Signs of peace, war and ingenuity

As always, the war feels very far away in these places of utter peace and tranquility, which we always seem to find on our aid journeys. It seems crazy and almost impossible that the war could be happening at all. But because we still had Dnipro as the destination on our air raid alert App, we still got the warnings of potential shelling and missile attacks in that area, which were a reality check.

We always have plenty to reflect on after our aid runs and there is always something different. This time, there was the ingenuity of people, in the midst of the destruction and cruelty that this country is suffering. For example, this roadside coffee bar, made out of a converted 4x4 pickup, complete with expresso machine, which (in our opinion) made the best coffee, so far, in Ukraine...
And this is a fisherman's hut by a lake. You have to look closely - the entire palm tree and one wall is made from recycled green and brown plastic bottles (indicating more beer drunk than water!)...
And then there is the timelessness of some scenes...
... which brings us Vinnytsia, where we are over-nighting on our return journey to Lviv. We've stayed in Vinnytsia a couple of times, but it was Winter -  very dark and very cold. Now it is warm and the days are longer, so we have the opportunity to explore. And in a large, tree-filled park we found the most amazing fun fair, which seemed not to have changed since the 1950s. In fact, it could have been a film set! Bob may feel the need to devote tomorrow's blog to this fair, but this is a sneak preview... 
The sadness and reality of Putin's war is that Vinnytsia is amongst the many places, far from the frontline, that has suffered attacks on civilians, including a missile strike on the city in July 2022, which killed 28 people, including 3 children. 

This was the view from our hotel window at sunset...

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