Just Strolling Along

Hi, everybody, thanks for tuning in to this space. It's good to know that people are reading. Always feel free to write a comment, I'm happy to hear from you all. I'm continuing to write about my time in Kiev. Morning comes quickly to Kiev: The winter sun brightens the city for a while and then quickly vanishes.

View from my window, Dec. 13, 2014

And while I was exhausted from my travels on the transcendental lecture circuit I realized that I had only one precious day left here, so after a quick breakfast of tea and tangerines I asked our team co-ordinator and VedaLife manager, to accompany me on a quick stroll through the downtown streets.

Ana Dukhnivska https://www.facebook.com/yaaammmi

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Ana or Alakananda, as she is known at Vedalife, is the astute and enthusiastic co-ordinator of events at the local center in Kiev, versed in the technology and marketing of social media. Amiable, well-educated, and professional, she has been responsible for the success of our talks in many ways. She agreed to show me around a bit, and so we donned our down-filled jackets and sallied forth into the biting wind.

This is a grand old church on our way up the hill to the Olympic Stadium, not sure the name. 

As we walked, we discussed the importance of education and talked about the possibility of a language and philosophical center for adult education, perhaps in an eco-village outside Kiev.

Just strolling along...

Everyone's getting ready for Christmas. A lot of people have asked about my wife, Aurora. While at the moment I'm visiting Kiev, Moscow, and Petersburg, the aim is to be in Thailand and Cambodia in a few days. It really is an arduous trip involving a lot of work on my part. A kind of "around the world in eighty days" venture. And given the expense and difficulty of traveling to so many places in such a short time, it was decided that this time I would travel alone. Perhaps in the future we can do it together. Right now, I'm dedicating my energy to giving talks about the philosophy of my Gurudev, Bhakti Rakshak Shridhar Dev Goswami. So, I'll have to leave the celebrations until I return. This year I will spend Christmas and New Years flying from one destination to the next, while my faithful and loving wife waits for me in Mexico.

Quiet Streets

Sunday afternoon in Kiev, the streets are quiet. The sun comes and goes quickly here, and the light was fading fast. 

We took a look at the Olympic stadium, built to house the international games...

Olympic Stadium

...past a chic Italian restaurant....

An Old-fashioned Kiosk from the good old days

...and paused to take a few tourist pictures at some of the uniquely European artifacts. This is an old-fashioned Kiosk announcing events at the local Opera House. And after a bit of exercise, it was time for our event at the Veda Life center. More on that in the next post. 

Veda Life Yoga in Kiev, Ukaine: translator and computer genius Asutosh and Co-ordinator Ana Dukhnivska, and driver