Ukraine, a look back

I'm back in the US, having survived an arduous journey home. But I would do it again in a moment to return to a land I very quickly fell in love with. Ukraine is not perfect, it has its faults and foibles, as did my trip, but in the end, I have come away with an appreciation for a unique and beautiful culture and country. I want to share some of my favorite moments in pictures, though my photographs are a very poor representation of the wonder that is Ukraine.

The Кафе Хауз (Coffee House), one of many in Kiev, where I had my first meal in Ukraine, and a favorite spot of mine, being only 3 blocks from my apartment. Very courteous and friendly staff, a good first impression of the country.

Mikhailivksy, or St. Michael's, was my favorite church in Kiev. I'm not sure why, maybe because I could see my character loving it as a child, maybe because it was destroyed prior to World War II and rebuilt after the fall of the Soviet Union, maybe just because it's so beautiful.

Irina Romanovna's kitchen (Ania's mother), where I thoroughly enjoyed my first true Ukrainian meal. I promised I would not publicly post photos of the family, but I hope she does not mind a photo of her kitchen and the family kitty, Teddy.

One of my favorite places in Ukraine, this unassuming building is home to the Russian bath, or sauna, to which I alluded earlier in my blog. I did make a second voyage to worship at the altar of heat and sweat, and the 2nd time around was just as intense and enjoyable as the first, and I made even more friends.

A Kiev Metro station. I believe this is the station nearest my apartment, called Golden Gate. I realize choosing a Metro station as a favorite memory is a little odd, but the Metro, probably more than any other single location, reminded me of the courtesy and character of Ukraine.

Pirogovo, an excellent re-creation of country life in Ukraine, bringing to the south side of Kiev the spirit of the entire nation.

Kiev Sea, a beautiful area, giving me a feel for the natural side of Ukraine. Additionally, it reminds me of the friendships I made, and hope to keep for the rest of my life.

And finally, Ania and Tarac, the two people who, more than any other, made my visit such a wonderful success. Particularly Ania, who found time for a stranger from a strange land, who not only provided tours in all sorts of conditions, but befriended me as well and made me feel welcome. Thank you, Ania, and thank you both for your friendship and your help. I will never forget you or Ukraine.

Kiev Sea

Nearly all of my time in Ukraine was spent in Kiev. It is a beautiful city, and I love the people and the atmosphere and the feel, but I also wanted to explore outside the city environs. Ideally, I would have liked to travel to Uman and Bila Tserkva, but the timing was not conducive to those trips.

However, I had the opportunity, thanks to Ania and Tarac, to visit the countryside of Ukraine, which proved to be a high point of my visit. Kiev Sea (or Киевском море) is a man-made reservoir north of Kiev, but the scenery is gorgeous nevertheless. I won't make individual comments on the photos, just show you some of the beauty.

And of course, there's always the exception. This is yours truly with my friend, Ania, and her boyfriend's machina (car), an awesome Ukrainian vehicle, a Zaz 968M (Zaporozhets Automobile Manufacturer, located near Zaporizhia, considered a stronghold of Cossacks in their heyday). Tarac even let me drive his baby a little, and I believe Ania took some photos of me behind the wheel.

As I said, some nice pics of a very scenic area, and a chance for me to see and feel the Ukrainian countryside, which I will never forget.

Podil

Hi all,

It's been a few days since my last entry. It's been very chilly here in Kiev, down to about -5 C last night, but finally warmer today. I've been to Podil, which is the oldest part of Kiev, 3 times now, twice with Ania, and today on my own. I don't have a lot of pictures considering how much I've been there, but I have a few to share:) My interest in Podil, besides being a beautiful part of Kiev, is that I think that's where my character lived the first 10 years of her life. So I'm trying to get a feel for the atmosphere of the area, and find parks, etc, that she may have frequented.

Here is a shot of one of the oldest universities in Ukraine, the National University of Kiev-Mohyla Academy.

One of 2 convents in Podil, this is Florivsky Convent, which has been in existence since the 18th century.

A monument to Hrihorii Skovoroda, a Ukrainian philosopher who was educated at the Kiev-Mohyla Academy. The monument is in Kontractor Plosha (square).  According to Ania, this was a popular location to meet friends in Podil, because of it's central and obvious location. I will probably have it be a focal point for my character as well.

Another view of Florisky Convent.

Finally, a shot from inside the Funicular, open since 1905, an electric railway connecting Podil with the upper part of Kiev.

Pirogovo

Yesterday I visited a very interesting site on the south side of Kiev, which I'd been looking forward to seeing. Lena, who I've been in contact with on Facebook, braved some pretty nasty weather to show me buildings and houses from different areas of Ukraine. I've got several pictures, but one of the overall impressions I really liked about Pirogovo, was in the attention to detail. The buildings had been brought from all over Ukraine, transported intact, but were not haphazardly jumbled together, or jammed into a small area. Each region had its own spacious area, to reflect as accurately as possible how a typical village may have been organized. There were usually at least a couple of examples of the architecture from each region, along with a number of churches.

One topic which Lena and I discussed related to the importance of religion, particularly in the village. The church was not only a place to worship, but also a gathering place, and a social place for the village. Even today, I see signs of reverence for and homage paid to religion, even among non-believers. In the US we have religious fanatics, and we have 'Sunday' Christians, and everything in between, but I don't see that day-to-day acknowledgment of religion as a part of life. Not fanatical, not 'beat-you-over-the-head' with their beliefs, but the typically quiet reserved Ukrainian observation of traditions. Maybe it's just all the beautiful churches here in Kiev, who knows:)

The building on the right is I believe the oldest structure in Pirogovo. It was built in 1587, and I think it was from the Carpathians, though I am not positive. One disclaimer, I took shots of buildings from all of the regions, but I didn't think to mark them, and about halfway through the tour, I lost my writing instrument in a place I was NOT about to go fishing for it.

I like this shot as it is representative of most of the farms we saw. On the left in the background is the main building, the owner is a little better off, indicated by the larger windows. Also, thatched roofs appeared to be the standard through most of Ukraine, though we did seem some wooden as well, and even a couple of tin roofs. In the foreground, the square 'box' is the opening for the well, also an indicator of some wealth. To the right is the storage shed, and in front of that is a bench (to the left of the tree), apparently the social gathering area for most Ukrainian farms. I believe the log in the foreground on the right is a trough of some sort for animals.

One of my primary reasons for wanting to visit Pirogovo was to see the interior of the 'typical' farmhouse. One of my chapters is set inside a farmhouse, and throughout my character's travels in the countryside, I reference her staying at farms. The above is a typical interior. It is a single room for living, cooking, eating, and sleeping. In the background on the left is the bed for the parents, and along the wall on the right is the sleeping 'shelf' for the children, and I assume, any (very infrequent) guests, such as my character.

Here is another interior picture of a farmhouse (or hata), a bit cruder than the previous. While some of the details are different, the overall look and feel of the room is very similar to the room above, adult sleeping on the left, children on the right, the fireplace in the foreground, etc.

A typical hata as it would have looked in the late 18th or early 19th century, even in some cases up to the present day. The flowers signify that the household has a daughter, and I thought it was a pretty shot)

Finally, a rustic but beautiful village church. We were able to go inside one of the churches, though it wasn't this one. The icons and paintings were very beautiful, and the church was an actual working church.

Unique Enjoyable Experience

Hi all,

Last night I had a singular experience, though I'm going back next week, so not sure if singular is the right word. Oh well... At any rate, I had my first Russian bath, or Russian sauna as my newest good friend, Boris, would say, along with Ania's father, Yuri.

I spent approximately an hour and a half alternately having my brains and body boiled, being beaten with oak and birch branches while having my brains and body boiled, taking warm followed by cold showers, and sitting in a small locker room naked shooting the shit with several older but robust ex-Soviets. Mostly I listened to the snatches of conversation I could understand in Russian, with Boris interpreting any comments directed my way. And before you misunderstand, it was one of the more enjoyable and unique experiences in my life.

There was just something so open about the evening, which I guess is an appropriate word considering what I was wearing.  What I'm writing here really doesn't do it justice. Boris and I joked that we should start a chain of Russian baths in Indiana, with the slogan "Are you tough enough for a Russian bath?" I'm not saying I'm a particularly tough guy, but I do think it would be a challenge for many USians (see, it's catching on already...), if nothing else because you can't hurry the process, which I think really was one of the more enjoyable aspects of the experience.

We followed it with a visit to the local pub for some excellent food (some sort of meat wrapped in dough which I cannot for the life of me remember the name of), along with a pivo (beer) and several glasses of vodka. Straight vodka is still something of a challenge for me, but after the second one, it just seems to get better and better.

As I said, what I'm writing here really doesn't do justice to the experience. If you are ever in any of the Slavic countries and have the opportunity, I would highly recommend it. And yes, there was a side for women as well, separate from the men. Though our unclothed state did nothing to dissuade the matron of the establishment from cleaning the locker room around us or ushering in new clients.

Anyway, enough for now, I'll post this. Though I reserve the right to edit it as I remember more good moments from the evening)

Lavra and Rodina Mat

Yesterday we toured the Caves Monastery (Kievo-Percherska Lavra) and the Museum of the Great Patriotic War (WWII to westerners). The museum was closed, and we chose not to tour the interior of the Caves, though the exterior has some amazing architecture.

This is a monument to the Holodomor, near the Lavra, which is a somewhat controversial subject, even within Ukraine. Several million people starved to death in 1932-33 in Ukraine. Some believe it was a deliberate plan on the part of Stalin's Soviet government, others that it was an unfortunate result of famines that swept Eastern Europe. The monument also shows other famines beside the one in 1932-33, but I believe the Holodomor refers specifically to that period.

One of the exterior buildings of the Lavra. A bit hard to see, but the golden symbols across the front were gorgeous.

The same building viewed from a separate courtyard. It's more... artistic, maybe:)

A view of Rodina Mat (Mother Ukraine), taken from the grounds of the Lavra. The monument towers over the Museum of the Great Patriotic War. I have a much closer shot later.

Another 'artistic' shot of the Lavra. I'm not sure how well I show it in these photos, but the Lavra is huge, several acres of beautiful architecture, many buildings, and caves running beneath it all, where monks still to this day reside.

'War and Peace'. I credit Ania with the inspiration, though she could not get a shot she liked. I, on the other hand, having no chance of being a great photographer, liked the concept. So I took this shot of the Rodina Mat juxtaposed with the buildings of the monastery.

A closer view of the Rodina Mat, as I said, towering above a very impressive (at least on the outside) memorial to the Great Patriotic War. This picture really does not do it justice. It's huge, and Ania told me when it is open, you can take a lift all the way to the top of the sword. Interesting anecdote, they had to reduce the height of the sword so that it was not as tall as the highest turret of the Lavra (no pic because it is currently under renovation).

A view of Mariinsky Palace through the trees of Mariinsky Park, a huge park effectively connecting the Lavra complex to the center of Kiev. Ania, though freezing (fortunately for me I rarely get cold), walked me through the park rather than take the nice warm Metro.

Киев в дождь (Kiev in the rain)

Technically, Mikhailivskaya (St. Michael's) in the rain. As it was Sunday, they were having services in the cathedral, and I'd been inside before... not really an appropriate place to snap away in any case.

A view of the cathedral, which was destroyed in the late 1930s, and rebuilt I believe in the late 90s, taken from under the bell tower (entrance).

Another view of the cathedral, taking advantage of the natural foliage (trying to keep Kathi's little camera dry).

Свадьба в дождь (wedding in the rain), not a great shot, but I may see if cropping helps eventually.

A small... monument, maybe, behind the cathedral on the grounds.

Another shot of the cathedral, from behind.

And finally, a small religious statue, taken from under one of the buttresses of the cathedral.