Final Stretch Home

For the past two days we have just been traveling.
From Kiev, back to Amsterdam, back to Copenhagen.  Stayed the night in Copenhagen and then made our way to Iceland and back to the states!  AMERICA!  I love traveling, but it is nice to be back home.

R: Goodbye Ukraine  L: Goodbye Amsterdam

In Icleand - I look like death.

Before we left Kiev, I met up with another one of my companions who lives in Kiev - Anastasia!! That was super fun to meet up with her before we left :)

On our flight from Kiev to Amsterdam, a girl sat down next to us.  She took one look at us and said, "Hello".  She knew we weren't Russian or Ukrainian.  But then once we were all settled I turned to her and started speaking Russian to her - she was super surprised that we knew how to speak Russian!  We explained that we had lived in Russia for 1 1/2 years.  We soon discovered that she is from St. Petersburg and we couldn't get over our excitement because that's where we lived!
It was a fun flight to Amsterdam :)

And overall it was a great trip to Ukraine for Ksenia's sealing!  Such a great time and it was so wonderful seeing her again!

Sealing Day of Ksenia & Michael!

Wedding day!!!
We went to the temple in the morning.  It is so beautiful inside!!  I loved it!

The sealing was wonderful - Ksenia and Misha are now sealed together for time and all eternity!  They are so cute!

After the sealing, we went to the guest house where we had a little luncheon.

Then Lisa and I explored Kiev some more with Boris, our new friend from Hungary!  I stocked up on more candy and Super Kontiki!!! SOOO GOOOD!!!!  I'm pretty sure my backpack is more filled with candy than anything else! haha!

Us at the train station - mostly because that's where Boris was leaving from that evening.

Inside the station - cool chandeliers!

We didn't stay out too late, because we had to go home and pack up and be ready to leave in the morning to the airport.

Speaking Russian, Chocolate, and Friends...Some of My Favorite Things

Yesterday I didn't post because all we did was travel and there wasn't much to say.  Copenhagen to Amsterdam to Kiev, Ukraine.

It has been SO nice to be able to speak Russian again!!!  I can't even begin to explain how much I missed it!  It is fantastic :)
Yesterday we got to Kiev and made our way to the hotel.  Which was actually quite a struggle.  But a very nice marshrutka man helped us get there!  Then we checked in and were so tired that we just stayed in and Lisa fell asleep early.  But we did go to the hotel diner and MAN their food is great.  Ukrainian food is DELICIOUS.  Reminds me of Russia again - and it is SO GOOD!

Our hotel is super close to the temple!  We can see it from our windows!!  And they provided us with little тарочки (slippers) - very Russian. :)

Ukraine feels a lot like Russia!  The buildings look the same, marshrutkas, street vendors, and the biggest thing - everyone is speaking RUSSIAN.  Ah.  I love it.

The money looks really cool here too!

Today, before Ksenia got in, Lisa and I explored the city a little bit.  We went to Майдан Незалежності (Independence Square), which is one of the city's main squares.

As soon as we started taking pictures, some people came up to us asking if we'd like some pigeons on us to take pictures with and before we knew it, we had pigeons on our heads and on our arms....so we took some pictures of course.

Then Ksenia called and said she just got to the temple hotel!  So we raced back to the temple and found her.  The most happy reunion EVER!!  I couldn't believe that she was here and I was here and we were all together again!  I had missed her terribly.

We went to lunch, and then after lunch we went back into the city where we walked all around Kiev seeing the cathedrals and going into candy/chocolate shops. :)  I have missed this chocolate and candy!  I stocked up!

 This place is perfect for someone with a sweet tooth like mine ♥

 Wandering around!

Собор святої Софії (Saint Sophia's Cathedral).  The cathedral is one of the city's best known landmarks and the first heritage site in Ukraine to be inscribed on the World Heritage List.

Києво-Михайлівський Золотоверхий чоловічий монастир (St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery).  It is a functioning monastery in Kieve and located right on the bank of the Dnieper River.

After wandering around for the day, we went back to the temple guest housing where we had a small dinner and hung out and had a tiny bachelorette party for Ksenia.

Then Lisa and I made our way back to our hotel to get some shut eye.

Temple on our way home. SO BEAUTIFUL.

Copenhagen Temple and Dragør

Another chill day in the books.  But definitely one of our highlighted days!

We got to go to the Copenhagen temple!!!!!!!  As much as I love going inside all these old castles, the LDS temples are still my favorite places to visit - no matter where I am.  I loved it.

After the temple we met up with Tina again and she took us to a little town she likes to visit occasionally to take walks.  Dragør.  It has a very intimate and friendly feel to it.  And it was so pretty! 

 So quaint ♥

A cute little Danish guy statue

We stopped at a bakery first.  Danish pastries are a MUST HAVE.  SO delicious.

Then made our way towards the sea.

As it was getting later, we all got back on the bus and headed back to Copenhagen where we said our goodbyes to Tina :(

We went to dinner and then went home to pack. 

Dinner at Madklubben Vesterbro - a nice sit down resturant

Tomorrow we head out to Ukraine!

Making New Friends

Meet our cat.  He hangs around our window a lot.  Cute kitty :)

Today we stayed in Copenhagen and toured around a bit.  It was bitterly cold and windy and started raining in the afternoon.  But we made the most out of our day.
First stop: Rosenborg Castle.  The Rosenborg castle was built in in 1606-34 by Christian IV and holds the Danish Crown Jewels and Royal Regalia.

The Throne Room! With lions even!

 Danish Crown Jewels

While we were in the treasury, someone/something triggered the alarm.  So we got stuck down there for a good 20 minutes because security wouldn't let anyone leave!  They had to make sure nothing was stolen. Turns out it was just a baby that had triggered the alarm somehow.

It is quite a magnificent castle!

Then we made our way to the Little Mermaid Statue.

Then we ran into a cool church and beyond the church a neat windmill at the Kastellet (The Citadel)!  Pretty neat!  Kastellet is one of the best preserved star fortresses in Northern Europe.

After that, we visited my friend's mom, Tina, for dinner.  She was such a great hostess and we absolutely loved spending time with her!  She fed us dinner and then we all went to a Stake Concert at the church building that evening.  It was fun to meet more members in the area and get to know Tina more!

Dinner at Tina's :)

On our way to the Stake Concert with Tina :)

On the way to Tina's place, we stopped in a little corner store.  And I found the most incredible surprise!  So, while I was on my mission in Russia, there was this cereal bar that I found in my last transfer that I absolutely LOVED and would buy constantly!  More than chocolate bars (for me that is a HUGE deal!).  I hadn't had it in almost 3 years....and we found those EXACT CEREAL BARS in this corner store!  So of course I splurged and got some.  And lemme tell ya - they were still JUST AS GOOD.  I wish they had them in the United States!

And that is a wrap of our day!  Not a ton, but it was great.