Saturday, December 1, 2012

kiev kwickly

Kiev improved dramatically once the sun came out.

It's amazing how a cloudless day can transform a seemingly dull and drab metropolis. The colour of autumn has finally disappeared and has been replaced with a uniform greyness in the sky, the trees and the people. But in the glare of winter sun the city manages a bit of sparkle!

I have noticed Kievites eschew bright clothing so when I am walking around in my burnt orange goretex jacket I tend to stand out somewhat.

I'm staying in the heart of Kiev right on Independence Square. Most of the interesting things to see are within (at least for me) walking distance.

It has been easy to fill my couple of days here with generally meandering - the Museum of Contemporary Art was unfortunately closed (between shows), the numerous catacombs satisfied me with a visit to just one - how many endless tunnels of glass coffined corpses is it really necessary to see?

And I've just about had a gutful of the inside of churches. I'm almost desperate for a palate cleanser of industrial landscape grunge.

Otherwise, my time in Ukraine has been quite an enjoyable one and I don't regret deciding to visit here in early winter.

Now it's onto the Baltic countries!


really loooooooong escalators


kiev kiosk


christmas tree under construction


st. sofii church


monastery of the caves


monastery of the caves


kiev war memorial


mobile cafes everywhere


kiev kafe


kiev panorama (click to enlarge)


st. michaels golden domed monastery


kiev monument to female spirit protector berehynia


house with chimaeras


house with chimaeras (look carefully & you can see rhinos, elephants and mermaids!)

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