Today was the day we got to visit the villages of the Guhl/Bartz families. We were in Kremjanka (see pic of road sign in Ukrainian), Karolinow, and Barashe. These were the birthplaces of my Dad, Grandpa Bartz, and Aunt Margaret respectively and all three were within a few kilometers of each other. We would drive into these villages, find some old people, and start asking them questions through Alex, our tour guide. We were very well received by everyone we met. W...

First thing after breakfast today we went to a local market across the road, which happens every Thursday. Basically a giant flea market where everything from clothes, to tools, to paint, to bread, to you name it, (new and used) is sold by vendors who move from town to town in the area. There are no regular stores in the towns with this kind of stuff. Nothing of interest for us to buy, but interesting to observe how the local economy works. Then we headed for Zhi...

We had to get up at 4:00 am and take a taxi to Heathrow airport for our 7:00 am flight to Kiev. Terminal 5 looks very new. It's spacious and well designed, probably the best I've been through. Had breakfast there and the flight went smoothly. No one was at the airport in Kiev to meet us, but eventually Don Miller and Alex, our local guide/interpreter, showed up. Shortly thereafter the rest of the group also arrived. All of our flights were within a hour of each o...