View from the Monastery, with Our Metal Lady Stalin standing proud...
A city left by Communism, picked up by Wild Capitalism and smoothed by the erosion of time:
the Wild East is back, my friends.
Home to serious clubs and changing weather, it is still a place to Travel to, with an edge of adventure to it that most destinations have lost, and a difference of civilisation to seperate it from the rest of Eastern Europe. You can see the great metal statue that overlooks the river (and resembles a female Stalin) before taking in the war museum and Monastery (similar in size to the English city of Canterbury, and considerably more interesting).
View from the Monastery, with Our Metal Lady Stalin standing proud...
The Monastery survived Communism, and in its myriad of underground tunnels can be found the corpses of religous heroes, supposedly preserved by their faith in life (not that it is completely clear as although they rest in glass coffins, they are bound in sacred shrouds).
In winter the river freezes over and Human Pengiuns can be seen warming themselves with vodka and catching fish through holes in the ice, or once a year serious religous types can be seen jumping into the frozen river as a test of their faith (and some might argue, sanity).
Possibly the next President of Ukraine, emerging from the ice. Truly a Man of the People.
Then there is the vodka, all of it: snake vodka (actually Vietnamese), vodka with honey and chilli, Nemiroff Premiere vodka (avoid this, they must hate their Premiere's) and bizzarely vodka light. Countless other varieties abound, but these are the most memorable. Snake is a rite of passage, once you have drunk it you can be sure that you are macho enough to meet any demands (it is also slightly euphoric, but this may be due to the relief at surviving the experience). Honey and chilli is my personal favourite, the vodka and the chilli chasing away the cold while the honey softens the after-taste. Premiere vodka is awful: avoid it, even when chilled. The jury is still out on vodka light, but it is included here purely due to the novelty value, I like to imagine that it is low-alcohol vodka, for slowly reforming alcoholics, or perhaps the summer months when less interal heating is required.
The summer is very pleasant in Kyiv, temperatures get up to 35°C easily, and having seen it both during summer and winter the contrast is
surreal: in August I was dressed the same as in London, but come January I was wearing heavy boots, two pairs of socks, thermals, a mighty shapka
and not enough pairs of gloves. Snow piles on the side of the streets, and anyone who sees you enjoying these surreal conditions will point out
to you "Once you fall on your ass, you will be sick of winter." (I fell on my face after writing 'jaba' in the snow (meaning toad) and I still
like it, so it must be purely an ass-hit that takes the fun away.)
To be continued...