Oh boy

Where to start? I didn't intend to let it go this long. So does a person catch up? Or just start in *boom* right here and now? Perhaps a bit of both? ;) Done mostly in pix, I think...and in several posts.

Patriotism is huge right now. Everywhere. I kind of like it. :)

 In May, K's niece and husband visited and we spent a day in L'viv with them.

The "Coffee from L'viv" coffee company roasting coffee beans in the front of their store. Pretty good coffee, actually.

We visited Lychakiv Cemetery- rich in Polish and Ukrainian history. Wikipedia link and a site dedicated to the cemetery- English available.

Lychakiv Cemetery is a beautiful place. The main 'roads' are well maintained, as are the graves along these paths but most of the cemetery is very wild. 

Pretty typical graves.

The only part of the cemetery with many fresh graves- people who have died in Kyiv in the winter of 2013/2014 and in the current conflict in the east. This whole section of the cemetery is dedicated to people who have died fighting for Ukrainian independence.

Graves of people who were killed fighting Russians during WW II and those who were liquidated by the Soviets during Soviet occupation. This part of the cemetery is new and bodies were relocated here from their original burial site.

This part of the cemetery is large and gave me goosebumps.

This must be a brother and sister, both who lived to be old but both who participated in the Soviet resistance movement. 'УПА' is one of the controversial partisan armies that fought the Nazis and Soviets in WW II; in the  end, many of these opted to join forces with the Nazis, hoping to avoid Russian occupation. Because of this, they have been implicated in Nazi war crimes and atrocities against Poles, especially...which is why many in Western Europe are not too keen on them. Ukrainians see them as having fought for Ukrainian independence. As you see on this marker, the lady is still alive but because of her role, she will have a spot here. The man was 'repressed' (by the Soviets); the woman has been 'rehabilitated'- meaning the gov't has acknowledged she was a victim of Soviet repression and is not guilty of whatever crime she'd been prosecuted for. Many of the people in this part of the cemetery were sent to Siberia.

Ukrainian and Polish soldiers who died during the Polish-Ukrainian War in 1918-1919.   (From Wikipedia: The Polish–Ukrainian War of 1918 and 1919 was a conflict between the forces of the Second Polish Republic and West Ukrainian People's Republic for the control over Eastern Galicia after the dissolution of Austria-Hungary.) L'viv was a Polish city until after WW II, when many Poles and Germans were resettled elsewhere. 

 Memorial to and markers for 3 Americans who died fighting for Poland

Some kind of archaeological excavation in the old town of L'viv. 

And it turns out I have a 'son'! heh. The things you never knew till you knew. Story: I reminded some people of a certain lady in Canada. And then along came Jason and he reminded these same people of this lady's son. So.... he calls me 'Mom' and I call him 'Sonny Boy'. And he's the kind of kid to pick if you could pick your kids! ;)