The heat over the past several days has kept me away from my computer, but I’m nearly done with the pictures; just one more post after this one.

A couple little sets from this day, which I refer to as my “short day” in Kiev.  As I noted in my daily posts, I had strained my ankle, and after walking on it for a couple days, I just had to rest it some.  So the activities for this particular day were cut a little short.

Really there were only two outings.  The first was a walk to Maidan Square where we caught the subway over to Kiev’s train station.  I have seen a couple train stations before — the one here in Portland, plus a couple in London — and this one was bigger than those, if you count both buildings, and the walkway that connected them.  Most of Ukraine gets around by train, although air travel is becoming more popular.  Trains are still a little more affordable, and generally pretty convenient.  (Perhaps on a future visit I’ll be able to take a train; I’d also like to rent a car, just ‘cuz.)

Most of the afternoon was down time, just reading and keeping my ankle elevated.  (I tried a little ice, but that didn’t help.)  After that bit of extra rest, things were better, so we set off in the evening to meet up with my friend Vladimir (or Vova, as he likes to be called).  He was nice enough to come in from the hinterlands of Kiev and we met up at the subway station in Podil.  We had a beer and some snacks, and it was just a lot of fun.  (Vova worked for a company that my company works with, but he had moved to Kiev a couple months before; his wife is from Kiev and she wanted to move home after finishing up her university work.)

So, a slightly rough day, but overall not too bad, and definitely a pleasant ending.  (Since I mention it in my photo captions, here’s a link to a page about banduras.)

Trains

Vova