Kyiv Part 1
It seems that my love and desire to see and learn more about Eastern Europe will never quite be satisfied. After just a couple of days at home, I was on the move again. We did the drive to Heathrow very early in the morning, and after many tears, and my heart telling me that actually I needed to stay in England and be with James, I boarded a plane to Kyiv, the glorious capital of Ukraine.
There is something amazing about landing in a foreign country. The air feels different, and instantly, the welcoming Cyrillic appears. And as it happens, Ukraine was just getting ready to show me, and little did I realise, I was about to fall in love with it.
I landed in Boryspil airport, and since there's no other way to get to Kyiv (A train line is under construction, no idea when it will be open) so you'll need the Skybus (number 322). Okay so it was packed beyond belief and isn't quite the most welcoming first hour of Ukraine you will have. It stops just outside Kharkivska metro station, before heading into the city centre. The traffic in Kyiv can be bad, so you may want to consider leaving the bus here and using the metro into town. Luckily for me, my hostel was in the Pozniaky district, which seemed nice enough to me (until I mentioned it to a Spanish guy I met in Varna much later on, who told me horror stories of the time when he lived there with his Ukrainian girlfriend. But I dropped off my bags, and made my way to explore Kyiv.
Kyiv is full of little quirky things, from sculptures and street art, to glorious buildings and gardens. Its also a fairly green city, and has genuine charm, mixed with a real in your face kind of soviet brutalism. But thats one of the reasons I came!
I think the first thing I did was the national museum of Ukraine. I was eager to learn more about one of Europe's largest, and possibly most untamed countries. The museum was interesting, however it suffered from a lack of translations, and was in dire need of some updating. It had some very interesting exhibits, and also told me a little bit about the Cucuteni culture, something I was to learn a lot more about in Iasi, Romania. There was also an exhibition about the war in eastern Ukraine, as well as information about Ukraine since it's return to independence in 1991, again, all lacking translation which was a shame.
The area around the museum was fabulous. There was a sculpture park nearby, as well as the Andriivs'kyi descent, which hosted many people selling beautiful little souvenirs and gifts. I brought a little glass fridge magnet there, and the place felt very exciting and fresh. There was also a beautiful church/cathedral at the top of the hill. Eastern Orthodox churches are brightly coloured, onion domed and full of light, and really do shine in the distance, thanks to their golden roofs.
As you can see, parking in Kyiv is a nightmare. It is one of those cities where it is just not worth bringing or hiring a car. You'll spend more time stuck in jams or unable to find a space than you will exploring. Plus, the Kyiv metro is great, cheap, fairly easy to use and rather charming, it will take you pretty much anywhere you would like to go to.
The Kyiv metro is great fun. It's similar to other former Soviet metros, but is very similar to the Yerevan metro, in that it is a token based system. You literally queue up, either for a machine, or for a sour faced elderly Ukrainian woman, who you hand 5 Hryvnia to, and she tosses you a little blue token, which you put into the turnstile in which to pass. While I was there, 5 Hryvnia equalled about 17 Pence (GBP), which I was pretty amazed by. The stations are kept beautifully clean, and some are decorated exquisitely. Also, it's worth visiting Arselna station, it's the worlds deepest metro station, and it takes you around 5 minutes and two long escalator rides to get there!
Its a shame, as with most eastern European cities, that so much was lost in the second world war. Kyiv lost much of its heritage, although there does seem to be a movement to restore and preserve what is left. The golden gate is one of them. An impressive reconstruction, it was originally one of the main gatehouses for the walled city during the times of the Kyivian Rus. It wasn't much to enter, and there's not masses of the original one left, but you do get a feel for it, so it's worth a trip there to see.
(Excuse the trolleybus wires!)
Okay, so with these pictures I'm sort of just trying to show you how much of the old walls are left, and also how this amazing structure is built on top of them, just without actually touching them!
Okay, so there was absolutly no translation with this. And seeing the look of confusion on the other peoples faces, the sign in Ukrainian actually explained very little. Ah, the joys of travelling!
There is something amazing about landing in a foreign country. The air feels different, and instantly, the welcoming Cyrillic appears. And as it happens, Ukraine was just getting ready to show me, and little did I realise, I was about to fall in love with it.
I landed in Boryspil airport, and since there's no other way to get to Kyiv (A train line is under construction, no idea when it will be open) so you'll need the Skybus (number 322). Okay so it was packed beyond belief and isn't quite the most welcoming first hour of Ukraine you will have. It stops just outside Kharkivska metro station, before heading into the city centre. The traffic in Kyiv can be bad, so you may want to consider leaving the bus here and using the metro into town. Luckily for me, my hostel was in the Pozniaky district, which seemed nice enough to me (until I mentioned it to a Spanish guy I met in Varna much later on, who told me horror stories of the time when he lived there with his Ukrainian girlfriend. But I dropped off my bags, and made my way to explore Kyiv.
Kyiv is full of little quirky things, from sculptures and street art, to glorious buildings and gardens. Its also a fairly green city, and has genuine charm, mixed with a real in your face kind of soviet brutalism. But thats one of the reasons I came!
I think the first thing I did was the national museum of Ukraine. I was eager to learn more about one of Europe's largest, and possibly most untamed countries. The museum was interesting, however it suffered from a lack of translations, and was in dire need of some updating. It had some very interesting exhibits, and also told me a little bit about the Cucuteni culture, something I was to learn a lot more about in Iasi, Romania. There was also an exhibition about the war in eastern Ukraine, as well as information about Ukraine since it's return to independence in 1991, again, all lacking translation which was a shame.
The area around the museum was fabulous. There was a sculpture park nearby, as well as the Andriivs'kyi descent, which hosted many people selling beautiful little souvenirs and gifts. I brought a little glass fridge magnet there, and the place felt very exciting and fresh. There was also a beautiful church/cathedral at the top of the hill. Eastern Orthodox churches are brightly coloured, onion domed and full of light, and really do shine in the distance, thanks to their golden roofs.
The Kyiv metro is great fun. It's similar to other former Soviet metros, but is very similar to the Yerevan metro, in that it is a token based system. You literally queue up, either for a machine, or for a sour faced elderly Ukrainian woman, who you hand 5 Hryvnia to, and she tosses you a little blue token, which you put into the turnstile in which to pass. While I was there, 5 Hryvnia equalled about 17 Pence (GBP), which I was pretty amazed by. The stations are kept beautifully clean, and some are decorated exquisitely. Also, it's worth visiting Arselna station, it's the worlds deepest metro station, and it takes you around 5 minutes and two long escalator rides to get there!
Its a shame, as with most eastern European cities, that so much was lost in the second world war. Kyiv lost much of its heritage, although there does seem to be a movement to restore and preserve what is left. The golden gate is one of them. An impressive reconstruction, it was originally one of the main gatehouses for the walled city during the times of the Kyivian Rus. It wasn't much to enter, and there's not masses of the original one left, but you do get a feel for it, so it's worth a trip there to see.
Okay, so there was absolutly no translation with this. And seeing the look of confusion on the other peoples faces, the sign in Ukrainian actually explained very little. Ah, the joys of travelling!
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