A good excuse to eat pancakes.

Maslenitsa (Масленица) is a religious and folk holiday in this part of the world, and marks the last week before the Great Lent (thanks Wikipedia). Traditionally, during Maslenitsa week meat is forbidden, and then after Maslenitsa milk, cheese, eggs and other dairy products aren't allowed - hence why the following week is called the Great Lent I guess.

I think I remember reading something at school about how Maslenitsa also marks the end of the winter, and blini, being 'round and golden' represent the sun which will soon be here to stay, I hope. I don't really think anyone ever needs much of an excuse to eat copious amounts of pancakes, but this week is Maslenitsa week, and practically every single restaurant here is advertising a special blini menu, so I decided to do the right thing and go and get some pancakes!

The restaurant of choice was a traditional Ukrainian restaurant. Offering the various soups and salads synonymous with Ukrainian/Russian cuisine, it seemed like a suitable place to engage with Slavic culture. I enjoyed the slightly over the top decor in the restaurant, and fell in love with the huge floral crowns that the girls working there were wearing.

The best cheeky picture I could get of the floral crowns, ahhh.

The blini menu was in Ukrainian (agh), but luckily it was all easy to understand (rayy!), and I opted for blinis with meat (vague) and mushroom sauce, and blinis with baked apple and ice cream for pudding. The mushroom sauce on the savoury blinis was particularly good - they do know what to do with their mushrooms over here. Sara ordered уха (a fish soup), which I thought was brave, as the last time I saw someone preparing it there was a fish head in the pan. Fortunately, Sara's soup was fish head free, and actually looked really good. It was served in quite a fancy way too!

I've just done a little bit of research, and have learnt that Russian Maslenitsa is celebrated in London. The event is free, and takes place this Saturday (16th March) in Trafalger Square. It involves Russian food, drink and music. The website is here - I suggest you go on it just for the lolz of hearing Boris Johnson attempting to speak some Russian. He makes my poor attempt at an accent sound practically native!

I have definitely refound my confidence when it comes to speaking Russian over the last few days. I found myself talking about gel nail varnish to a lady in a cosmetics shop today. I also bought a train ticket to Kiev, as it now seems very likely that I will be able to go there at the end of the month. I shan't hold my breath though, as things often seem to go wrong, but I have been reassured that everything should be fine. I've been in Odessa a month now, and although I do sometimes miss home, I feel pretty settled and happy. I can definitely think of worse places to be living!