Our trip to Ukraine

I spent my 85th birthday on a Delta Airline plane heading for a Ukraine River Cruise down the Dnieper River. With stops in New York and Paris we finally arrived in the capital city of Kiev. After a city tour we collapsed from jet lag, and slept through our free time. The Kiev temple is about half completed but we didn't have time to visit it.
We passed thru 5 locks going down the river, but it seemed most of the cruise was thru large lakes created by power dams along the river.
The highlights of our shore tours was watching the Cossack riders perform at Zaporozhye, visiting the white palace at Yalta on the Crimea and touring the port city of Odessa. At the white palace we saw where Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin divided up Europe after world war 2.
At Odessa we met 2 Mormon missionaries, Elder Lloyd from Kaysville, UT and a German companion. They took us to the Odessa branch chapel which is in a rented building . The church is renting most of their meeting places in Ukraine. The missionaries are having great success in proselyting and teaching English to the youth. Since Ukraine didn't gain their independence from Russia until 1991 it is slow in breaking away and has a lot of Russian influence in their monuments and language.
The exchange rate was 5 UAH for 1 dollar with prices about the same as at home. The streets are crowded with newer mid size cars. The fuel prices are high through out Europe, at least 5 dollars per gallon. Parking places are at a premium in all the large cities.
The 18 hour flight time was almost too much for us and we expect to cut back on future travels.