We spent the night at Bukovel. This is a new ski resort that opened 2003-4 as the country's first fully planned ski area. The altitude is only 900-1245m but they make snow and offer night-time (5p-8p) slopes. They continue to expand and plan to bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Construction was going 24/7 and the small stream was muddy as a result. There was a small village before and now beyond it there is this new developing resort. Think Ketchem/Sun Valley! But it was a pleasant place for the evening.
This was our room--the middle upstairs. Our next destination was Vorokhta where we were to get a permit to hike the next day. We knew it was Ukraine's independence holiday (20 years now!) and guessed right that the office would be closed. There is a ski jump hill there and they were having a meet so we stopped and watched! The hill was covered with synthetic ? and was wet and they were gliding and stopping on sawdust! I took some pictures but with sunlight and shadow, guessing when to click, etc, the picture I will include here does barely show a dot of a skier on the left hill just below the crest!
Also there were two interesting Orthodox churches--one newer and one old wooden one (actually photographed the following morning in the lifting fog)
Finally, look at this photo of this spread-out little community in the Carpathian mountains! We love the vistas and can't take photos or publish all of them.
We drove on south to Verkhovyna to meet with a member family. It was a good day to catch Ivan off work. They have three teen-age children, who were all home. Anna was involved in the community Independence celebration. We were able to see the parade of community people. She created the floral tribute she carried and put at one of the monuments. Then there was flag-raising and speeches (each of the men on the stage gave a speech), songs and dances. We didn't stay for all. But we were glad to see their enthusiasm and patriotism in a small Ukrainian community.
