Location: Rus Park, Ukraine

Today is a big day! We had to check out of our apartment at 1pm so we had a few hours to get some last minute sight seeing in before we left Kiev. All 6 of us went back to the same little French restaurant around the corner and spent awhile drinking Raf Coffees and eating breakfast.

I really wanted to go to the more eastern side of the city and see the House of Chimeras. (Note that this is pronounced ‘ki-mare-a’ and not ‘chim-er-a’ as Ian let me believe for a whole 3 days.) It was built between 1901 and 1903 and is covered in all of these crazy animal carvings and statues. Snakes slither down then edges of the house, acting like gutters, while dragons adorn the corners and mermaids perch on the roof. Unfortunately the house was partly under restoration on the outside, and the inside is only available for viewing on Saturday’s. What little we could see was still amazing, and I would definitely make sure to see it on a Saturday whenever I return to Kiev.

We decided to go even further into the eastern side of the city, passing multiple protests along the way. We asked some locals later what was going on and it looks like low pay in the mining industry is an issue here. Eventually we made it to this odd underground mall (it seemed more like an extended subway station) so that Land could pick up these Ukrainian block toys for his children.

We rushed back to the apartment, making it just on time to pack up our stuff and check out. We piled so much into the car that I had bags on my feet, bags on my lap and I took a nap on top of a bag. Bags bags bags!

I woke up to us parking at a restaurant on the middle of the highway called ‘The Meat Factory’, which I thought was entertaining since that’s exactly where I would expect us to stop if 5 guys are making a decision about where to eat. It was so tasty though, the owners were all excited to have Canadians at their restaurant so they kept bringing us food on the house to try and we had an awesome time. Kind of like a team bonding dinner!

We finally arrived at Rus Park, where the tournament is being held. I was jittery and basically vibrating in the back seat. Land made me close my eyes on the drive up the hill until we got to a good view, where I opened my eyes.

Wow. Holy Odins beard (that phrase courtesy of Lake).

There was a giant wooden wall, with towers jutting out on the corners and it felt like I had closed my eyes and stepped through time. There were people in full medieval garb manning the fences, piles of wood ready for bonfires later, wooden walkways leading to a camp and wooden fortress walls. The best part of all though was the list. Old wooden beams surrounded a huge sandy field where we would all be fighting, backdropped by the walls, lined with 29 flags of the countries fighting this year. I immediately pictured myself in 2 days, waiting in the corner for my battle to start.

Oh my god this is real. It’s really happening. I was shaking from excitement (with just a bit of terror).

Our fighter from Alberta, Richard, had an extra bunk in his room that was within the fortress walls so I decided to take advantage of that instead of sleeping in the tent. The room was extremely tiny, but it was dry and bug-free (or less of them anyway…) and I happily dropped my stuff off there.

Along one of the walkways there were over a dozen vendors selling all sorts of medieval wares and armour. I bought a new arming belt from Medieval Extreme, a Peter Pan hat and an IMCF 2019 pin for the hat! There’s a few more pieces I might buy, but I promised myself I wouldn’t get too excited and spend a bunch of money on things I don’t really need.

I am beyond excited and ready for whatever happens. I could lose every single fight and I’d still be beyond proud to be here fighting with my friends.

S

#yxygirlsgohereandthere