UPDATE (Feb 2017): I see that the link below isn’t working anymore. However, the port video can be found here: https://vimeo.com/85023942. Don’t know about the others; I’ll need to keep my eyes open.

Still in the process of getting things wrapped for my trip to Ukraine — V is already there — and came across this mini-site on the main news site of Mariupol. The company does drone (and other) photography and there’s a photo gallery and a couple sample videos on the page. (The video about the port is mostly advertising, but still kind of interesting.)

I’ve seen most of the places in the gallery and the first drone video. Mariupol really is a pretty city, especially by air, and I encourage people to check it out. The link is http://aerocam.0629.com.ua/.

I will be seeing a bit of Mariupol in this trip, which is kind of a change of plans from before. Initially, the plan was to visit a part of Ukraine I hadn’t seen before, staying at a spa/resort southwest of Kiev. Then things changed, and instead we’ll be going to Berdyansk, which is about 90 bus-minutes west of Mariupol. I think that V wanted us to be somewhere a little closer to family, making the possibilities of little get-togethers a bit easier.

In case you were wondering — especially since I haven’t been ranting about it recently — there is still fighting going on around and near Mariupol. One of the hotspots is only about 13 miles away from the city, and I occasionally read stories about Russian plans to seize Berdyansk and then put the squeeze on Mariupol. The overall plan for Russia is to create a land passage to the Crimean peninsula, which they militarily annexed in 2014; Mariupol is right in the middle of that land passage plan.

Whenever V is in Mariupol — where she’s now been for a month — I have been very nervous for her safety. While the city remains relatively safe, it is still right on the front lines of this war. I confess that I’m a bit nervous for my own travel there as well, but I’m hopeful that I can make it without incident, and I am definitely looking forward to seeing V again. I think it will make us both feel a little better, despite the situation in the region.