Well, you had to realize that at some point on this adventure I was going to try the local customary drink called Horilka and Friday night I got my chance. Cheryl and Kailash's client, Oleksii has been very generous to our team - he toured with us at Pyrohiv (Pirogov as we pronounce it) the first weekend we were here. If you have forgotten, it is an outdoor museum dedicated to depicting historical folk life and culture in Ukraine. On Friday night he extended an invitation to the team to attend a traditional Ukrainian restaurant. Cheryl, Kailash, Paul, and I took him up on his offer and away we went. 
As you arrive at the restaurant you are greeted by a woman in traditional attire carrying a tray of horilka on one side and cherry wine on the other. Hmmm.... not even through the door and we are already doing shots! Oh this is going to be interesting. We sat down in a beautifully decorated room and were entertained by traditional folk music. I have another video but of course it will take too long to load so you'll need to wait till I get back home. 
Anyhow...we asked Oleksii to order for us some traditional food (which didn't disappoint) and he asked if any of us would like to partake in a bottle of horilka with him. Cheryl and Kailash don't drink so that left Paul and I. Sure we said, how bad could it be?
Well, we quickly discovered that there are three rules to horilka - the first, once a bottle of horilka is opened, you have to finish it, second, you don't sip it, you shoot it like a shot of tequila, and third, you must make a toast for each shot. Hmmm....as you can tell by my face this is going to be harder then it looks; the last time I did shots, I was still in the Air Force (but my hair looks nice). I am proud to say I started off the toasts with the one from my wedding (sorry if you weren't there to hear it) and equally proud that I was still vertical after not one, but two bottles of horilka. I can honestly say it will be a very long, long time before I EVER do another shot of anything and not sure how long the bottle of horilka I bought to bring home with me will get opened and mixed with A LOT of orange juice.
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