Day 10

It is Saturday here and we are not able to visit the boys on the weekend. It stinks, but we must follow the rules for one more week. We decided to venture out a little bit and take some pictures of the city and see if we could find some souveniers for the boys...something from the city in which they were born for a keepsake for them. There is a flea market near us that had a few things. However, we couldn't find one soul that spoke English...thus making it very hard to make a purchase. We then walked throughout the city. We found a chocolate factory, again trying to make a purhase was very difficult. We weren't able to get exactly what we wanted because they had no clue what we were trying to say, but we were able to get a couple of things to bring home.
We spent at least 3 hours just walking around and let me tell you...it was cold. I foolishly didn't wear anything under my jeans because I haven't had a problem with the cold thus far. It was 14 degrees here today....and I was cold.

The city here is very interesting. It has a really nice charm that kinda grows on you. It is a very old city and it has a very rich history. You can hear music all along the streets as you walk. There are some very beautiful old building, some very old dilapitated buildings and then some newer more modern buildings. The woman here are beautiful. Majority of them are covered in very expensive looking fur coats and hats. Most of the men are either in suits or more trendy looking outfits. I could sit on a bench and people watch here all day.





One more week until our court decree goes into effect and we will have the boys here with us and can post pictures. Until then, we are not allowed to post any pictures. I do have another sneak peek: Yes...they are in tights and girly shoes, but this is all that they have. All the children that we have seen in the orphanage wear the same thing. Once we get them, rest assured their days of flowery sandals will be long gone. I just thought this picture was precious.

Here are a few pics of the city:

This is a church that we pass on the way to the orphanage. I love how ornate the churches are here. Most of the churches that we have seen are this beautiful.





This is the view from our apartment window.



This is another church that is here in the city.



And another church in the city.





This is a monument that was put up on the 375th anniversary of the city.