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!