Our (Not so) Incredible Journey

 Ten days after Russia declared "war" on Ukraine, we pulled the pin and headed for Poland. Our son and his friend were both on the Territorial Defense Force to protect Zhovti Vody and wanted their young families out of the way of danger so they did not have to worry about them . Our son wanted us to go with them for the same reason. We did not want to go but understood his reasoning.

We left at 5 am Sunday in two cars. Tanya rode with her son and his wife and youngest daughter. I rode with his friend and his wife and two young daughters. We were initially part of a longer convoy led through many check stops by a car with flashing lights. Then we are on our own. The drivers stuck to the back roads and kept well south of the main roads as we headed west and south. At one point we were 15 minutes from the Moldovan border befoire we headed north again

Tanya's oldest granddaughter was already in Poland, having gone to L'viv a couple days before the war to a birthday party. She ended up driving a woman and two young girls to the Polish border and shepherding the girls and herself across, while the woman went back. That took a couple days of living outside with many others waiting to cross and eating buckwheat boiled over and open fire. Once the girls were safe with relatives who had been waiting, our granddaughter went to friends of her father's. So our son was anxious to reunite the family.

We drove 30 hours. One tire on the car I was in kept losing air and needing to be pumped up with a portable pump. It was 6 am on the following day before we found a tire repair shop. By 10 am, my driver was totally exhausted and our son was running a 40C fever. We found a hostel in Kam'yanets-Pod'yls'ki and crashed. Next morning the men were in no shape to continue and needed a few more days rest. Tanya and I took the bus to Khmelnytskyi and from there a train to L'viv where we found another hostel. 

By this time Tanya was sick with a bad cold. So we stayed in L'viv for four more days. Got a visit with a friend who had moved her family from Kyiv for the duration and was working on line. Tanya felt better finally and we went to the train station to go to Poland. The place was packed. Mostly women, children and old people.  It took from 10:30 in the morning until noon before we got on a train. We were sent to the last car, reserved for International passports. Black, brown, and Chinese, mostly students, a few Eastern Europeans. It was another two hours before we left and we stopped for an hour or two at a couple places to let trains ahead of us clear.

We got to Przemysl where we were to clear immigration into Poland and sat. And sat. And sat. Close to midnight they let us off at the very last. Took a few minutes to get our passports stamped and we grabbed a bus to Warsaw. The driver was in no hurry and we stopped at a "market" about half way. Everything was free. Clothes, especially for kids, toys, baby carriages and strollers, and food no end. If you are looking to donate to a good cause, the  World Central Kitchen is always in need of money and volunteers. They have fed 25 million meals to Ukrainians fleeing the war. Including to us.

Everyone on our bus except Tanya and I and another woman got off at the hostel in Warsaw. The hostel was a converted exhibition centre. Imagine several buildings the size of hockey arenas. The woman who was headed to her "dacha" in Egypt told us of a good hotel in the middle of the city so we took a taxi with her to the Hotel Metropol and registered. It was noon Saturday. By this time I was sick with Tanya's cold.

Tried to book KLM Warsaw to Calgary for Wednesday. Credit card was rejected so I got my daughter in Regina to book the tickets using my credit card. That worked. Since we needed a negative  Covid test to get into Canada we walked to the nearest official testing office a few blocks away and both tested positive. So that's what our colds were! We were triple vaxxed so symptoms were mild compared to what they might have been. I got my daughter to move the flight dates 7 days.

Our hotel was on the corner of two main drags in central Warsaw. The day Biden was in town the convoys and sirens went all day and all night passed our hotel.

We sat in our hotel room for a week. Didn't explain why, but we wore our masks to breakfast and shopping for food. Free Wi-Fi was a God-send. Sunday we did the quick at home test. Tanya was negative. Not holding much hope, I went for my test and was still positive. Postponed the flights another week. Got to hate that hotel room. This time I tested negative and we were off for home. Stop over in Amsterdam. Huge airport where a bottle of water and one of juice cost 20 Euros. 

Arrived Calgary in mid afternoon. Tanya was immediately given a three year temporary residency and a three year work permit along with a list of other stuff she heeded to get done and organizations to help. That took a couple hours. My sister and her husband picked us up and we stayed at their place for three days. One of the nice things about recovering from Covid is that you can't catch it nor infect anyone for a few weeks. Everyone is safe from us.

From my sister's we went to my niece's place. She and her two girls and her boyfriend and his three kids were all recovering from Covid. Great visit. My son came in on the weekend to pick us up and take us to Edmonton. He and his partner and her two kids were also recovering from Covid. Great visit. Took a bus from Edmonton to Saskatoon and stayed at my daughter's for two days until my Regina daughter could drive us to Regina. It is hard to persuade people we are not on vacation but are wanting to get settled and sort out our lives. 

In Regina we stayed at a friends place until we could move into an apartment on Tuesday 11th. Finally we could sleep in our own bed and unpack our two suitcases and two backpacks. Tanya was so tired of living out of a suitcase. People have been very generous in donating furniture and other home supplies. Value Village, Regina Buy Sell and, Wal-Mart and Dollarama slowly complete our home. We are more settled and have a routine of sorts, which helps with the stress of missing all we left behind.

Tanya is struggling with her English class. She complained to her instructor who said, You want to learn everything in four days?" She obviously doesn't know Tanya. The only reason Rome wasn't built in a day is because my wife was not in charge.