Monday was our long awaited day in our villages. After rising early, we all departed for various parts of the area. Vladyka JOB went to his village of Vizny Mirosov where he met with a relative who ironically is also an iconographer. He said they knew of a relative in the US that was a bishop but did not know where. The priest and his father, the retired priest, of the Orthodox church there visited with us and then showed us the church and cemeteries. While a few hours in the morning was not enough time we will return again on Friday to visit yet another cemetery.

Off we then went to the villages of Becherov, Chmelova and Stebnik. In Becherov we deliveree a package to the Slosarcik family and were treated to Sheeshki...fried doughnuts...something that my brother and I had not had for over 30 years. Our Baba used to make them and for us it was a huge treat to have them again. She shared the recipe with us. We also peeked in at the Greek Catholic Church which was having a service while we were there.

In Chmelova, we walked in the old cemetery although the church was not open. In Stebnik again, the church was holding a service while we were there. We found my grandmothers land and then we headed off to the Karczma for a beer.

The evening was spent in the Bardjove Square as we sat outside on a beautiful summer evening drinking beer and sampling different kinds of fruit brandy, plum, pear, raspberry and cherry. We started singing and a passerby evidently liked it as he bought a round of Hrushka for all of us.

The singing didnt stop there. We headed back for the pension and continued on in the kitchen singing Rusyn songs until the wee hours of the morning.

Today we are all dragging a little but happy nonetheless. We head off to Levoca shortly. Until then...