The Busy 'Stand With Ukraine' Stand Showing Ukrainians wines - then off for Cheese

Stand with Ukraine, stand at ProWine show at Expo in Singapore in 2023. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

The Stand with Ukraine stand was busy all day. It wasn't just sympathy or curiosity. They had loads of wines to try. You want to try red, white, sweet, sparkling. You name it, they had it. And the owner was interesting and full of fun facts. He said he employs large numbers of women. His area is on the west, far away from the fighting. However, flying back was a problem. He had to take a long complicated journey. Flying to another country. Then a long road journey.

They say, buy on an apple, sell on a cheese. I went off to the Cheese area and found Cheese. See later post on cheese.

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Christmas is over, decorations down? Not yet! Niet, niet.

Russia

The Russian Orthodox church celebrates on Jan 7th, using a different calendar. 

Ukraine

This year a Ukrainian city near the border decided to celebrate instead on Dec 25th (in alignment with other parts of the world) instead of with Russia.

Spain and UK

 I remember as a child that we would go to my parents' one bedroom flat in Marbella, Spain. On Christmas day, instead of spending more for meals, we could have sardines on toast by the beach. 

Marbella had many ex-pat families from London, England, and Jews from North West London could be elsewhere for Christmas without the children noticing that they were not getting expensive presents but instead having a holiday swimming and sunbathing in the sun escaping the risk of snow in England.  If we extended our holiday to January 7th, on the evening of the 5ht or 6th, I forget which, we would read in the local free newspapers about the Magi on horseback parading through Estepona, and throwing sweets to the children in the crowd. One year we went along to see them. 

UK

In the UK many people keep up their decorations until the end of their break from work and school, at least until the new year when decorations change from red, green and white to silver, gold, white and black or blue. Increasingly with longer breaks, the decorations are staying up and the shops and attractions are attracting customers with ice rinks and events staying open. 

France

With energy expensive, economies are being made in the UK, France and Europe. In France some lights are turned off at a quarter to midnight (11.45 pm or 23.45). Others are turned off at 10 pm. So if you are taking a trip to see the lights, go early.

London

In London, England, new energy saving light bulbs are now the norm and it is hard to find bulbs for your old fittings or if one light bulb of a set of six needs replacing and you don't want one odd one.

Half Open Top Bus

You can take a tour of the lights in an open top bus. Actually, some of the buses are half open at the top. Depending on the weather, early boarders can get the seat open top with a better view and opportunity for unobstructed photos, or inside out of the chill and risk of rain.

Walking Tours Of The East End

If you are avoiding traffic and taking a walking tour of London, such as the East End of London, which I did one year, seeing Jack the Ripper sites and the Old Jewish East End. There you can sometimes see outside or inside a synagogue, learn about Disraeli, and pass another former synagogue which changed to another religion.  You can still buy bagels, at one of the two shops during the night for taxi drivers and night owl workers and tourists

Now the mosques and their Muslim congregations have taken over.. But the Asian sweets are an extra attraction.

Singapore

Over in Singapore, where parts of my family have lived, on and off, since the nineteen nineties, the department stores took down the Xmas decorations. But they kept up decorations for the anticipation of the next holiday, which was Chinese New Year, which falls variably, sometimes earlier than other years.

We are now looking forward to New Year. Celebrated in the UK, Gibraltar, and first over in Australia in New Zealand. Although the Chinese have a different New Year, increasingly around the world you can see magnificent displays of lights and fireworks in China, Singapore, Hong Kong and around the world, one after another.

Lastly, there's the ice hotels, in Sweden and other northern countries. Over in the USA, you can find one in the Americas, in Canada.

Useful Websites

Ukraine

https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20221226-tearing-ourselves-away-ukrainians-break-with-russian-orthodox-christmas-tradition 

Sholom Aleichem and where to see his memorials in Netanya in Israel and in the Ukraine

Sholom Aleichem created the characters such as Tevye featured in the film (movie) Fiddler on the Roof.

 USA

Ukraine

Israel

Sholom Aleichem statue in Netanya, near Tel Aviv, Israel. Photo from Wikipedia.

Sholom Aleichem memorial in Bohuslav, Kiev province, Ukraine

Netanya, near Tel Aviv, Israel. 

Picture from Wikipedia article on the man.

Sholom Aleichem In Hebrew

Sholom Aleichem was his pen name. It means peace be with you in Hebrew and Yiddish. Sholom, like salaam in Arabic, means peace. The capital city of Jerusalem also contains the word salem. The consonants are s, l, and m. The vowels change with time and place. 

The Moustache Fashion

I like to see the portrait of the man which shows the moustache which was the fashion of the day. Then clean water was not so abundant and people were poorer and could not necessarily afford to visit the barber and did not have electric razors. 

The clean shaven look came in during WWI. Then soldiers had short hair and not beards nor moustaches because they had to wear helmets or gas masks in the army. 

Later beards and moustaches became the bohemian, artistic look. Writers, songwriters, musicians, singers. Then in the nineteen sixties, the hippy look. 

Later still associated with primitives. On the one hand, this can be associated with good, simple, healthy and virtuous and honest, or uncultured. It could be associated with orthodox, traditional religious - or violent, aggressive terrorists. But in his era, it evokes a look which is artistic and romantic.  

Now let's look at the text. It is Cyrillic. Best known to most people outside Europe as Russian, which is almost the same as the lettering used in Bulgaria, I discovered on holiday in Bulgaria.

Unlike the earlier language of Hebrew, Cyrillic, named after Cyril, a priest, combines Greek and Hebrew letters. 

What looks like a W is the sound for Sh in Sholom. 

Once you recognize the Sh, it is easy to see the letters Sh-M A-L is his name, Sholom and Aleichem. 

The L looks a bit like you are starting to write a lower case l, in cursive or italic with an upward curve. Then you come down as if about to write a capital L, but you can't be bothered to finish it with the line across the bottom as you already have a line across the top, and Hebrew and Cyrillic have lots of letters which seem to be upside down or back to front or left to right. (Of course, our writing came later, so we are the ones who changed it.) 

The X is the sound like clearing your throat, like the Scottish ch in loch as in Loch Lomond.

I am a teacher of English and other languages, which I am always learning when I travel. 

Tel Aviv

Whilst I am on the subject of language, the word Tel Aviv means hill of spring, or springtime. You will see the word Tel on modern maps of the middle east. Aviv or Aviva is a girl's name. Like the word April, for the month, and the girl's name, April, for girls born in the month of April.  Tel Aviv has the old city up on the hill, and the suburbs spread along the sandy beach. The city was founded in 1909. 

Tel Aviv's Art Deco

Architecturally, many modern buildings, now historic, are from the nineteen thirties, which to me looks like art deco (deco short for decorative), but which is strictly speaking called Bauhaus. Haus is German for house.   

Netanya

Netanya is north of Tel Aviv. It is named after Nathan, the co-owner of Macys department store. Nathan's brother died on the Titanic. 

Useful Websites

Meeting a Ukrainian Who Is Looking For Work In London - What I Heard and Said About Job Hunting and C.V.s

 A Few Facts About Ukraine

If you cannot visit a country, the next best thing is to meet somebody from that country who is living in your country and to ask them about their homeland. 

I have been wanting to visit Ukraine for a long time. I had a great grandparent from Ukraine. 

Lviv / Lvov / Lemberg

My ancestor came from what is now called Lviv. That city is in the west of Ukraine, near the border. Going back a few generations, to the time of my grandfather's grandfather, the city once was invaded by two different armies. As the battle to control the city raged on, in one day the citizens changed nationality twice, so that in one day they had three different nationalities.

When my great grandfather reached London, he was known as a Lemberger, meaning somebody from Lemberg. He would not have been called Lemberger when he was in Lemberg, only when he reached London, I had learned this at a meeting about tracing your ancestors.

Surnames in the English and Ukrainian

The Ukrainian lady I met had no idea that Lviv was once called Lemberg. She speaks good English, which she learned at school, as well as Russian, which she said is similar to Ukrainian. 

I overheard her talking on the phone to her family.  She kept saying Da which I recognized as Russian for yes. It sounds almost the same in Ukrainian. I should have looked up the Ukrainian language again, immediately before going to the meeting. 

I asked her to tell me the numbers one to three in Ukrainian. You need to be able to roll the letter r.  (I must practise rolling the letter r. I need this skill for other languages, including Indonesian.)

Wikipedia explains that the city now called Lviv in Ukrainian was named after the founder's son, Leo, meaning Lion. Here's more information from Wiipedia, which gives links to sources, on the variations of the city's name.

Lviv  ( Ukrainian :  Львів ,  L'viv ;  Polish :  Lwów ;  German :  Lemberg  or  Leopoldstadt  ( archaic );  Yiddish :  לעמבערג ;  Russian :  Львов ,  Romanized :  Lvov ) is an administrative center in western  Ukraine with more than a millennium of history as a settlement, and over seven centuries as a city. Prior to the creation of the modern state of Ukraine, Lviv had been part of numerous states and empires, including, under the name Lwów, Poland and later the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth; under the name Lemberg, the Austrian and later Austro-Hungarian Empires; the short-lived West Ukrainian People's Republic after World War I; Poland again; and the Soviet Union. In addition, both the Swedes and the Ottoman Turks made unsuccessful attempts to conquer the city.

I was invited to lunch by somebody who was entertaining a Ukrainian lady, who was living with one of his employers. In Ukraine she lived about 100 miles from Kiev, in a city I had not heard of. I asked her, 'What is your home like? What wort of building? What does it view?'

She replied, 'I live in a flat. On the 12th floor of a thirteen floor building. We used to have a view of the river. Until another building got in the way.'

She has been in the UK about 2 months. My host who previously had a C.V writing business was going to meet her before lunch to discuss her CV which he was helping her write, then decided to invite her to lunch.

The British government is supposedly giving a sum to people who are housing the refugees, for the use of the accommodation as well as food and so on. It saves the government having to build or adapt property, admin. It also gives the refugees a support system, friends, a new 'family'.

The refugees don't like to consider themselves as 'refugees'. 

The lady I shall call 'O', to protect her privacy, and because I did not ask her permission, said, "I don't like that word. I consider I am here temporarily until I go home. I have a job in the Ukraine, but it pays very poorly, enough for me to have a three bedroom flat for me and my son in Ukraine, a room for each of us and a spare room, but not enough for the two bedrooms we need in the UK, because he is over ten years old." (That is a legal requirement, a child who is beyond puberty cannot share a room with a parent of the opposite sex.) 

I can imagine that if the reports in the UK papers are to be believed, red tape or other delays mean some of the people who are giving the 'refugees' shelter for up to six months have not yet, after two or three months, seen any money. How long would you be prepared to have a stranger living in your home? Would you expect them to start looking for work? I imagine that the host are anxious that their guests are starting to look for work in the UK, as they have permission to work.

Unfortunately, two things in the immigrant's mind might cause them to procrastinate about job-hunting. One is the hope that this is just a temporary fix, that things will come right soon and the war will end and they will be able to go back home. 

The other is general stress and depression from the upheaval of going to live in another country and find work when you don't speak the language. 

Our Ukrainian contact can work from home, now overseas in the UK, at her job in the Ukraine. But the money she earns is not enough to pay rent in the UK. Why not seek work in the UK instead? She is afraid that when she goes back to the Ukraine, no only will she have lost her job, but she will be unable to find another, because employers want to employ people under the age of 40.

(I can envisage two solutions. One is that the government gives a subsidy to employers, rather than paying people dole money, meaning unemployment benefits. Alternatively, either the government or private industry can set up businesses designed to employ older people, either exclusively, or to give them equal opportunities.)

Could she keep her 9 to 5 job in the Ukraine, and supplement her income with part time work in the UK? For example, on a Saturday? Or an hour each evening? 

My experience, as an English teacher, is that if you take a lowly paid job in the industry in which you are interested, it gives you confidence to apply for a better paid job. You can then talk your way through the interview. You can talk about your experiences.

Your boss might move on, creating a vacancy. You get to hear about it first. You can save your company the cost of advertising or paying an agency to find a replacement.

Another possibility is that a colleague moves to a better paid job. They find another vacancy in their new workplace. At very least, they can tell you which newspapers or magazines or websites are useful for you. Either because employers advertise there. Your new colleagues can also tell you about training courses, and sell you, or lend you or give you the course books.

C.V. Opportunities

Meanwhile, what are her prospects here and now in the UK? However, if 'O' speaks good English, as well as Russian and Ukrainian, and a little Polish, that is a skill she can mention on her C.V. She can say that she is bilingual, or trilingual, can translate, can deal with correspondence. 

Language Skills

I found employment in Singapore as a teacher of English.

Employers might find your home language skill useful. That could be that useful, teaching languages, translation services, business correspondence and phone calls. A few firms may dealing with refugees in this country.

 But especially if they are dealing with business in other countries.  (For example, export, import, services, IT, contracts, employment, finance, pricing, timing).

Selling Yourself On Your CV - In Numbers

The employer is interested in what the potential employee can do for the company, and what they did before. If the numbers are small, because it is the past or  because the currency sounds much less, then express it in percentages or multiples or buying power. For example, I was able to save my employer half the cost of ..., or the equivalent of ... or what would be so much in today's money. 'I am looking for a starting salary of ... and hope to be gaining x by the end of the year.

CV and LinkedIn

A potential employer will look at your c.v. (which Americans call a resume) on LinkedIn. If they are English speaking, they will look at the English version - not the Ukrainian).

If your CV on LinkedIn is in English, or the language of the country where you are seeking employment, such as China, you might not need to send a CV because the potential employer can see all they need to know already.

My experience of job-hunting in Singapore, was that you should not wait for your ideal job or a job paying the amount you want to earn. You could sit around for years, like I did in the USA and Singapore. I found jobs I wanted when I decided to just take any job. I took a poorly paid teaching job. It was better than doing nothing earning nothing or going shopping and spending money. Somebody where I started working told me about another company which was looking for teachers. When I applied for the next job, after less than a month I had enough confidence and knowledge of the lingo to talk my way through the interview.

Family Names

I asked the Ukrainian woman I met, 'What\s the name of your son? What does it mean?'

She told me, "Many Ukrainian names end in enko, and skyy, like our president, Zelenskyy.'

Russian surnames or family names when translated from Cyrillic into or written in the English (Latin or Roman) alphabet can end in ski as well as ev/ov/off and en/in/an/on, as in Putin. 

Buying UK Clothes in Ukraine

The Ukrainian lady was wearing clothes bought from UK shops, especially Aldi. To get around the problem of high postage, private companies ship collectively. The price is standard for a shipment to a particular address. So the more you buy, the cheaper the postage cost per item.

Travelling from Ukraine to the UK is done via the same companies. They run a minivan and sell off seats and take boxes of goods.

Useful Websites

Ukrainian Surnames

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Surnames_of_Ukrainian_origin

Shipping Aldi goods to the Ukraine

https://www.u-buy.com.ua/en/brand/aldi

Learn Ukrainian and/or Russian

https://www.duolingo.com/learn

B & K, Brilliant food & Kind staff - warmly welcomed a baby and a Ukrainian

B & K interior, Hatch End.

 

Service

Two girls serving, the one with the ponytail is Romanian, could not have been more welcoming. All smiles for the baby. The baby smiled back, then threw food on the floor, and accidentally dropped bits of scrambled egg they had cooked for her on request. I apologized. 

'Not to worry,' said the server and promptly swept it up.

The mixed hors d'oevres was enough for four with some left over which they wrapped up for me to take home.

I had salt beef on rye bread with one latke. (Latke is grated potato.)

Our Ukrainian visitor who was being treated to lunch spoke good English but did not recognize the word turkey. The server gave the visitor a free taste of salt beef and a meatball. Then the visitor chose turkey from the display at the deli counter.

It would help to have photos of the dishes for the occasional visitor who does not understand English and Jewish style menus. 

Borscht - Beetroot Soup

Borscht, a Jewish favourite, as well as a popular Polish dish, I learned on a trip to Warsaw and Krakow, is apparently also considered a Ukrainian national dish. Interesting, as borsht is what I remember from my childhood in London. My great grandfather was Ukrainian from Lemberg as it was known then, now known as Lvov or Lviv.

At B & K the most traditional dishes would be lokshen pudding (noodle pudding). Or apple strudel. 

Salt beef and latke which we took home on a previous recent occasion.  Photo by Angela Lansbury.

In the picture, that's my poppy plate, not the restaurant's. In the restaurant you can't see the plate for food!

Dessert

However, my American relative by marriage wanted that American favourite, pecan pie. We ended with a shared pecan tart between two of us, which was served on what looked like a pattern of chocolate sauce.

Chocolate

We received a chocolate mint each when the bill was presented. Wrapped toothpicks were another thoughtful touch.

The restaurant menu is extensive, and will delight Jews who are not strictly kosher, or those who are strictly kosher but are happy to stick to fish, as well as non-Jews and people from European countries such as as Ukraine, Poland, Russian and Belorussia, who will recognize many dishes on the menu.

The family running B & K has another branch in Edgware. 

Useful Websites

https://www.bksaltbeefbar.com/

May Movies on Singapore Airlines

Meryl Streep as an author on a ship from the USA to the UK. 

Emma

Jane Austen's book. Excellent acting. Superb period costumes. Silent servants. Heart-warming happy ending.

Changi Prison 

Singapore comes out of it relatively well. The prison staff do impressive work helping prisoners pass exams to increase their morale and ability to find work after release, and in helping released prisoners find accommodation. Shocking statistics on the number of prisoners who re-offend. Even more return to prison outside Singapore.

Moldova - which has the world's largest and most astonishing wine cellars with Putin, Biden and Merkel associations?

 

Flag of Moldova

Since Covid-19 tourism and travel have been restricted and reduced the countries we could visit. Now with reports of the danger that Russia might expand its plans of expanding military movements, Moldova is also facing an uncertain future. Currently, May 1st, 2022, Wikitravel reports that Moldova has closed its air space and declared a state of emergency.

But where is Moldova, and what are the tourist attractions? Let us at least look at them online whilst they are still at peace and intact. 

Moldova is a neighbour of larger Ukraine, sandwiched between Ukraine and Romania. The land of Moldova has changed hands several times.The country was landlocked until an agreement was reached to give it access to the sea. (The Black Sea.)

A quick glance at Wikipedia showed me an interesting landscape. Plus cave churches. 

The country's name comes from the Moldova River. The capital is Chişinău (Russian Kishinyov, Ukrainian Kishiniv, pronounced "Kishinau" with "nau" as in the English word "know") is the capital of Moldova with a population of around 790,000 plus 250,000 people coming each day for work and entertainment from all over the country and abroad. 

Now let's look at it in more detail.

The main attractions are the wineries, and a few public buildings and museums.

Go next[edit]

Nearby[edit]

• Cricova – A Chişinău suburb close to the city. Famous for its fabulous winery with an underground cellar over 100 km long. An tour, including tasting the dishes in its restaurant, plus wine souvenir will cost you 500 lei. Tours must be booked before arriving. Tours booked on the same day as the tour do not include tasting of wine or food.
• Ghidighici – A lake and Chişinău suburb close to the city in its northern part. It is 9 km. in length and at about 1 km. in width. Ghidighici is also, called as "Chişinău sea". There are many resorts and recreation facilities along its shores. 
• Orheiul Vechi – One of the most visited sites outside of Chisinau and a one-hour bus ride from the capital. It features a nature reserve, monasteries, museums, and archaeological sites.
• Mileștii Mici – With over 200 km of underground roadways, Milestii Mici is registered in the Guinness World Records as the biggest wine collection in the world. It may be easier to book a tour through a travel agency as one must provide a car for the tour. Website, phone: +373 22 382 333.
• Chișinău (Kishinyov) - capital - an administrative municipality. A nice city  to walk around.
• Bălți (Bieltsy) -  pedestrian zone around the central square and old part of the city.
• Soroca - called the "Romani (Gypsy) capital of Moldova." The hill on the west side of town has numerous ornately decorated Roma houses. 
• 
  
• The city also boasts the Soroca fort built by Stefan cel Mare in 1499. It was an important link in the chain of fortifications which today are located in Moldova and Ukraine along the Nistru river. Hours can be sporadic especially in the winter.
• 
  
  
  
  
• 
  Inside Soroca Fort, Moldova.
  
  
  
• Soroco Fort, Moldova. the original was one of a series built by Peter the fourth, son of Stephen the Great whose statue is in the capital. The original wooden fort was replaced by a stone fortress. The circular shape is for better defence.
•  On the road into town, 5km (3 miles) to the south of Soroca there is a Monument called “The Candle of Gratitude”. reach the 29.5m (98 feet) summit by walking up the 600 stairs.
• 
  
• Tiraspol - Moldova's second largest city has a number of museums and a nice park along the Nistru river. Tiraspol is the capital of the region of Pridnestrovie.
• 
  
• Ungheni is also one of the most beautiful cities .
• 
  
• The Jewish history is interesting but grim. Two major pogroms. At one time in the capital before WW2 as much as 60% of its population was Jewish, decimated in WW2. A few Jews remain and there is a synagogue.
• 
  
• The country is poor. Its top three exports include seeds and wine.
• 
  Wine cellar, Moldova.
  
  

Useful websites

Wine Castle, wine factory, Mimi, Moldova.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moldova

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Moldova

The capital

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi%C8%99in%C4%83u

Pronunciation of the name of the capital

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ro-Chi%C8%99in%C4%83u.ogg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moldovan_wine

Singapore supplier of Moldovan wine

https://www.facebook.com/wineoclockasia/

Stunning picture and story of the wine cellars, state owned, visited by Merkel and Biden. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimdobson/2020/02/26/inside-vladimir-putins-outrageous-underground-wine-cellar-in-moldova/?sh=4bdc984b5e1d

http://moldovawine.co.uk/

The cheapest red wine is 13 pounds sterling. Rose wine at 15 pounds. White sparkling 22 pounds sterling. They are in Guildford.

The Ukrainian Placenames And Language You See On Street Signs

 

 Ukrainian Flag

The Ukrainian language might be new to you as it is to me. On photographs you can sometimes see street names. You also see the street and city names on maps. I always wanted to visit the capital, Kiev, which sounds so romantic and had the great, green, onion-shaped roofs on the famous Cathedral. 

I also like chicken Kiev. Chicken breast with moistening butter and tasty garlic. A surprise when you cut into it in Italian restaurants which proliferated in London, England. A quick meal, and still a novelty meal, now that it is sold ready-made in supermarkets such as Tesco in the UK. The alternative spelling is Kyiv.

Odessa is also well-known. The hundreds of steps are a memorable dramatic scene in the classic film, Battleship Potemkin. Ship, port, seaside city. On the sea. Far south.

The third city which is nearest to the UK is Lvov, or Lviv, or Lemberg. Like Leo, all starting with the letter L, the word for lion. After leader or king Leo, the lion king.

The word Ukraine means on the border, as I learned from the video whose link I found in duolingo.

Useful Websites

duolingo.com

https://www.duolingo.com/skill/uk/lhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQLM62r5nLIreposiitonal caseetters-1/tips-and-notes

Video about the language

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o76SHvlLS5I

More details on verbs and comparisons between Russian and Ukrainian

It helps to remind yourself of the English words

genitive, cognate, vocative, pluperfect, nominative, prepositional case, perfective prefix, pro-drop languages

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Ukraine's Christian and Jewish Landmarks. Sophia Cathedral, Caves Cathedral, Egg Museum, Menorah Synagogue, Museum and Hotel complex

 

Ironically, now that there is a war in Ukraine and tourists cannot visit it, we are all curious about the geography of the country and the landmarks we can no longer see except on websites. Meanwhile, to satisfy your curiosity, here are some of the tourist sites.

Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, is recognizable from its green and gold cupola rooftops. They are also known as onion domes.

The cathedral has been featured on a postage stamp.

Cave Monastery, Kiev

This has caves and monks. Kiev monastery of the caves is a complex containing a cathedral was well as a church.

Cathedral within the monastery of the caves.
 Eastern Orthodox. A UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Wikipedia page lists the other cathedrals in Ukraine, including two more in Kiev, two in Lviv, one in Odessa and more.

Easter Egg Museum

You may think of Easter eggs as an Easter item, or as secular, pagan or cultural items, whichever, they are beautiful easter eggs at the Easter egg decoration museum, which has a novelty egg construction.

Dnipro has one of the world's largest Jewish complexes, housing two hotels, a four star hotel, a basic hotel, a kosher restaurant, a museum and a synagogue. The complex can house conferences and weddings.

The seven oblong towers represent the seven branches of the menorah, a candlestick with seven branches representing the seven days of the week.

This is clearer when you look at the model.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Sophia_Cathedral,_Kyiv

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyiv_Pechersk_Lavra

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_Museum

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menorah_center,_Dnipro

Easter Eggs and Museums

 

Egg museum in Ukraine.

Easter eggs

In the USA we used to have Easter egg hunts. In Hawaii at the Halekulani hotel all the children of resident guests could take part in an Easter egg hunt.

I read recently a suggestion for how to prevent the biggest child from grabbing eggs first or even stealing eggs from the younger child's basket. Each child can only collect eggs of their allotted colour.

Decorated Shells

In Europe, the tradition is to decorate egg shells. You make a hole in the egg with a needle and remove the egg. Then paint the shell. (If in doubt check Wikihow.)

Another system is to make hard boiled eggs and colour the shell with food dye, which is edible. In Singapore for the festivals a delicious egg is made by soaking hard boiled eggs overnight in strong tea which gives a wonderful flavour to the eggs and leaves the eggs a purple colour. 

I must admit I did it and the flavour and colour were not as strong as I had hoped. But if you keep doing it, like every kind of cooking and decorating, you get to know the timing and colouring and flavour and your own cooking utensils and patience.

Chocolate brands

Alprose (Swiss), Cadbury's (UK), Ferrero Rocher (Italy), Hersheys, Lindt, Rowntrees of York (UK), Reese, 

Useful Websites

https://eggartmuseum.com/eggartmuseum

Egg Museum (Austria)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_Museum

https://egg-museum.jimdosite.com/ (In German - but you can translate in google translate or in Wikipedia)

How to decorate eggs - 4 ways

https://www.wikihow.com/Decorate-Easter-Eggs

UKRAINE

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_Museum

Dates to note in April 2022 - Easter and Passover. Ukraine's Egg Museum is off my travel ist. Where else?

Tesco in the UK already has Kinder surprise eggs and other eggs on sale in the supermarket and online.

I fancy the marzipan eggs made in the Philippines.

Photo in Wikipedi from Metamorphosed Fossil - Own work

Unfortunately the Egg Museum in Ukraine at Pysanka looks like it will be off my travel list. I would hope that hostilities and within a month, but we are already looking at going elsewhere in May I read that people in the USA who have no intention of travelling to Ukraine are booking Air b and b as a way of helping Ukrainians who will have lost business. That way the donors are giving money directly to people in the country who have businesses, even down to the city..

Egg Museum, Pyanka, Ukraine. Photo from Wikipedia.

Vegreville in Alberta, Canada, featured a giant egg.

If you are booking flights, they may be booked immediately before and after national and international holidays. 

British Mother's Day is March 27th. It is also the day when British summer time begins. (Daylight saving time.)

Easter in 2022

Sunday 17th April is Easter Sunday.

Monday April 18th is Easter Monday. 

April 23 in England is St George's Day.

Easter in Cyprus Sunday April 24th is Easter Sunday, and Easter Monday is April 26th. This festival is more important to them than Xmas and you may find as a traveller that museums are shut and other changes. (See previous post about Cyprus.)>

Passover starts Friday April 15th which is a Friday, so the shabbat meal is the same time as the Seder night. Many people celebrate a second night of Passover which will be April 16th, Saturday.

Passover ends April 23rd.

October 22nd is Diwali in Singapore - probably same date in London - must check.)