First day in Pavlovo

So many photos! Even if I really cull them, there are a lot. Skip this, if you don't like photos, or if your computer can't handle them.

We were exhausted, in a very good way. That meant we started off the day slowly: lots of coffee for the adults, sleeping in (!!!) and frog/toad catching for the children.

So tired!

The view from our door

Yellow-bellied toad (or fire-bellied?)

An Agape comercial?

You know it's a good place for children, when it's perfectly okay to take down the restaurant decorations and play with them:

A little before lunch time we packed a picnic and started out to explore. First we found ice cream, then the river.

I could post a whole pile of pictures here, but I'll spare you.

We ate lunch in an unfinished house that the local kids told us a man "from Moscow" (Russian?) had bought and left.

Then we started looking for a mountain to climb.

We quickly found a good path and started, almost straight up.

Old well/spring

Massive slug 

First "peak"

Our route (and balcony view)

I could only make straight lines with arrows, but you can probably kind of see it. From the stream, we went right up the hill. We all made it to the top of the first bump, started over it, and up the next. Only I made it to the top of the second bump, while the others rested. Then we came partway back down and turned out into that sunny field, crossed back over the river lower down, and "home" again. It was really a heroic effort for Bogdan, whose short little legs were missing their nap. He actually walked most of the way, with Will dragging him on steep climbs and carrying him just a little at the very end.

For dinner we had Carpathian bograch. (Here's an interesting link about a bograch competition. Also, interesting, no one online seems to mention the beans and barley that people in "our" village add.) It's a thick stew, with beans, grain and several kinds of meat, that cooks in an iron pot over a fire all day long. Yum! And perfect after a day outside. Just for my friend Jeanne, Will took pictures of the next batch being made: