This is a little depressing — I’m still not quite half way through all my pictures. 187 down, 289 to go (or therebouts). This set marks the end of my second full day.

As mentioned, rain was coming in and chased us home from St. Sophia’s. The storm, though, only lasted an hour or two, and once it was over, the sun came back out and it was rather pleasant. For the afternoon/evening, we decided to go the other direction — away from the city center and toward the “old city,” the “lower city,” aka, Podil.

I’m not sure where Podil officially starts, but I consider it starting at the base of the hill you come down from the upper city. (By the way, here’s a really good read about the street where my apartment was, Andriyivskyy [“Andrew’s”] Descent.) I’m sure a native would be able to describe the unique character of Podil (and the other areas of Kiev), but to me they all looked kind of the same. Still, there are a few things that stand out with Podil — there’s a university (National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy); a couple parks/plazas, including one with a rather unusual fountain; a very shop- and restaurant-lined street that stretched from the Poshtova Metro station to the Kontractova station (2 minutes by subway or a 20 minute walk). It had a little of the feel of a college town, so maybe that would be its claim to fame. (It’s also an historic neighborhood, if that counts for anything.)

Kontractova became our primary Metro station, which meant walking up and down Andrew’s Descent several times; I believe that I likened this street to Lombard Street in San Francisco (you know, the really winding one). It wasn’t quite that bad, but after a long day walking the streets of Kiev, that last climb to the apartment was sometimes a killer. (This is probably how I strained my ankle too.)

There was a really cool thing during this exploration of Podil. There’s a convent there (in probably the safest place possible — right across the street from a police/military barracks), and we just happened to be viewing the chapel during vespers (or similar). There was a lot of chanting, of course, but every now and then was a sung response. Those were amazing — wonderful little snippets in two- or three-part harmony. It was a great way to wrap up the day.

Podil