Day 2

Saturday, August 12, 2006

DAY 2
SATURDAY August 12, 2006

After a reasonable sleep - it’s off for breakfast. Morning meals in the Ukraine differ from here in Canada. They like to have all their courses served individually. First for breakfast - they’ll have bread & a vegetable plate with cheese.

The end of the meal is usually marked with tea. Ukraine are big tea drinkers - though it’s interesting to note that the first coffee house established in Europe was by a Ukrainian! Yup - he set it up in Europe - Vienna to be exact - and the location is still in existence.

History Lesson Time

THE STORY OF BLUEBOTTLE COFFEE In the late 1600s, the Turkish army swept across much of Eastern and Central Europe, arriving at Vienna in 1683. Besieged and desperate, the Viennese needed an emissary who could pass through Turkish lines to get a message to the nearby Polish troops. Franz George Kolshitsky, who spoke Turkish and Arabic, took on the assignment disguised in a Turkish uniform. After many perilous close calls, Kolshitsky completed his valiant deed, returning to give the Viennese the news of the Poles' imminent rescue of their city. On September 13, the Turks were repelled from Vienna, leaving everything they brought: camels, tents, honey, and strange bags of beans which were thought to be camel feed. Kolshitsky, having lived in the Arab world for several years, knew these were bags of coffee. Using the money bestowed on him by the mayor of Vienna for his heroic deed, Kolshitsky bought the Turks' coffee, opened Central Europe's first coffee house (The Blue Bottle), and brought coffee to a grateful Vienna.

The first thing you notice about the construction is that there is plenty going on. The second thing you notice is that there is plenty of unfinished construction. What is happening in Ukraine is that people are starting projects - then finishing them up as they have money. The money runs out - or workers decide that construction materials probably won’t be required any longer - the construction stops until money or materials can be found again. Many Ukrainians will leave the country & travel to places like Italy - where they can make good money - only to bring it back & re-invest in their projects. Also - even though they don’t have the latest of equipment - things still get done...