Vita wanted to go to the new mall in the afternoon so we drove to Kreshchatik and I spent some hours in this new mall. I bought a matryoshka doll for my wife and a few other gifts. When we got back to the flat very late, Alexei surprised me by saying that we were going to the Dacha at 12 am. Here you can see some video of people out in Independence Square on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

At about 1:30 am I was looking at the Milky Way, which is something I don’t see in Kissimmee because of the night glare. I stayed awake a long time looking at the bright stars and I saw a satellite. I was listening to silence. You don’t often hear silence at night anywhere, but this was an exception. I suppose that if I had a few hours of this type of silence that all the noise inside my head might drain slowly away. It’s strange to hear nothing. If you listen hard enough you hear a noise that’s not there. It’s just the blood pressure inside your head – a vague low hum. Rarely can I ever hear silence.