My good friend Marvin Marykuca wrote this after his whole clan traveled with me to Ukraine on the occasion of his and Elsie's families celebrating their Centenary of settlement in Canada. What a group of wonderful people, what a trip! Truly memorable. And they were all still speaking to each other at the end of the tour! ;-} My thanks to Marvin for permission to use this here.
Ukraine:
Return to the Source
Our intent to visit Ukraine germinated while Elsie and I were still
living in the Northwest Territories.
During our long association with the Ukrainian community in Yellowknife we were often asked whether we had ever
visited Ukraine. Our response was always, “Not yet!” This gave
our northern friends and acquaintances, only some of whom were of Ukrainian
extraction, the sense that we would indeed make such a visit one day. When at long last we decided to go,
twenty-four relatives…, friends and acquaintances elected to join us. This was particularly special for us as we
knew closely almost everyone on the tour with us. It gave us a marvellous opportunity to share
a great experience with a group of wonderful people, friends and relatives
alike. The entire experience was
further enhanced by the fact that Orysia Tracz, a dear friend of some 35 years’
standing and a veteran traveler to Ukraine, was our tour leader and
guide. In fact it is her expression -- “Return to the Source” -- that we have
borrowed as a title for this article.
The tour was absolutely chockful of highlights of every sort, -- the
restaurants, the shopping, the cultural experiences, the churches, the museums,
the entertainment, the views and the vistas --- selected by Orysia leave us
fully satisfied that we could hardly have squeezed more activities and
adventure into our trip. Her constant
good humour and tireless efforts to maximize everyone’s enjoyment of the
experience was exceeded only by her dead-sure knowledge of exactly where we
would find another good, cold Ukrainian beer, an absolute must in the high heat
of a Ukrainian August…..
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