Anywhere, as long as I'm in the right neighborhood ...

Thankfully, I'm feeling quite a bit better since my first post today detailing my homesickness.

Earlier, Konstantin had contacted a local rental company to secure an apartment for us and when we got there this afternoon it was simply dreadful.  I mentioned that most buildings look like tenements and this one was no exception.  Plus, it wasn't even in an area near any restaurants and shops.  The actual flat itself was acceptable, but there is no way we would have felt comfortable staying there.  Irina felt the same way.  Having only relied on the rental company, Konstantin had done his best.

So, Vladimir, our driver, took us into the center of town, near Lenin Square, and pointed out some areas where he may know of flats available in the next day or so.  Meanwhile, we decided to book a hotel room for the night.  Vlad drove us to Liverpool Hotel, right nearby, but it was booked.  I'd remembered checking out trip advisor as soon as we'd learned we'd be in Donetsk and an affordable boutique hotel had rated very highly and better than anything else besides the $500/night Donbass Palace.  The site had shown the quaint Azania Suites Hotel all booked, but we decided to stop by anyway.  As luck would have it, they had two rooms available (for us and for Irina) and at a very reasonable price.  The suites are spacious and beautiful, with a mini-kitchen, and the staff is lovely.  They even speak decent English!  If we don't find a flat to our liking tomorrow we are happy to remain here.

When we headed out for dinner, we walked about four blocks toward the city center (the hotel is on a neighborhood side street) and there we found what I had yet to see here in Donetsk -- life in color!!  We had arrived at Pushkin Boulevard - clearly my kind of street.  There is a park running through the center of the boulevard with playgrounds and trees and even a hint of green grass coming up.  Restaurants, shops and cafes line the park and clean, non-tenement-looking apartment buildings border it.  Color and joy and liveliness do exist in Donetsk after all!  I have found my neighborhood away from home.