Yesterday we went to Larissa’s dacha again, for a day of relaxing in the countryside. Larissa’s husband was also there and Galina and her fiancée Denis arrived on their huge black motorbike.
The dacha and gardens are still beautiful, there are even more flowers and many of the plants are starting to fruit. We ate straight from the garden – freshly picked raspberries, strawberries, peas, blackcurrants and cherries. The taste was just unbelievable.
Last time we were there, the lake was very high – almost to the back gate of the garden, but this time it had dropped dramatically, revealing lots of steps down to the water and a little fishing platform.
Steve and Denis started fishing almost as soon as we arrived. It took a little while but Steve caught the first fish of the day, just as breakfast was ready. We had some lovely fried eggs and beer for breakfast and Steve and I went looking for bugs. The water was just teeming with life, big fat frogs on the lily-pads, huge fresh-water mussels, thousands of snails and lots of fish. We saw a few little lizards basking in the sunshine – by about 11am the temperature was getting close to 39˚C. We even saw a snake taking a swim across the lake, hunting for frogs I’d imagine.
After this we decided to walk to the other end of the lake for a swim and to mess about in Larissa’s boat. So, we quickly pumped up the boat and Igor (Larissa’s husband) and Galina rowed away. We took a gentle stroll through the “Dacha village”, through some water meadows and along to the lake. On the way there we saw a few trees lying in the water with bite marks that look very much like beaver activity. I think historically European beaver lived in Ukraine, but have been reintroduced in recent years. We didn’t see any beavers, but it seems that there is probably some living nearby.
Galina and Igor had beaten us by boat to the swimming area, everyone enthusiastically jumped in the water for a swim. Apart from me, I was being a bit pathetic about the water temperature. I made it into the water eventually and had a great swim around. The water was actually quite warm and shallow with a lovely sandy beach.
After a while we walked further round the lake, through the water-meadows. They were full of brightly coloured flowers and smelled of garlic – there were lots of wild garlic plants growing everywhere and the scent in the heat was extremely strong. As we were walking along, I saw another large snake slithering away from our path and into the grass.
We stopped at the far end of the lake to drink some water and cool off, the heat was just phenomenal. Igor suggested that Steve should row the boat back to the Dacha, so Steve hopped nimbly in and grabbed the oars. I took a much less elegant route, fell down in the mud and crawled into the boat.
After a short while of spinning in dizzying circles, Steve eventually got the hang of the boat and we made good progress back along the lake. We stopped at the swimming beach for a break and took another dip. We had a nice chat with a man who is the manager of Boryspil airport, who told us about another airline that has just started UK flights. It’s really strange, but, lots of Ukrainians we have spoken to think that people from the UK don’t like Ukrainians and find them rude and grumpy. We have found that quite the opposite is true, people are extremely kind to us, try to help as much as possible and when we don’t know the Russian words, and they try to remember their high-school English lessons to be able to assist us. This isn’t just people at work, its people in shops, restaurants and in the streets. This is a wonderful country with very generous lovely people.
We rowed the rest of the way back to the dacha just in time for even more food. Denis grilled some mushrooms in a paprika sauce and Larissa made more traditional Ukrainian foods. We all ate far too much, but you just can’t help it when the food is so tasty.
The dacha and gardens are still beautiful, there are even more flowers and many of the plants are starting to fruit. We ate straight from the garden – freshly picked raspberries, strawberries, peas, blackcurrants and cherries. The taste was just unbelievable.
Last time we were there, the lake was very high – almost to the back gate of the garden, but this time it had dropped dramatically, revealing lots of steps down to the water and a little fishing platform.
Steve and Denis started fishing almost as soon as we arrived. It took a little while but Steve caught the first fish of the day, just as breakfast was ready. We had some lovely fried eggs and beer for breakfast and Steve and I went looking for bugs. The water was just teeming with life, big fat frogs on the lily-pads, huge fresh-water mussels, thousands of snails and lots of fish. We saw a few little lizards basking in the sunshine – by about 11am the temperature was getting close to 39˚C. We even saw a snake taking a swim across the lake, hunting for frogs I’d imagine.
After this we decided to walk to the other end of the lake for a swim and to mess about in Larissa’s boat. So, we quickly pumped up the boat and Igor (Larissa’s husband) and Galina rowed away. We took a gentle stroll through the “Dacha village”, through some water meadows and along to the lake. On the way there we saw a few trees lying in the water with bite marks that look very much like beaver activity. I think historically European beaver lived in Ukraine, but have been reintroduced in recent years. We didn’t see any beavers, but it seems that there is probably some living nearby.
Galina and Igor had beaten us by boat to the swimming area, everyone enthusiastically jumped in the water for a swim. Apart from me, I was being a bit pathetic about the water temperature. I made it into the water eventually and had a great swim around. The water was actually quite warm and shallow with a lovely sandy beach.
After a while we walked further round the lake, through the water-meadows. They were full of brightly coloured flowers and smelled of garlic – there were lots of wild garlic plants growing everywhere and the scent in the heat was extremely strong. As we were walking along, I saw another large snake slithering away from our path and into the grass.
We stopped at the far end of the lake to drink some water and cool off, the heat was just phenomenal. Igor suggested that Steve should row the boat back to the Dacha, so Steve hopped nimbly in and grabbed the oars. I took a much less elegant route, fell down in the mud and crawled into the boat.
After a short while of spinning in dizzying circles, Steve eventually got the hang of the boat and we made good progress back along the lake. We stopped at the swimming beach for a break and took another dip. We had a nice chat with a man who is the manager of Boryspil airport, who told us about another airline that has just started UK flights. It’s really strange, but, lots of Ukrainians we have spoken to think that people from the UK don’t like Ukrainians and find them rude and grumpy. We have found that quite the opposite is true, people are extremely kind to us, try to help as much as possible and when we don’t know the Russian words, and they try to remember their high-school English lessons to be able to assist us. This isn’t just people at work, its people in shops, restaurants and in the streets. This is a wonderful country with very generous lovely people.
We rowed the rest of the way back to the dacha just in time for even more food. Denis grilled some mushrooms in a paprika sauce and Larissa made more traditional Ukrainian foods. We all ate far too much, but you just can’t help it when the food is so tasty.
Steve fishing and Denis in the boat
Steve swimming in the lake
Me swimming in the lake
Igor and Galina in the boat
Making hay in the water meadow
Wild garlic
We think these are beaver tooth marks
Steve rowing the boat
Denis and the long-horn beetle
Grass snake in the compost heap
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