it is HOT here.

it was hot in Lviv.
it was hot in Kiev.
it was extra hot in Odessa.
it was hot in Chisinau, and it's freaking crazy dry sauna hot here in Iasi.

unfortunately photos from all these places will have to wait till i get them developed but some fragments:

Lviv - very beautiful. full of weddings on summer weekends, hordes of gleaming new brides roam the pretty parts of town, chased by frantic photographers and bewildered husbands.
old men play chess on the benches in the park, small crowds gather around the exciting games.

as an added bonus the guy who runs the hostel (the big hostel not the small one) is frequently intoxicated (frequently in the early morning), and might let you do your laundry for free. while showing me the machine he ashed his cigarette inside of it.

Kiev - i really liked Kiev although the accommodations (an HI hostel, no hot water, none of the advertised amenities like internet, train ticket office, etc etc) were too expensive and a bit dreary. it's a big city, a real city, you can walk forever. The Saint Sophia Cathedral is impressive (and 1000 years old!). I drank a lot of coffee, walked 7 hours every day, sweated.

Odessa - first off i got very nerdily excited about seeing the Odessa Steps (aka Potemkin Stairs) due to 4 years of film studies and repeated viewings of the Battleship Potemkin. I just kept seeing that baby carriage careering down the stairs....
Later met some people at the hostel and spent the next several days wilting in the heat or rejuvenating in the sea.