking new Donetsk train terminal.

A bus ride out of Donetsk gets you to Soledar, a small town famous for salt mining.
Our tour kicked off with a ride down an elevator 300 meters or so (about 1000 feet) to a closed section of the mine.
This was the first moment in my life where I realized I might be a bit claustrophobic.

Todd

Pratt & Marmot

The final cavern was 40 meters tall (131 feet) and housed a soccer field.

Ukraine state arms (The Trident) on the county hall building.

To Donbass Liberators (above) – a monument commemorating those that fought in WWII.

New for Donetsk? A freshly built Donbass Arena for the Euro 2012 Football Championship.

It’s big.

Because of this huge event, the entire city is being transformed. Buildings being constructed,
gardens planted, walls painted, signs installed… it’s quite impressive. They had a few weeks before
the event still as we arrived, so everyone was bustling a little bit harder I’d imagine.

Even the water is football commemorative.

View outside the hotel room.

Ukrainian hryvnia

Triforce delivery

Borscht and the some for breakfast

Temo & Roy

Type on the Liberators memorial

High heels, very much in fashion.

Meat tree.

Candy aisle, sadly not too different from the ones back in the states.

Not long for the Euro soon we’d be using Hryvnia to pay for things.

Boarding our flight to Ukraine.

The buses that take you from the terminal to the plane. I like taking photos of these because they look like they’re floating.

Arrived in Donetsk and regrouped with walk through Pushkin Boulevard and around the city.

Todd

Christopher

Mike looking at the menu at Khinkali, a Georgian restaurant no less.

Badrijani nigvzit (eggplant with walnuts, delicious)

Khachapuri (cheese filled bread with raw egg)

First stop was technically Chicago, but only for a few hours.
There I met up with the first of 6 other travelmates, Todd.
He helped me sort out a baggage issue and we shared a brew.

Then we arrived in Munich some 8 hours later. Me? A little worse for the wear.
Passed fields of rapeseed and checked into our hotel and met up with traveler #3, Temo.

There was food.

Kiosks.

Posters.

Horse Chestnut in bloom

A beer at the Hofbräuhaus, which was a lot more touristy than I remember.

Munich Frauenkirche

Münchner Stadtmuseum Eingang. (Type reminds me of the new Stedelijk identity)

And then jet lag got the best of us.
Time for bed, then an early flight to Donetsk in the morning.

Next stop? Germany.

When I walk to my car in the morning, there’s usually someone working in the repair shop across the way.
If there’s sun left in the evening, they might be sitting around the alley in lawn chairs, shootin’ the breeze.
From what I can tell they’ve got a few things going on over there: pride in their craft, and camaraderie.

Sketched out this fella after lunch because sometimes doing exactly what you’re not supposed to be doing is the right thing to do.
Few digital things bring the reward of feeling ink hit paper.
I would imagine drawing is very close to how trancendental meditation might feel.

I can assure you, this coffee was nothing near amazing as what you’d get from an AeroPress.

I can’t speak for the quality of work at Mikes, but I do believe in freedom of speech.
For all I know Mike was stuck with a shoddy car.

I am sorry if you own a second generation Ford Explorer and decide to change the spark plugs yourself.
Ford engineers decided to tuck these contraptions of combustion all over the enginge bay of the vehicle.
Some of ‘em were only accessible if you took the wheels off.

(Unless of course you have a special tool and worked at a shop).

Me? I spent the morning vaccuming bits of breakfast foods and beard hair out of my car interior.

I’m calling it a Derby Pie, as does everyone else.
But technically, a DERBY-PIE® is a registered trademark since 1968.
I’m all for enterprising spirits, but at some point, the battle is lost and that word you made up is a genericized trademark.

Like: aspirin, butterscotch, escalator, kerosene, yo-yo and zipper.

(Sidenote: If you buy one of these at the grocery they’re called a Kentucky Pie.)

Essentially, think of a pecan pie, then load it up with chocolate and pour bourbon sauce on top
and add some whipped cream. It’s delicious and I thank my friend Heather for making it.

Along with the grillout, mint juleps, company and weather, it made for an extra-fine Derby celebration.

Snapped these with the big boy (a Canon 5D Mark II) and I think they’re just fine without editing.
Brought out the full frame camera in hopes to catch a good glimpse of the Supermoon this evening, but it wasn’t meant to be.
Stopped by mom’s garden to pick up some flowers, say howdy, and scored some mint for juleps.

This is the first time I’ve seen these needle protectors on syringes.
Just getting some boosters and immunizations.

In related news, I’m just about ready for an upcoming trip.

My goal is to get up to date on the ol’ album here so I can post images along the way.
Otherwise the backlog might drive me bonkers.

I’ve snapped a photo of “The Many Moods of Farrah” before, but I was fiddling with a macro lens today and she was nearby.

This badge by Best Made Co is likely a better example of what the lens can do: ▼

I suppose having the web and a GPS device on one’s phone is commonplace and not at all like some fantastic future.
But there I was with an hour of extra time and a desire to see the Garden of Hope over in Covington, but no idea
previously how to get up to this chapel overlooking the river, city, and the cut in the hill of I-75.

My parents were married here in 1960.

The chapel holds a dozen people. (Additional family and friends stood outside for the ceremony I’m told.)

The grounds, which house a replica of the tomb of Jesus in Jerusalem, have seen better days since built by Rev. Morris H. Coers in 1958.

But the view of the city is nice, a respite from the highways and density.

▲  After the rain.

▲  During the rain.

▲  At a point during my drive home, right before the hail started coming down and I decided to turn around and park in a mall garage to wait it out.

▲  Much earlier in the day, there was this Ford Tempo.

In addition to some candy, my friends’ kids get a container full of colored pencils in their Easter basket.
This is a treat I could dig. (Especially after all these cupcakes and ice cream).

Also going down on the farm? Spring chicks have arrived.
One casualty so far, but the others seem to be holding up well.

I didn’t want to show up to a dinner empty handed so I bought a box full of these cupcakes from Yum on the east side.

Also, I felt like turning this into a dessert blog.

The cupcakes were devoured quickly and I beleive there was some tension when the last chocolate one was gone.

▲ An XXL-sized strawberry cupcake

▲ Will, cupcake enthusiast.

I’m (gladly) ressurecting my category for posts called, “This is why I’m fat.”

I’ve lived in Ohio for 40 years and never stepped foot in Aglamesis Brothers.
This is a horrible shame and the error has now been corrected.

I know of no other place that makes plain banana ice cream.
No chunks of chocolate or nuts mixed in, just plain.
This is my favorite variety, and it’s really hard to find.

And their version at Aglamesis? Delicious.