While conducting some Pickle Project interviews in Odessa, over the summer, we have the good fortune of encountering a friendly family from Siberia. We met Mykoli, Margarita and their three children blithely sun bathing on blankets, sipping cold beer and nibbling on dried fishes. "It is the perfect snack combination for a hot day" they told us. In addition to Odessa’s easygoing vibe, Mykoli and Margarita also love the various fish and sandy seaside the city provides. We chatted with the family for a while, about train travel, snacks and sunshine.
This charming family had traveled for nearly two days to soak up the Black Sea sun and waves along Odessa’s city beaches. They began with a flight to Moscow and, then, made the 25-hour train ride to Odessa. Not only did we meet them on the beach but, later, saw them around Odessa in the coming days. We would excitedly wave each time we spotted each other on cobblestone streets or under an umbrella, dining al fresco.
I thought of them, again, in anticipation of our own travel to Ukraine, reunions with old friends and the interesting series of Community Conversations that the Pickle Project is co-convening over the next couple of weeks. The series will kick off on Sunday, October 16, 2011, 6-8pm (18:00-20:00) at the Bulgakov Museum, located at Andriyivsky uzviz 13 in Kyiv. Stop by for local snacks and an evening of sparkling dialogue about food, culture and sustainability in Ukraine's dynamic capital city. Stay tuned for location information for the Community Conversation events in Donetsk (18 October), Odessa (21 October) and L’viv (23 October).
Traveling is going toward something that is about to be, and no one yet knows what it will be.
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