Starting my stay with Troyanda's tour

I was supposed to tour Ukraine with my dance group, Troyanda Ukrainian Dance Ensemble, in 2014, but because of the Euromaidan Revolution, the tour was cancelled. Visiting Ukraine has been on our minds since, and this year we made the trip happen. And conveniently, our tour ended just days before the yearlong program started.

I wrote about the 15-day tour at troyanda.com/blog, so check that out for more details of what we did and what we saw, but below are some photo highlights from the trip. We stayed in Lviv, the Carpathian Mountains, Zhytomyr, Chernivtsi, and Kyiv but also made stops in other cities and villages, including Kolomyia and Mamaivtsi.

Shevchenkivs'kyi Hai open-air museum in Lviv had a few storks fenced in.

This is the lizhnyk (Hutsul wool blanket) I had my eye on. I figured it may be too difficult to carry around with me for a year, but I'll buy one when I'm back in the Carpathian Mountains during Christmastime.

Samantha Luczenczyn, a Troyanda dancer, met up with some family early on in the trip. One of her relatives surprised her in Kolomyia at the Pysanka Museum.

In the Carpathian Mountains, we attended a mock Hutsul wedding. They sang to us, fed us, and danced with us in true Ukrainian fashion.

Troyanda, along with some friends, fittingly danced Arkan in the Carpathian Mountains.

“Those who are supporting military occupation of Ukraine are not welcome at the Cossack Settlement Mamjeva Sloboda.”