Continuing on, our travels took us to the biggest country in Europe (unless you side with the people that argue that Denmark, combined with Greenland, is the biggest.) With only a 24-hour layover in Kiev (pronounced Kee-v) en route to Odessa we had just enough time to nibble at what Kiev offered up. The golden domes, clean, dynamic, and exciting city center quickly rocketed itself to one of our favorite cities in Europe, and one we really hope to return to.
Kiev
Kiev’s oldest standing church St Sophia Cathedral constructed in 1017(!) is a UNESCO World Heritage site, that is utterly glorious in every sense of the word. Easily, one of the most beautiful churches we have ever seen! Many of the mosaics and frescoes are originals from the 11th century, and many have been wonderfully restored or preserved. The restoration of the frescoes, rather brilliantly, left a portion of the original in place while seamlessly blending the old to the new restorative work, and allowing you to appreciate and enjoy both. Sadly we couldn’t take pictures inside to share.
This contemporary giant mosaic (we guess 20×30’) is made of thousands of hand-painted Easter eggs by a local artist. Wow!
We were surprised to find that St. Michael’s Golden Dome Monastery was in fact a replica, only just finished in 2001. The shiny-looking cupolas did make us suspect this to be newer, but not that new. Devastatingly the original built in 1108 was demolished by the Soviets in 1937. We had a hard time confirming why the color blue is used so often in Ukrainian churches, but it seems to be related to heavens and the sky, as also in the Ukrainian flag. ??(The yellow color represents the plains (and bread basket of the country.) Originally built in the Middle Ages by Sviatopolk II Iziaslavych, the exterior of the church was rebuilt in the Ukrainian Baroque style in the 18th century while the interior remained in its original Byzantine style.
Mandy and her visiting mother-in-law, Grace, (because, why not meet your parents in Ukraine?!) take advantage of the cerulean backdrops for an impromptu modeling session.
In a modeling mood, Mandy strikes a model pose in front of St Andrew’s Cathedral, a baroque masterpiece built in 1754 by the same architect who designed the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. It’s a strikingly beautiful baroque interpretation of a typical Ukrainian dome church.
This apartment building has a distinct Parisian aura. In fact, many buildings, avenues, fountains, boulevards and restaurants have the essence of romanticized Paris in Kiev. We found this interesting because Odessa is actually nicknamed “the Paris of Eastern Europe,” but to our eyes and ears Kiev felt much more Paris to us. And… it’s a “Paris” without the crowds… we’ll take it!
An incredible view of Kiev from high above, at St. Andrews Cathedral. There is an entrance fee of about a $1 to go up the hill the church is perched on, but the view of the Dniester River and Andrew’s Descent below is well worth the “splurge.”
Andrew’s Descent was one of the steepest, quaintest streets we encountered in Kiev. It was named after the Apostle Andrew who climbed the hill and said “one day a great city will here.” The Parisian feel continued with live piano music gliding melodiously over the cobblestone streets, endless paintings for sale hung by local artists on wire fencing lining the street, and al fresco cafes dotting the perimeter.
A rare candid shot of us…thanks Grace!
Art for sale!
Another shot of St. Andrew’s
We love Kiev too!!! 🙂
Across from Independence Square.
Independence Square was where pro-independence protests happened in the 90’s and the Orange Revolution was held in 2004. It’s simply magnificent to stroll though this square at night. To us it resembled something out of Vegas… with its energy, people, sound, light and a dancing fountain show in the center of it all. All the surrounding boulevards seemed to spill out into this square. Lined with more gorgeous Parisian-esque apartment buildings (including a very lavish McDonalds which, as always in Europe, was packed.) The surprises were underground as well. The glass dome you see pictured is actually a 4-story underground shopping mall beneath the square and fountain.
16-hours after landing in Kiev we headed back to the airport, this time bound for the Black Sea and Odessa. Kiev, as you can see by the departure board, is a major hub. We were excited to see a few destinations we’d never even heard of. This is when you feel like you’re really traveling.
Odessa
Catching our first glimpses of the Black Sea as we entered Odessa. It felt good to be back on the water again. Odessa is known as Ukraine’s party town, and “Black Sea Pearl” where the beautiful people go to frolick til dawn.
That said, for our first day, it was time for some much needed R&R. We walked from our Airbnb, about 15 minutes, to the nearest beaches. Along the shoreline south of Odessa you can find a series of private “beach clubs” where you can take advantage of lounging beach chairs, beach beds, or full VIP cabanas. It was an idyllic setting… clean white sand beaches, gentle waves coming onshore, uncrowded, and no shortage of options for relaxation. We opted for the middle “bed” option at the first beach club we came to, which set us back 300 UAH or about $11 for shade and blankets…for all four of us for the whole day! What a deal. We also had access to the bar.
Fortunately, our Czech vocabulary allowed us to have basic (very basic) conversation with the bartender who poured us some long-awaited lager beers to enjoy on the beach. The next day we decided to pay a little extra ($4 more) for a full VIP staff and treatment at a different beach club further down the beach. Grace, Greg’s stepmom, who lives in Las Vegas told us she and a group had paid $2800 for a beach cabana at Mandalay Bay recently so she was more than happy to plop down $15 for a cabana in this place! You get a five-star treatment here for a bargain basement price!
Odessa was a lovely place for an evening stroll. The green spaces and parks were vast, the city lights breathtaking, and they even had this adorable permanent amusement park and Ferris wheel down by the sea.
Afterwards we hit the famous Privoz Market, hosting Ukraine’s largest farmer’s market, to get a slice of real Odessan life. It was filled with amazingly cheap naturally organic fruits (we spent about $4 for three days of goodies), clothing, dried foods, candies….
…..and a rank smelling but very interesting open-air meat market, which Mandy had to exit immediately with vegetarianism again entering her mind.
The jewel in Odessa’s architectural crown is the Odessa Opera & Ballet Theatre built in the 1880s by the same person who designed the Vienna Opera House.
Truly a sight. Certainly the most beautiful opera house we had ever seen.
Practicing our moves before the show. We almost got hired on the spot!
The grand and opulent staircase.
We were fortunate to grab tickets to see “The Sleeping Beauty” for just $9 (!) in a third tier balcony box seat in the most opulent and gorgeous theatre we have ever seen. Truly a jaw dropping opera house! Except we didn’t actually know it was “The Sleeping Beauty” (because the signs were all in Ukrainian Cyrillic) Then, about halfway through Tchaikovsky’s “Once Upon a Dream” was performed and Mandy began suspecting it was Sleeping Beauty. Confirmed when Princess Aurora pricked her finger and fell asleep onstage in her little pink tutu. The entire evening in this utterly beautiful space was magical and a rare experience which we’re very grateful for finding.
We returned to Odessa on our own after venturing out to Moldova with Greg’s parents who flew out of Chisinau’s sparkling new airport. Back in Odessa we checked into a new AirBnB and went to work on a homemade meal! Without the parents to feed us fancy meals, Mandy took a stab at Letcho, the Hungarian stew made with pepper, tomato, onions, paprika, and spicy sausage stew which our friends Steve and Eva had made us back in Eger.
Also, sans parents, we were back to relying on public transportation in Odessa. As we found out, there is a process to everything in the Ukraine, and your assumption to how things work may not be correct. From the bus station in Odessa, we tried for about an hour to take the tram to our Airbnb, but it seemed no tram tickets were available to buy in any of the logical places. Not at the tram stations, not at news kiosks, not at mini markets, not from the information bureau at the bus station. Everyone we asked would say “ni” and point or say “right” or “left”, but we made no real progress. We eventually learned you need to pay the driver when you get on, but we were so exhausted by the bus journey and now trying to buy tickets we gave up on a tram and took a $4 Uber. Thank you Uber!!
Going back into the city later, we hopped onto a Mashrutka, (mini bus), but our assumption to pay the driver for some reason was NOT the correct process. The driver waved off our 7 Ukrainian Hryvina ($.24) for the ticket. We were stumped. But eventually we made the connection you must pay the driver only at the END of your ride. Right before disembarking. The crazy thing is, because the buses were so jam packed, we witnessed people passing up fare money from the back of the bus to the driver. Hand over hand! We were simply amazed at this process… you’re sitting on the bus, you neighbor behind you taps you on the shoulder, mutters something (incomprehensible), and shoves money at you. Hesitate, and you get a chorus of mutters and motions pointing forward to pass the money forward to the next person, and so on, all the way to the driver. Astoundingly, we also witnessed change being passed back from the driver to the passenger using the same system. What a remarkable process! I guess this really speaks to the honesty of the Ukrainians.
Who needs a food cart, when you can have a food smart-car? Kudos to the Odessan’s for doing this clever bit of tinkering!
Speaking of outside of the box, they turned this old industrial building into the ultimate trendy, Ukranian foodie hangout. They have live music every night, including some soothing French tunes that Mandy loved the night we went, a craft beer bar for Greg(!), and even a very smart alcohol-analyzer so you know how much you drank. And most importantly, this foodie heaven was packed with tasty foodstuffs from around the globe, including sushi, vegan, American, Italian, and even rare tacos. Craving some south-of-the-border food, our pictured “Ukrainian” tacos ($2.80) was definitely their south-of-the-border influenced (Mediterranean) stuffed with eggplant, spiced tomatoes, jalapeños, onions and cilantro. We’ll take it all!
Visiting the iconic Potemkin Stairs in Odessa, we felt, was a bit overrated. But perhaps the activity going on that morning is what killed the illusion. It appeared to be Odessa’s national kid competition day, where the kids were competing in activities ranging from running the steps, gymnastics, arm wrestling, karate, basketball, football, ballroom dancing, and even fencing! Anyhow, the Potemkin Stairs are wide and long, with 192 steps and 10 large landings to give you a break. The top step is 41 feet wide and the lowest is 71 feet’s wide which allegedly gives it the illusion that from the bottom, you only see the staircase and no landings and from the top, you only see the landings and no stairs. From the bottom it seems longer than it is and from the top it seems shorter. Too bad they didn’t reverse this. Despite all the chaos of the event, we still dodged the kids, doting parents, and sailor guards to have our own mildly exhausting jaunt up and down the steps.
For those that aren’t up for the jaunt, you can also ride in this adorable funicular. We were astounded this was available for this remarkably short distance. I mean, maybe in America?
And a look at the contrasts of a life in the Ukraine in 2018, as these locals stand in line to fill their water bottles at a clean water spring, because the water coming out of the taps needs to be boiled to drink safely, two boys play with a futuristic looking toy out of “Back to the Future.”
And a posh six-story city center mall has a full farmer’s market in the bottom of it. Why can’t all malls be like this?
Pazazh, a gorgeous outdoor street converted into an indoor shopping center.
Unique things to see all over this city. We were also happy to see their political support.
More beauty at every turn…
And more…
Keeping up with basic self-care is a part of long-term travel. Greg’s manscaping at this trendy barber shop called “Mr. Solomon’s City Barber Shop” was “the most diligently cut and styled haircut he’s ever had.” (It was $14 so still a bit on the spendy side for the Ukraine, but included a shampoo and “styling” and of course, the priceless bit of trust you need to place in your barber.)
A Ukranian co-worker back in the U.S. had told Mandy of her country, “Is farm. Is flat… Is all!” But, Slava Ukraini! You were an extraordinary surprise. Is so much more that we had expected! Please put the Ukraine on you travel stops if you are passing by this corner of the world… you will not be disappointed. Still, as is typical of us, we’re ready to move on. Mandy excitedly points to our next destination. Time to get our sea legs ready!
