Mr. Traveller

Father Daniel Sysoev and his assistant priest Vladimir Strelbitskiy were shot on November, 19 to 20 in the courtyard of the Church of St. Thomas in Moscow. Father Daniel died, his assistant was seriously injured. Father Daniel Sysoev is well known to the Russian public as one of the greatest missionaries who fought against sects, and conducted a polemic against Islam.  Among the most likely motives for the murder of Daniel Sysoev law enforcers and experts cite a wide missionary activity among non-Orthodox population of Russia, particularly among Muslims.  Previously, father Daniel several times reported on death threats, which he received especially after a dispute with the representative of Islam.  Orthodox and Catholics of Odessa express their sorrow and sympathy to the Orthodox brethren, as well as to the family members of executed priests.

That was a little disappoitment to me. WBC heavyweight champ Vitaly Klitschko has been dominating over Mexican puncher Chris Arreola all 10 rounds, but after that the fight was stopped by Arreola’s trainer Henry Ramirez, who told referee to stop the bout. “He was taking too much punishment,” said Ramirez, who always has been in Arreola’s corner since his professional debut. So, I've been disappointed because of the stoppage. Guys, is it BOXING, or what? Areola has been crying heavily... See the full fight report.

Sometimes people travel to get new impressions, to change the picture of boring everydayness, to improve health, to fill the picture album at least. Sometimes even just to kill time. But my idea is quite a bit different, I like to travel because of meeting new people. I prefer to meet a good conversationist, good like-minded fellow rather than just see the sights. And there is no such suitable cause for getting acquainted with somebody as to meet him during a celebration, at a holiday. So, this Christmas at the beginning of the year we decided to celebrate in Lviv.

I have a friend who is fond of Odessa girls and women. It doesn't concerns anything sexual, but he is a kind of aesthete. He is used to walk down the Odessa streets and makes pictures of beautiful handsome girls and women. This is one of his pictures. According to his opinion, this girl looks like Sophia Loren . I'm not the arguer.

For the top touristic event of Uzbekistan in 2009 I would pick up the celebration of Tashkent 2200 anniversary. So, I'm proud to be approved by several travel analysts. I'm curious, what are the top tourism events of other ex-USSR countries? What is the biggest touristic attraction of USA in 2009? Let's think about.

Most of my foreign friends have been facing some special problems during visiting Ukraine or dooing business here. Most of the former USSR countries - Ukraine, Russia, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and other have similar problems, which should be known for a foreign visitor. It may concern hotel booking, travelling all around the country, communication with locals, appartment rental, dating and so on. So, I'll try to collect here, in the Blog, some special features that can make troubles for the foreign visitirs or even to be a real danger. By the way, I'm open for specific questions if somebody already got them.

Just found a news about Uzbek authorities: Uzbekistan canceling preferences for investors. They canceled tax preferences for investors. I understand, the crisis is on, but such-like dooings by former USSR countries are traditional. I've seeing it previously in Ukraine, but now I see the same stupid thing in Uzbekistan. How it is possible to plan and to accomplish business in such banana republics? Who can answer?