In Kyiv city

On our first full day we met my colleague David who is head of School 9. He is married to a lovely Ukrainian lady, Aliona. The night before they had attended the Easter vigil and were then entertaining later in the day so we didn't meet Aliona then. David met us by the Golden Gates, Zolti Vorota. This used to  be the main gate into the city when Kyiv was the capital of Kyvian Rus and had ramparts all around it. Now it stands in splendid isolation but is a popular landmark and museum.

The wooden structures show the shape of the rampart and have viewing platforms built into them. Above the gateway is the chapel. Yarouslavl the wise stands guard outside.

From the viewing platform we could see this building which we walked past each day.It seems a real mixed up muddle of styles.

David took us back to the park of the playground to this stone which is supposed to mark the beginning of the city.

As in any Orthodox city there are lots of churches but there are three famous ones plus the Lavra complex, more which later. St Sofia's Cathedral and St Michael's Cathedral face on another down a long poschad. St Sofia's is the original and oldest church in Kyiv, built in 1037. St Michaels' is a reconstruction as it was destroyed in the thirties as having 'no historical value' despite having been built in 1108.

St Michael's main dorr

The bell tower

The place to collect holy water

The priests conducting a service outside, blessing everyone's Easter produce

Waiting to have their Easter produce blessed



The Holodomor monument (more later)

Entrance to St Sofia's.

The third big church is St Andrey's which was designed by an Italian Bartolomeo Rastrelli and is very ornate. It is placed at the top of the steep street Andrew's Descent.

This was the one church I managed to photograph inside. As it was the week after Easter the sanctuary doors are open so everyone can see inside. Usually they are only open on Sunday and not everyone gets to see inside. As you can see it is very ornate inside.

Kyiv is built on three hills so there is a lot of going up and down. In the metro some stations are so deep that there is a stop half way up the escalators. They seem to be much deeper than the Moscow ones. A fernicualar railway runs from the river to the top of the hill. The train is nothing special but the stations are rather beautiful.

Standing at the lower station

Stained glass arches

View to the river

 

Stained glass window

David had to leave soon after this and we carried on walking. Above the river is a series of parks where we liked to sit and people watch over a cold drink - Kyiv got hotter and hotter while we were there.

This is the friendship arch. Sadly a lot of rock music was being played here and it was rather noisy.

These statues stand behind the arch. Ukraine likes it statues even more than Moscow does!!

We had our evening meal in a 'traditional' Ukrainian restaurant. They got in a muddle with the order and Peter got a very small meal, but the setting was unusual with everyone dressed in costume and musicians playing.

Trip to Kyiv

With the help of Mr Putin and the arrangement of Government holidays our mid term break after four weeks was 12 days long. Plenty of time to have a holiday. We looked at various options but having been ill I went for something easy - a city break and what a good choice. Kyiv as spelt in Ukraine, Kiev for the rest of us.

Having had a few days at home and been out to Koskovo we packed our bags, caught the mid morning flight and landed an hour and a half later. We had a slight hitch when we couldn't change any money in the terminal at the airport. Change terminals and the catch the airport bus.

The metro is a smaller version of the Moscow metro. Same trains and design ideas. Our hotel was small and modern and very comfortable and not far from the city centre.

We found somewhere for a snack lunch - a bikers bar with reasonable pizza and then set off into the city. I won't give you a blow by blow account of what we did but I have put the photos together in some sort of logical order.

The centre of Kyiv is Maiden Nezalshnosti. In Soviet times it was called Revolution Square and was dominated by a huge statue of Lenin.  In 2004 it was the focus for the Orange Revolution. At the weekend and on public holidays it is a vehicle free zone with the road closed so people can walk in comfort.

The area is full of interesting  buildings. This is the house of Chimeras. The statues and figures are amazing.

It was built back in the 19th century in cement which was a revolutionary material then. When it was built it even had a special room for a cow so they could have fresh milk every day.

Down the hill from the house of Chimeras was this puppet theatre with these lovely statues.

They are stunning statues.

We arrived on the Saturday before Easter. I'm afraid we were too lazy to stay up for the Easter vigil which started around 11.30 in the evening and went on for several hours. The Orthodox Church, and I include Ukraine in this, does really have a tradition of chocolate eggs. They are beginning to creep in, but home decorated eggs are the main celebration. Eggs are boiled in water with red onion skins or wrapped in shrink plastic which is pre decorated and shrinks onto the egg as it boils. There were lots of decorated eggs in Kyiv to buy and we found this wonderful display in one of the parks. They were so creative.

Yes every display is made of either hard boiled or blown eggs. They were amazing.

Towards the end of our first day we were heading back to the hotel when we found this amazing playgound. The first part I saw was this pile of cushions and wondered what it was.

There were several piles like this and then we went round the corner and this is what we found. amazing.

This is just a taste of what else we saw. More to come.