Breakfast at Sainsburys

 

We ordered breakfast at the Banbury store on Wednesday April 11, 1 standard breakfast,1 scrambled egg with bacon plus 2 pots of tea. I was amazed to be told "sorry we have sold out of scrambled eggs, we can do 2 fried eggs though." you cannot make scrambled eggs I said? "No'"came the reply "they come in FROZEN and we have sold out," " and you cannot make them yourself?" "Not allowed came the reply." what a crazy thing ? It was on the board for sale.

To add insult to injury when pouring the tea the pot was so badly designed about one third of a cup went into the saucer and spilt onto the table. Breakfast arrived the lady was full of apologise and offered to refresh the pot we declined but I thought that was fair enough. The meals were ok about the right size for the price, however the fresh tomatoes were tasteless and almost inedable I needed a microscope to find the sausage.

 

Enough complaining, praise for the staff who were polite pleasant and very helpful just a shame they cannot scramble eggs.

I Wanna Tell You A Story Part 2

Part 2

First impressions of the city are slightly blurred as we rattle and role in the old Lada taxi toward Yevgeniya's flat in Korolova. Huddled together we are trying to talk to each other its proving difficult we are using sign languge speaking very slowly, somehow we sort of understand.

Yevgeniya is talking in Russian to the taxi driver giving him instructions, the fact is I have no idea where we are going or what she's saying, she senses my questions and squeezes my hand as if to tell me don't worry everything is going to be fine, I believe her I believe everything she says.


Soon the car turns off the main road into a collection of blocks of flats this is our destination.Climbing into the lift, four levels later Yevgeniya is unlocking the door,We are greeted by three very excited young boys Yevgenia’s grandchildren, Tolik 7, Kola 8, and Genya 4. Irena and Lena her daughters are there waiting to greet us too,soon they are having an animated Conversation, the gist of which is about dinner. This is my introduction to Ukraine hospitality, I was somewhat apprehensive but need not have worried the food was delicious. I had my first taste of wine from Moldova and Ukraine it was not to bad at all. To my relief I find that Lena has a small amount of English so at last I could talk to them a little. After dinner we sat at the computer where using a translation programme we painstakingly got a dialog going. After a while Yevgeniya disappears and returns with a package we open it, inside is a portable translator, it's so clever, type in your sentence click Russian and bang there are your words done, same the other way Yevgeniya types Russian and there it is English, at last we are free, I ask why she waited until now. she smiles and says ”I wanted to give you a nice surprise.”

Next morning after breakfast making our way to the bus stop we got on a maxi-taxi to the city centre. I discover there is a very comprehensive well used public transport service, Trolley buses and Trams run everywhere as well as very old diesel buses belching black smoke, no worries about pollution there then.

It's about a thirty minute ride about 15 kilometres. I now get a real chance to take in my surroundings it looks as though everything is grey from the sky,the earth, the trees, to the blocks of flats,and even the people, it's odd a strange thing I noticed that around every tree for about a metre or so up the trunk was covered in white paint Yevgeniya says its a bug repellent I think the translater is screwed up on that one. Not a trace of green it's been a hard winter spring is only now kicking in. Everywhere folks are going about their business the bazaar and street surrounding it are full, street traders have their stalls laid out the earth around them strewn with secondhand goods, clothes, shoes, you name it it's there, I am told they work from before dawn to after dark for very little money. These are the lowest part of the buying trade next would be the bazaar,small shops and kiosks, finally the supermarkets with the larger more expensive shops in the city centre. A somewhat simplistic view but thats how I saw it then.


As we drove on I experienced a very different way of doing things someone tapped me on my shoulder and thrust some notes into my hand Yevgeniya seeing my bewilderment took them from me tapped the person in front and gave them the money, a few moments later the change came down the bus in the same way, likewise Yevgeniya bought our tickets,”how does the driver know what to charge?” I asked simple the fare was the same throughout the route about 30 pence. There were recognised stops on route however the driver would stop and pick anyone up if they stood and held up their hand, folks would hop on and off at random as the journey suited them,how different from our controlled and over regulated service I thought but it works the buses were always full. I think there was some sort of time table however when a bus was full the driver set off there was so many of them that if you missed one there was soon another to take its place.

The Maxi-taxi rolls and bumps its way along the potholed and cracked highway the winter has played havoc with the surface already teams of menders are busy with their rollers and steaming buckets of tar.

We pass the prison grey and foreboding its walls strung with razor wire, carry on by the defunct racecourse, I see my first shopping mall all shiny black glass and chrome we go there on another visit the windows are full the shelves are sparse. Now past the railway station razed to the ground by the German retreat and rebuilt brick for brick to its original state,then into Pushkin street. This is different: the greyness is lifting. A cobbled street lined with Plane trees, long and wide, flanked on either side by some very old tired buildings. Occasionally a gem arises, among them in this instance a church painted blue and white it's onion shaped minarets covered in gold, outside are sellers of palm as it is almost Easter Sunday, further along is the Philharmonica Hall a severe looking place, in contrast to the Hotel Krasnaya The Red Hotel named for the red banner of the revolution. It's more pink than red the plasterwork is superb highlighted in white situated on the opposite side of the road. Pushkin street ends at the Maritime Museum and the Beautiful Opera House the gem in Odessa crown.

The bus turns off before there to terminate in Martinovska Square. It's now a short walk to the main shopping street called Deribasovskaya this is a wonderful old avenue named after one of the the founders of Odessa. Here is to be found the park bustling with stalls selling souvenirs and craftwork of all types it's a tourist honey pot, at last the sun is shining we take an outside seat at a cafe blaring out Russian pop music, I don't care I am being assaulted by sounds and smells alien to me I am so loving this. I have my first taste of Ukrainian black beer, now I'm not a beer drinker preferring spirits and wine but this I could easily get used to. This where I find that Yevgeniya has a round bottom she can't sit still for five minutes. ”Come on let's go” she said. This proves to be the pattern for the days following.


We walked everywhere, along Prymorsky Boulevard, with the City Hall at one end and the Vorontsov Palace the other, in the middle the Potemkin Staircase all 192 of them, The boulevard is a popular stroll, it's long, wide,lined,with Linden,Maple and Sweet Chestnut trees offering cool shade in the summer heat, with views across the harbour and docks to the lighthouse and beyond.

Yevgeniya took me to many beaches including Arcadia Beach and Golden Beach amongst other attractions along the way.

I loved the opera house refurbished inside all red plush and gold leaf, it is said to be modelled on the Vienna Opera house I cannot comment on that but it sure is beautiful, outside its a different story due to subsidence caused by the Catacombs which undermine its fabric, the building is in urgent need of repair fund raising is ongoing as this will be a very costly job.

The catacombs are a labyrinth of tunnels undermining large parts of the city. Builders carved out the limestone into blocks used in the construction of the city it is soft and has to be rendered with plaster, part of the reason for the distinctive look of the properties (In my opinion). During the war the partisans lived in there storing arms and ammunition to Harass the enemy.


Odessa is well catered for culturally from the Opera House,wonderfully acoustic Philharmonic Hall, Pushkin Museum, there are majestic churches, a planetarium, maritime museum, art galleries so much to see so hard to remember it all. Throughout, Yevgeniya is a fount of knowledge much better than any guide book, she loves this city, knows all the best cafes and shops every little street and courtyard constantly pointing to details most others would miss.

If I had to choose my favourite places, they would be Deribasovskay with its little park, Primorski Boulevard, the Opera House, Restaurant Kumanets. Where?. I kept this one until last, it's a place where the menu is exclusively Ukranish dishes, the translations of which into English can be hilarious, the food is interesting really tasty,the presentation is excellent staff dressed in traditional costume, the decor pseudo peasant cottage. Ok so it's there to attract visitors, however the locals love it too. Genny tells me the name derives from a traditional cooking pot used for the storage of cold or cooked food, it could be used from the oven to the table.This was where we chose to celebrate after buying Gennys engagement ring, therefore will always hold a special affection for us.

Engagement ring? Yes: it was always my intention to ask Yevgeniya to marry me. A few days after my arrival I did so and to my great joy she said Da (yes).

I Wanna Tell You A Story

Part 1

Eleven years ago I was sitting in my chair looking at this email I had minutes before received. No I go to fast.A few days before I had been playing about on the net and came across this website asking if I wanted to find a friend, sort of a pen pal I thought. Ok for a laugh I filled out the form not too truthfully as you do, and sent it off. I was amazed that anybody bothered to answer I got about six or so replys. A quick glance through them showed nothing of interest, putting it out of my mind I carried on as usual. Some few day later I took another look,there were two emails the first was the same as the others, women looking for rich husbands well that was my impression. The second just leapt off the screen at me,and thats how I came to be sitting in my chair looking at the email. It was written in a sort of broken English and came from a lady in Odessa Ukraine, (I thought where the hell is Ukraine was it a cold blasted semi barren place up north of Russia somewhere,) honestly I had no idea.She wrote a little about herself telling me she was fifty four years old a widow with two adult girls and th

ree grandsons. Her name was Yevgeniya she was looking to find someone to write to so that she could improve her almost non existent English.

Attached was a picture of the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.

Always a sucker for a pretty face I thought strewth I have to reply. So a clean shirt and tie, haircut and shave later I had a new photo taken and attached to my next email. Yevgeniya must not have been to put off by the sight,the next day her reply thanked me for the picture.

Up to this point we had been sending the emails through a third party this was to protect our privacy,we both agreed to send each other our addresses and even phone numbers to speed up the turn round processes. From then on it was a question of sending emails more frequently initially couple of times a week but after while it became every day. At first I could not understand why her replies took so long, the answer was simple every word had to be translated from English to Russian and then writing to me in Russian before translation to English a complicated process and not without it's humour, one letter was talking about having visitors that evening, Yevgeniya was saying that she had been busy all day cooking and and preparing for the event, ”I am very clever girl” she said ”I make a very good mistress”

The more I got to know really about this delightful lady the more fascinated I was by her, for what she done and achieved throughout her life, I soon found myself becoming more and more attracted to her. I had already fallen for her picture and now I was falling in love with the person, to my great fortune I found the feeling was reciprocated we both had very strong feelings for each other almost from day one. Within two months it became apparent that we needed to take this relationship further, we had to meet Jenny was all for coming to the UK to see me, fortunately her family had other ideas and said no, if you are serious about this person he can visit you here, we will give him a holiday and you can get to meet him greet him and get to know him better.

So it was settled, I was to go to Odessa a place I knew not where, to meet a lady I desperately wanted to see. I had no passport I had not been abroad ever, to a country with language I could not understand flying from UK via Vienna how I was going to manage speaking no language other than English I did not know, it was a somewhat terrifying experience,but one I was more than willing to try.

April 7th Nick my driver has bought me to terminal 2 at London Heathrow I am about to fly to Odessa.

Nerves what nerves? I can't find my passport, my tickets are muddled up, I go through screening and forget my hand luggage, check,double check, what gate, where is it? What time does the gate open? How much time do I have? We are boarding where is my seat? 17 18 19 this one I think 19E.Now we are moving then Whoosh!!we are racing down the runway Cor! This not half bad, like racing down the road in my Buggy,only not quite so noisy. 30,000 feet the coffee and breakfast arrives proper knives and forks china plates cups and saucers English breakfast (how things have changed?) we drop into Vienna an hour or so between flights enough time to walk to the immigration gate. In the air again onwards to Yevgeniya more food lunch this time a couple of glasses of red wine, I am calmer excited somewhat apprehensive about the immigration and customs at the airport.There is a form to fill out for the customs, what have I to declare? how much money do I have? how long and where am I staying? ”Oh help!” I was thinking ”what sort of a place am I coming to?”

The plane lands taxis and stops not at a gate but in the middle of the apron, the doors open I make my way out of the aircraft, bloody hell! there's a man with a gun at the bottom of the steps, I try not to catch his eye but cant help it, he glares at me and motions with his gun to move on. The transport to the terminal building is an old very old rickety bus we race off to the door.

The terminal is an old building built in the fifties poor lighting, brown woodwork and paint, austere I should say!! uniformed personnel are everywhere, pretty women, grim looking fellows.

I soon find out that nobody Queues its a mad scramble to get to the desks, no problems there I am soon waiting for my luggage.

At last I am tugging my baggage to the exit, a uniformed guy calls me over to his desk, more questions fired at me in rapid Russian, he soon finds out its a waste of time and calls over a colleague he speaks halting English, ”what have you in your bags?” ”clothes and a few presents” I reply ”how much cash do you have?” ”a few hundred dollars and some travellers cheques” ”why are you here?” I am meeting my girlfriend she is in the arrivals waiting for me.” at last a smile ”ah!” He gestured toward the exit.

Like a startled rabbit I emerge through the door into the hubbub of the arrivals hall, people were jostling shouting offering Taxis, I push my way through the mob, now what? John? The voice behind me is soft, I turn and there she is,good grief I had not expected anyone quite so tall I look up and there is that beautiful smile I have so wanted to see ”Yevgeniya?” ”Da I am she” we have our first of many kisses and hugs, ”I have taxi waiting let's go.”