31. Moving to Ukraine

Last month can be summed up quickly. I went down to Krakow (pretty nice), spent some time in Budapest (beautiful city!) in Hungary, and then went to Bled in Slovenia where I have been renting an apartment for a couple of weeks now.

On top of the Ethnographic Museum in Budapest, Hungary. The exhibitions inside were terrible, but the exterior design with the sloping hills were pretty cool.

Walked past this enormous commercial banner next to a road somewhere. Up close it looked like a still image from the movie Pet Sematary.

Straight up demonic.

The outskirts of Bled, Slovenia. The lake area is filled with tourists and not very interesting, but the countryside and mountains are stunning.

I have been hiking a little bit around Bled, and plan to hike to the peak of Hochstuhl on the border to Austria some day soon if the weather permits. But most of my time lately have been spent researching about Ukraine.

I've been looking around for organizations that need volunteers, and I have finally found a good fit. They run a pet shelter that houses animals that have been displaced by the war, and finds new homes for them. I'm looking very much forward to get there and to see what I can do for them. On November 15 I will board a 25 hour bus from Ljubljana to Kyiv. On November 18 I will be picked up by one of the staff for the first day at work.

The situation in Kyiv is not too bad right now, except for frequent blackouts and disruptions of the fresh water supply. So I'm gonna bring a couple of power banks, warm clothes and other winter gear. The likelihood of getting hit by a bomb or Iranian drone is miniscule, but of course I am going to follow the situation closely and stay as safe as can be.

Still got some minor things to fix. Getting a travel insurance can be tricky, and the Ukrainian language class on Duolingo is even trickier. But I am gonna spend at least 90 days there, so there will be lots of time to learn. And lots of dogs to pet!