Thursday, January 7, 2010

What I did on Christmas Vacation



Today, on Christmas Eve Orthodox-style, I finally got around to organizing my photographs from my own Christmas vacation: I had a wonderful time with my mom and sister travelling in Crimea, Kyiv and Lviv. I hope to post more about it soon, but for now you'll have to do with some pictures I've just uploaded from the trip, found here. Perhaps it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to travel with family and relax during the holidays when we were all free of other commitments, but I hope that instead it was the first of many travels together.

Some highlights (edit: Blogger clips some of these images in a rather inconvenient way - unfortunately to see most of them you'll have to click through. Sorry!):

Nativity trivia, Lviv style: did you know that one of the three Wisemen and a few of the shepherds were Ukrainian? Another one of the Wisemen was apparently a Lvivite. (Notice the crest on hat of the Wiseman to the right, the Lion emblem on the praying Wiseman, and the traditional Ukrainian decoration on the shepards. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, however, do not appear to be Ukrainian)



Heidi is gorgeous, as if we needed more proof.


One of my favorite wedding traditions I've seen in Ukraine, this picture from Sevastopol (edit- thanks Blogger... you can click on the image to see the complete photo)


The climb to Chufut Kale near Bakhchisaray.


2 comments:

Maggie Madagame said...

I never heard about the wedding tradition. You mentioned it in two
Places, is it Ukrainian or Russian? Or is it a local tradition?

It reminds me of people carving their initials in trees with a heart surrounding them. I certainly like it better than spray painting, "I love so and so...."

Elizabeth said...

I'm not sure exactly, but I'd be really interested to find out. A lot of times people assert that something is a "Russian", "Ukrainian", or "Slavic" tradition and it takes a bit of work to find out where it comes from. Hopefully when I'm in Kyiv this weekend I'll have a chance to photograph a particular bridge that is just covered in marriage locks!