Sorry it is taking so long to get these pictures up. I uploaded about 800 megabytes of images from the camera cards, which works out to about 500 images. I am sorting them, cleaning them up, resizing them, loading them into galleries, and then writing captions for everything. It is definitely taking a while, but I really hope to have it all finished up (and posted) before the week is out.
The images below represent about half of my first full day in Kiev. It didn’t seem like that busy a day, but we definitely covered a lot of ground: a walk through what was essentially a street art fair, a ride on the Kiev funicular, lunch at McDonald’s, a quick subway (Metro) ride to Maidan Square for day 2 of Kiev Days, a walk through the big downtown park, and then exploring the Lavra cathedral and monastery complex. The day also ended with a bit of a rainstorm, a mad dash to a different subway station and another ride on the funicular. Of course, I left my umbrella at the apartment.
Funicular & Poshtova
Since I keep using the word ‘funicular,’ I should at least tell you what it is: it’s a tram that goes up and down the hill. But here’s a better description, courtesy of Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiev_Funicular. Riding the funicular was one of the two things I had hoped to do while in Kiev, and I ended up doing it twice on my first day there. Perhaps I should make longer lists for future trips.
Kiev Days
This was definitely a big party for Kiev. Both nights there were fireworks, although only a little bit of them could be seen from the apartment. But streets were blocked off (including the street for my apartment), there were lots of performers and street vendors everywhere, there were races and games and competitions — everything, it seems, except a parade, but maybe they had that yesterday. Who knows? If you’re planning on hitting up Kiev Days 2014, it happens on the last weekend of May. Book your tickets now.
Downtown park
OK, I know it has a name — probably Shevchenko or some similar Ukrainian icon — but I do not recall what it is, and Google Maps is of no help in this regard. Still, given the heat of the day, it was nice to get off the pavement and spend some time around the trees and grass.
Because I have so many pictures of the Lavra, I will put those on a separate post.