First Days in Vinnytsia

Okay, so imagine this. Just woke up in the morning, wandered out to the kitchen for some breakfast. Looked out the window, and saw this:

The woman next door was on her roof, picking grapes. And to think the U.S. believes itself so cutting-edge on the topic of urban gardening! :P

The only important task for today was to return to the apartment rental agency so to pay the remainder of my rent and fees, and to sign the lease. All successfully completed, I'm glad to say. On the way back, I wandered through my favorite park, which is just about a block away from my apartment. It's not the biggest park in the city, or the main park, but I like it the most of the ones I've seen so far.

The atmosphere is very relaxed and there are always people sitting on the benches and around the fountain, drinking coffee, eating ice cream, chatting, and so on. Since there were other tourists there today, I didn't feel super self-conscious about taking a few photos.

Background: the famous Vinnytsia Clock Tower. There's a museum inside, which I'll have to visit someday.
Foreground: These statues are spaced throughout the park. I'm told that if you throw a coin into the right spot, they play music, but I am not sure how this magic works.

Right in front of the clock tower, Some perspective street art! Pretty neat, I'd never seen one in person before.

Here's what it looks like from the side:

The park also houses a monument of classic Soviet proportions, to the soldiers who died in World War II. It's complete with an actual fire that actually burns.

(I said there were other tourists, didn't I?)

That was the extent of my adventures today; the rest of the afternoon was spent catching up on online business (registering for an absentee ballot, for example) that I was unable to take care of before I had internet access. Tomorrow, I'm going out with Tanya and her husband. Tonight, though, it's time to settle in with some tea and my writing.

Do your tea cookies love you? Because mine do. :o)