Bonding & Baked Ziti

The continuation of a reunion weekend in Zaporozhye.  Last summer Patrick, Pete, Noelia, Andrea, Sara and I met up in Zap for a long weekend after we had been in our respective cities for two months.  Zap was chosen because it is halfway between Crimea (Andrea and Noelia) and Lugansk (Amy and Sara), and it is Pete’s city…and the river.

So we are back for another weekend, a year later.  WOW, a year later.  So crazy!

Batman visits Ukraine…

   

As always, a McDonalds.  It seems fitting in most larger cities in Ukraine.  And an American food fix for most PCV’s.  And then there is shaurma.  This is almost a staple ofor PCV’s in Ukraine.  I love them when I am traveling.  Cabbage, carrots, mayonnaise, spicy sauce, pickles, and shredded pork wrapped in lavash and grilled.  SO good!  I have even heard that there is a map of the best places in Ukraine to find this stuff.

   

We went for a walk today and headed to the river for some sightseeing.  I love the old buildings and truly lovely streets.  Zaporozhye has a population of 800K and is located in south central Ukraine.  It is also an oblast center, or capitol city.

  

   

No city is complete without a Lenin statue or several.

   

The Dnipro and a boat thing…oh goodness…too much Russian, what is this called again.  Well anyway, you get the idea.

   

Khortiza Island. This is one of the seven wonders of Ukraine and a must see while living here.  The island was the headquarters for the Cossack Army.  The fortress is a museum now, but a bit difficult to get to, so we went with pictures from the bridge and called it good.

Hello, big %#& dam and power plant.

Yours truly with the Zaporozhye Dam behind me.

This pint size maze was in a children’s park.  Adorable!

   

Here we were sitting in a beer tent in city center, minding our own business and it just started to pour.  The rain was crazy!  And we just kept doing our thing.  The rain storms are normal this time of year, but wow this was a big one and brought the temperature down with it.

    

PK, Andrea and I….true love right here….

PK and Sara….there are no words!

We sit around a lot after the beer tents have closed and play cards….kinda.  More like drinking games that involve cards.

I cooked on Friday night.  The request was Baked Ziti.  One of the easiest things I make in Ukraine and a huge fan favorite.  This time around was interesting, because I had no pan to bake it in.  So we mixed in the cheese and sour cream at the end and it was perfect.  No baking, but just as yummy!

     

NoeyP is in the house and the tunes have arrived.  And no weekend would be complete without PK drinking scotch from a glass jar…

   

Ahhh, Pete.  This guy is TROUBLE, but the good kind.  He is one of the coolest guys I know and has become a great friend.  I am already waiting for the kind of antics we can create once we are both stateside.  I love this guy in immeasurable ways.  He is the man…  (And he did not pay me to say such things, but I see beverages in my future.)

   

PK and two of his girls….livin’ the life.  Cute Pete!  Love your two cents….

Scottish Whiskey and Ukrainian Beer….IT IS a breakfast drink….