I was sent to a monitor the election in a fair sized city on the edge of the Black Sea named Mikolaev or Nikolaev (depending on whether you are speaking Ukrainian or Russian). It took an 11-hour overnight train to get there. Upon arriving, one of the first things I found was the Dixie Barbeque!

Though Santa -- and his costume -- is mostly an American invention, he seems to have become a worldwide figure.

The world's great economic systems (capitalism and communism) all on one door!

When the iron curtain fell, most of Eastern Europe pulled down the statues of Lenin. Not the Ukraine!

Walking along the coast of the Black Sea, I came upon this house or studio or whatever. While I'm told that Che is not well known in these parts, these folks commemorated him well.

Here's my interpreter, Olga, casting her vote. While transparency of the vote counting has been a nagging problem here, transparency of the vote is not. Following Russia's lead, Ukraine uses transparent ballot boxes. Fine, but if the voter does not thoroughly fold his/her ballot, it tends to open up when dropped in the box, and a quick glance by any bystander can determine how one voted.

My main job at this election was to stay all night in the regional election center as the precinct chairs brought back their materials and their record of the results. We had 205 precincts reporting to our center. This is what remains of the regional election commission on about 5 am.

When I was in Kiev after Round 2 (the stolen election), the tent city in the middle of the city's main avenue had just started with a series of pup tents. Though this picture was taken after the height of the "orange revolution" (and two days after the last election), you can see that the tent city had become a more permanent fixture with large tents with chimneys, etc.

These boots -- of which there were several around the perimeter of tent city -- are somewhat of an enigma. According to local sources, they appeared after the wife of Mr. Yanukovich (the government candidate) gave a speech saying that the demonstrators were "American financed...living in American tents and wearing American boots." But whether the boots were erected by Yanukovich supporters or Yushchenko supporters is a mystery to us.

I like the idea of attaching a color to a candidate. It encourages so much more interesting campaign accessorizing than our tired old bumper stickers and buttons. Yushchenko (the poisoned one) was the orange candidate and Kiev was awash in orange scarves, orange hats, orange sweaters, orange ribbons, you name it. Yanukovich's color was blue, and contrary to popular Charlottesville belief, I was not the one making these yahoo-ish color recommendations.

All of Eastern Europe is great for public sculptures. Many, like this one, are quite outstanding.

This is Kiev's Independence Square two days after the election. At the height of the protests, upwards of 250,000 people crammed into the Square and its surrounds -- with round-the-clock speeches, music, and sessions of Parliament broadcast on huge monitors. It was a bit quieter when this picture was shot.

The beautiful and historic Cathedral of St. Sophia in Kiev.

A gorgeous monastery in central Kiev.

Independence Square at night. Mix a revolution with Christmas, throw in an obsession with lights and a dash of commercialism, and here's the result.