Shopping for Souvenirs

I LOVED going shopping for souvenirs near Andreovsky Spusk.  There is a long, steep road that descends from the Andreovsky Cathedral, and the whole road is lined with dozens of venders for every type of souvenir imaginable.  We saw hundreds of paintings, martroshki dolls, hand-carved santas, scarves, painted eggs, painted boxes, and handmade toys.  Everything was hand-carved and hand painted.  We had not planned on buying much, but everything was so beautiful that we could not resist.  We purchased two paintings: a large one of a traditional Ukrainian cottage with a Ukrainian man and woman, and a medium painting of a toddler girl standing in a field of flowers.  The painters themselves were standing on the sidewalk selling their paintings.  We negotiated with each painter to lower the prices.  We bought the cottage painting for $120.  That was Chauncey’s favorite.  My favorite painting was the one of the little girl.  We bought her for 480 hryvna (about 60 dollars).  The painter was asking for 850 grieven, but he had had a bad day selling, so he came down for us. 

One very exciting souvenir we bought was a BYU Football-themed martroshka doll.  It has the faces and names of the football players from last-year’s team painted on it.  The biggest doll is Heaps.  Chauncey is excited to put it in his office because it will display his interest in three of his favorite things: BYU, Ukraine, and football.

We also bought one hand-carved and painted santa.  He looks very Russian/Ukrainian.  There is a beautiful picture of a little girl clutching a teddy bear painted on the front of him. 

We bought hand-made wooden toys for the kids.  We bought a train with a few cars attached by string, an old-fashioned car, and two planes. 

The last souvenir was a set of stacking wooden eggs that is nativity-themed. The first egg has the manger scene, the second has the wise-men, the third has the shepherds, the fourth has a lamb, and the fifth has a dove.

Last but not least, we bought a ton of chocolate to bring home and share with everyone.  The lady at the grocery store looked shocked at the amount of chocolate we were buying when I placed it all on the counter.