More Adventures in Kyiv

Still suffering from jet lag and still sore from yesterday's walking, I slept late and stayed in most of the day today. Around 3:30 I went out, thinking I would head over to Lypky, a district which is supposed to contain numerous old mansions including the House of Chimeras. As has happened to me so repeatedly on this trip, though, I got a little lost. I found myself near Kyiv University. That was where this building caught my eye-- turns out it is the building of the National Bank-- gorgeous!

They just don't build them like that in the U.S. Although I did not find the House of Chimeras (today), I did achieve another (possibly more important) goal-- I found a grocery store, and was able to procure the necessary items for surviving the next two days until I go to Vinnytsia. I didn't want to buy a lot of food because I will have to take everything on the train on Monday. Instead, I figured I could eat out for lunch and dinner, and just got some chocolate, tea, and yogurt for the next two days.

Best of all, I was reunited with my long-lost love-- Svitoch chocolate. Words cannot express the joy I felt upon seeing it in the store. This chocolate is made in L'viv, and it is so, so good. My favorite is the white chocolate coconut, but as you can see I also purchased some of the tiramisu and raisin nut varieties. With the groceries now in my bag, I realized that I needed to head back to my apartment to refrigerate them, since I doubted that the yogurt would last otherwise. On the way back, I stopped to take some more pictures of St. Oleksandr's (below) and St. Sofia's.

These two churches are on either end of St. Sofia's square, a huge plaza lined with beautiful buildings on one side and a park on the other.

I need to go back to St. Sofia's tomorrow-- none of my pictures of that end of the square came out because of the sun setting behind it. I had similar difficulty taking pictures of the Opera House (below), which is right behind my apartment building.

I topped off the evening with dinner with my friend Mykola, one of my students from the English Summer School two years ago. He took me to a restaurant on the Khreschatyk, a traditional Ukrainian cafeteria-style restaurant with good prices. It was a delicious dinner. I helped him practice his English and he showed me pictures of his little baby, Danimir. I was waiting on the Maydan Nezalezhnosti-- the main square-- for Mykola, near the "Three Heroes" fountain (pictured below), when some woman came up to me and asked for directions in Russian. I only understood about a third of what she said, so I had to laugh sheepishly and answer "Ya ne znayoo" (I don't know.) An amusing turn of events, to be sure. I considered it a great accomplishment to be mistaken for a Ukrainian woman, since they all look like models-- admittedly, an even greater accomplishment would have been to be able to understand her and answer her in Russian! Someday.

Now it's time to put my feet up and drink some tea while watching Raiders of the Lost Ark in Russian. More adventures tomorrow.

Kyiv: The Magical Medieval City

Kyiv is a sprawling, magical palace of a city. After only my first day navigating and exploring (and getting lost in) its winding and hilly streets, I can safely rank it among the most beautiful cities I've ever visited. Imagine, if you can, a city on the scale of New York or Chicago... built more than a thousand years before those cities (and rebuilt a few times since then). Its streets, its buildings, its statues and churches, are nothing short of awe-inspiring. My apartment, provided by Teren Plus for a mere 500 hryvnia (about $62) per night, is located quite close to the city center.

Kiev's main street, called the Khreschatyk, is entirely lined with majestic buildings. According to my trusty Lonely Planet Guide, most of these buildings were booby-trapped during WWII to prevent German soldiers from entering, and as a result most of it had to be rebuilt. The mind-boggling thing about the Khreschatyk is its sheer scale. Enormous beautifully designed and intricately carved buildings line both sides of the street. On weekends, this street is closed to automobile traffic-- something I will definitely return for!

After finding my way (using a very circuitous route) to the Ukrainian Fulbright office, I met up with Boris, who is a fellow Ukrainian Fulbrighter. We stopped for "business lunch" at a small cafe-- an all-inclusive lunch consisting of soup, "salat" (Ukrainian version of salad-- this one was made of cucumbers, green onions, and cucumber with sour cream on top), mashed potatoes, and chicken liver. I blame Boris for that one-- I should have probably realized that his translation wasn't quite accurate instead of taking his word for it :) After lunch we wandered up the Khreschatyk, to the park at its end, Park Askoldova Mohyla. There we found the Friendship Monument which celebrates the "uniting" of Russia and Ukraine...

...and beyond that, a spectacular view overlooking the Dniper River.

We discovered that this park also houses the Devil's Bridge. Traditionally, newly married couples will affix a lock to this bridge as a symbol of love.

On the way back to the office, we passed the famous Freedom Monument at the Khreschatyk's center.

To turn around and look the other way from the statue, however, also yielded a beautiful view of the city's beautiful yet imposing Soviet-style architecture:

Later, on my way back to my apartment, I chanced upon some beautiful churches.

By the time I returned home, my feet hurt so much I was unable to follow my original plan of going to the grocery store for some food-- so instead I ordered a pizza from Celentano. Ukrainian pizza is delicious-- they use Gouda cheese in with the Mozzarella-- Yum, yum! After all the miles I walked, I was so hungry I ate over half the pizza! Now it's time to kick up for a while so that I have the energy to go back out and do it all again tomorrow!