Inky Marina!

A few days after I arrived in Ukraine, I was finally adjusted to the time difference. Even though I've come to Ukraine many times before, it's always a little tricky getting my body to learn to wake up at the right times.

But that day, I had to be up super early! If you can see the clock on the train station behind me, it was only 5:19 in the morning! We were going on a trip to Sevastopol, Crimea!



We had to arrive at the train station early to make sure we could get our baggage onto the train. We had a whole compartment to our little family. Can you see the train in the window? Ours looked a lot like that.



Our train left a little after six. Soon, we were trundling down the tracks across Ukraine. See the water outside the window? That's the Kakhovka Reservoir. It's 2,155 square kilometers- huge! It was created in 1956.



One of the best parts of riding the train in Ukraine is the sleeper bunks. I got my own little bunk with a blue stripey mattress and pillow.

Since we had left for the train station so early in the morning, I decided to sleep for a few hours. After all- it's a 12 hour ride to Sevastopol!


When I woke up, it was raining. Apparently a cool rain is the best weather for train travel. If it's too hot or too cold, it can be a really uncomfortable trip.

I realized we had already crossed into Crimea. Crimea is a peninsula that juts from the south of Ukraine into the Black Sea. It's famous for its mountains and caves. I think it's one of the most beautiful places in the world.



Finally, as evening set in, we pulled into the train station in Sevastopol! My great-grandma was waiting on the platform and waving at me. It was time to go to her flat and eat lots of food and drink lots of hot, hot tea!