Rowboats.
We took the tram out to the Donetsk fan zone area to explore a bit and ended up renting a little rowboat for an hour. You can partake in a little bit of our boating adventure here.:)
We also searched for food, and our search was unsuccessful because the only place we could find didn't have menus with pictures we could point to. Sad. But we did go to a little airsoft gun shooting range and Steve knocked some tiny things off ledges.
Picnics.
The area around Donbass Arena is gorgeous, so Steve and I decided to stop by the store to pick up some food for a picnic. The weather in Donetsk has been beautiful: in the eighties, breezy, clear skies. Steve took a silly awkward video of me during said picnic. One sad note about the picnic is that the roasted chicken and potato wedges we'd bought at the market were under-seasoned and very oily. Everything here is cooked in vegetable oil, and most of the time, food is dripping in this tasteless oil. Like our potato wedges.
After we ate, we went off in search of the army tanks again, and ended up finding ANOTHER huge park next to/on the property of Donbass Arena! Even funnier, we saw more brides! Not a ton, just two or three. But seriously. Why didn't we take OUR wedding pictures at a soccer stadium??? Poor planning on our part, I guess. :)
Also, there were these silly statues all over the place, including this group of cats,
and each group of figures had this sign:
We're still not really sure what that sign means. No petting the statues, maybe?
Also, here is a sweet video of me riding a chicken.
Raw Bacon.
Upon leaving Donbass Arena Park#2, we happened upon a little outdoor restaurant called Cafe Alfresco. Thinking we could use some refreshments, we sat down and ordered some (very cheap and very strong) cocktails and something called "Ukrainian Snack."
"Ukrainian Snack" must be the weird translation that really means appetizer sampler, right? Maybe we'll get some different kinds of dumplings or something. But no. This is what our waiter brought out:
You are seeing that correctly, folks. It is a plate of raw bacon!!!
I had read about a very traditional Ukrainian snack/dish/treat called salo before traveling to this country, but always figured "salted pork fat" would be something more like chicharrones, maybe, or the part of cooked bacon that melts in your mouth.
I was not expecting what you see above.
That, my friends, is a plate of raw bacon.
AND WE ATE IT ALL!!!!!
Not, before you freak out, let me assure you that while that pork fatback is raw, it has been salt-cured, which changes the pH levels in the meat (Steve can tell you finer details about that) so that bacteria growth is inhibited. [I am actually writing this post a few days later than the date claims, shh. But rest assured that the raw pork didn't kill us.]
However, it still felt and tasted EXACTLY like I would expect raw bacon to feel/taste.
As in, chewy and awkward and kind of gross.
BUT WE STILL ATE IT ALL!
And, as Steve pointed out, at least we accidentally ordered it at a fairly nice establishment (which has a real kitchen and is technically part of a swanky hotel in a really nice [and touristy] area) rather than at some hole-in-the-wall place in a dirty neighborhood.
So now we can say we have eaten what is arguably Ukraine's most popular, well-known dish.
Also, here is a whole eggplant that has been grilled and filled with butter. Yum.
Barking Dogs.
We went back to Cafe Alfresco that night to watch the quarterfinal match between Germany and Greece (and for the very cheap, very strong cocktails). We sat next to a group of German guys and thus Steve had a backup cheering squad handy as we observed Germany embarrass the crap out of Greece. The 4-2 scoreline doesn't show it, but Germany DOMINATED. Like, 80%+ possession of the ball domination.
And on our midnight two mile walk back to the hostel, a dog unexpectedly stuck its nose out from the corner of a fence as we walked by and started barking from a few feet away.
I didn't see it coming at all, and my immediate reaction was to run away screaming.
Steve then proceeded to laugh his pants off because he thought my reaction was HILARIOUS since it was a tiny little dog and it was behind a fence.
Jerk. <3
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