The Zoo & The Train

We spent most of the day Saturday at the zoo with friends. It was quite the adventure! First we had to actually find the zoo. Once we got their we enjoyed looking around at all of the various animals there. I did manage to get some pictures although it was difficult as some animals were in cages that were basically made of plexiglass. Unfortunately my computer is not cooperating with me right now and is refusing to upload pictures. So....they will have to wait :)

At the zoo we did get to see some Tigers, Giraffes, a hippo, and a rhino. There were some snakes and birds. Speaking of birds - there were kittens in this one enclosed area where birds lived. We think perhaps the momma cat found her way into the cage and had her babies there. They seemed to coexist for the most part.

There were also some animals we didn't expect to see at the zoo. We saw racoons, skunks, and even a ferret. The animals were not very active though. I think they were very hot! It was neat to see one animal being placed for the first time in its new home at the zoo. It was a baby bat. The woman from the zoo was holding it and there was a camera crew in there with her and everything.

After leaving the zoo with the Harper's Saturday we had to get ready for our long train ride. We were leaving the city we had gotten used to for the last 3 days and heading to a new region. The region where Milana lives. We enjoyed our short time in that particular area of Eastern Europe and of course our time with the Harper's. It was nice to have someone from home to hang out with.

Nico brought us to the train station and got us settled on the train. It was HOT!!! Like I am talking no AC, sweat dripping down you hot. Between the heat and the dramomine I took I passed out shortly after the train started. I did manage to get a couple pictures from the train when it first started moving. If I were able to just sit and look out the window it would have been absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately I get motion sick and so I took a few pictures and went right to sleep. I woke up a few times, but mostly just turned over and went back to sleep.

It was a LONG train ride - 15 hours. We were told when we got to the region we were heading to that someone would knock on our compartment door and let us know. No one did and when it hit the 15 hour mark I started to worry. We knew where we were going was the last stop - if we went much further we'd be in another country. So I started walking up and down the isle of the train and that is when I ran into Violetta and Sasha who had gotten onto the train to get us. We had finally arrived.

We put our luggage in Sasha's car and we got in Violetta's car and we headed to our apartment (or flat as they call it). It is a very big apartment. We were asked when we got there if we liked it and if it was alright. As I said, it is very large.

When everyone left us we got ourselves situated and headed out to explore our new city and do some shopping. We have learned to read two words here - bank and market. It doesn't sound like much, but it is a big deal for us. We need to know where to buy food and where to exchange our money so every little thing helps!