Odesa at last
After the palpable sense of relief when we finally breached the border into Ukraine last night this morning brought the realisation that there is still a lot to do. Ultimately we must reach the airport at Chișinău (the only one in Moldova) for a flight that departs at 8.40 pm. Before then we must complete … Continue reading Odesa at last
Double bubble …
The objective of today was to make it to our accommodation in Ukraine before curfew at 11 pm. Ideally we would be there before sunset. After all: driving after dark in a country understandably concerned about invasion and therefore pock-marked by machine-gun-toting youths feels at best ill-advised. Our plan was to be up at 6 … Continue reading Double bubble …
Transylvania for Hallowe’en?
As we approached Brașov we were joking that if this was a Hammer Horror film no-one would believe it. Picture the scene. Two friends decide to drive across Eastern Europe in an old van and, as chance would have it, find themselves staying in the heart of Transylvania on the night of Hallowe’en. Patches of … Continue reading Transylvania for Hallowe’en?
And they’re off!
After so very many false starts it hardly seemed possible that this day would ever happen … but happen it did. Shortly after 5 a.m. Dan and Dominic set off into the dark and gloom of an autumnal London morning bound for the Eurotunnel and France then Belgium, Holland, Germany and Austria. At least that … Continue reading And they’re off!
We’ve actually got the ambulance back!
Wow – what a rollercoaster it has been since our last post. On so many occasions we thought that we might be about to leave, only for Jenny to spring yet another surprise on us … Looking back at our last post it all seems as though we were being more than a little naive. … Continue reading We’ve actually got the ambulance back!
Will we leave on Wednesday?
In the last post we detailed the range of work that Jenny needed doing to her. Joe the mechanic at Wimbledon Auto Centre has been putting in some massive shifts on our behalf – regularly working from 7 am to 11 pm in a monumental effort to enable us to set off first thing this … Continue reading Will we leave on Wednesday?
One week to go?
The plan right now is for us to drive for to the Channel Tunnel on the morning of Sunday 16 October and we’ve already done a lot: At this point things begin to go a little bit wrong! The mechanic’s reaction on hearing that our plan is to leave in just over a week was … Continue reading One week to go?
What on earth is a “community transport hub”
Right now in the Odesa region (and elsewhere in Ukraine) there are too many people – frequently elderly and/or with reduced mobility – who are not getting the humanitarian and medical aid that they desperately need. This is because they either can not or will not leave their homes to get to the central distribution … Continue reading What on earth is a “community transport hub”
Sunny’s arrived! Post #12
We’re delighted to share with you that Sunny was recently handed over to her new home in Ukraine. We hadn’t appreciated quite how eagerly awaited this would be – with children turning out to applaud her arrival and even the mayor attending to receive the keys! Thank you to everyone who made this possible – … Continue reading Sunny’s arrived! Post #12
Sunny has been busy – post #11
After her rescue mission immediately upon entering Ukraine Sunny has been pressed into helping out with all sorts of initiatives before she is formally handed over to the children’s hospital in a ceremony scheduled for 28 August. Today that meant transporting aid from the city of Odesa elsewhere in “Odesa oblast” (i.e. the Odesa region). … Continue reading Sunny has been busy – post #11