Catch up and first half of Saturday in Nikolaev

Just a few photos from my morning walk:  https://picasaweb.google.com/nundabud/20110514?authkey=Gv1sRgCOL17aeggKb_tAE#

So, I think I left off in Odessa.  Florin and I walked out to find supper and found a simple place.  We both had borsch, Florin had roasted vegetables and I had cabbage and cucumber salad.  We were able to find Kvass, a popular local drink (fermented from Rye bread).  After eating we found a shop where I could find some batteries but they only had Chinese batteries in the AA size that I needed.  We went back to the hotel fairly early because we would travel Friday morning.  We went out at 8 in search of breakfast but did not find any open restaurants.  We finally wandered into a rather upscale hotel that had a restaurant.  We had their buffet breakfast and they prepared a bowl of oatmeal for me.  We were stunned at the exorbitant cost of breakfast.  I won't specify the amount!

Andre drove from Nikolaev to pick us up and we were also joined by a Moldovan women.  We were surprised to find a really nice SUV as our transportation.  The road was in pretty good repair and we arrived in a bit over two hours at the office of LIGA, the organization sponsoring the weekend conference.  The director, Oleg, is Andre's partner.  I had met them both in Romania in 2009.  Oleg calls me "Djimmi" and introduced me as such to the conference.

Our hotel is quite nice.  There's a picture of the front of it in my photos. We have private rooms and there's excellent wireless access.  I was able to have a skype call with a good friend in Rochester.  We watched a few documentary films at the opening of the conference and then had a buffet dinner.  I retired to my room at 9 feeling a bit unwell.  I felt feverish.   I took some ibuprofen and went to sleep.  The fever broke during the night and I woke up several times sweating heavily.  I got up at 7, showered and prepared the document for the blessing of couples today and sent it to the translator so she will be prepared.

I met Florin at 8:30 and we went down to breakfast and then out for a walk.  It's really a peaceful beautiful city.  We walked for a while, had a cappuccino and returned to the hotel so I could blog and Florin could shower.  That just about brings us up to date.  The people at the conference are warm and welcoming.