ukraine: poltava

A number of my weekend trips this year have been returns to places I've already visited, this was another of these trips. I booked these tickets only a few days ahead of time, but there were still plenty of tickets available.

Poltava is known in Ukraine, and probably a few Swedes know of the town, but that's about it. Back in the day, a few hundred years ago, Sweden was a growing empire that wanted more land. Poltava is the sight of a battle that stopped that growth in this area.

My train departed Kyiv at 0622, and to make tthat train I walked to my metro station (no buses running at 0510,) and caught the second metro of the morning to the train station. Since this was Saturday I didn't give myself enough time for breakfast, ooops.

I arrived in Poltava on time, and realized immediately that this was the other train station from the one I'd used the last time I visited. These two stations are on opposite sides of town.

This actually worked in my favor, as my hotel was supposed to be only a 35 minute walk or so. Wheneva google maps tells me a time I take it with a grain of salt, knowing that I'll stop to take photos along the way to whereva I'm going, and this stopping could as much as double or triple the time. I love taking the photos though, I think it's worth it.

I stopped in a supermarket along the way, since I wanted food and drinks; I also stopped in two different bakeries. I probably didn't need the tart, but it was tasty anywho.

I walked on one of the main streets of town, which is separated by Chestnut Alley. The car lanes are on each side of the road, and I'm sure the trees are lovely when in bloom during late spring, summer and fall. Right now, toward the end of winter, they don't look like much.

Eventually the lanes came together, and I continued to follow the road to a park in the middle of the city.

This park is a circle, and traffic runs all the way around. In the middle of the park is a column, dedicated to the glory of Ukraine. There was a banner wrapped near the top of the column, saying 'glory to ukraine, glory to the heroes.' I have to admit it didn't look very good to me. Sitting on top of the column is an eagle covered in gold. There are two flags as well: the blue and yellow of the traditional Ukrainian flag, and the red and black flag of various Independence organizations. At the bottom of the column are reliefs dedicated to specific battles.

I found an abandoned building that wasn't blocked off. I looked into several rooms, and thought about going inside but saw someone climbing in through another window, which made me aware that people were living in the building. I wasn't keep about exploring an abandoned building with people around. Still, it felt spooky, and I took my photos. In a nearby yard I found sevearl art sculptures, which struck me as rather quirky.

I arrived at my hotel, and was able to check in immediately, which was nice. I ended up staying in the room for several hours, just resting, which I didn't really need to do. Once I started walking again, the weather had gotten better; at least, the sky was blue instead of cloudy.

I walked along, following a street near my hotel. It was an easy walk, all I had to do was go straight. About 20 minutes later, I got to my first sight. It was a memorial to those who fought in the Great War, as it is called in Ukraine. As with nearly every Soviet memorial I have ever seen, it was big. I think the architectural style is called Soviet realism, or something along those lines. (I could be totally wrong.) The man in the memorial had a sword, and was labeled Poltava, so it was definitely just for this town.

Not too far from this memorial, in the same small park was a small church, St Panteleimon.

There was nothing exciting about the church, but I took the photo anywho. I went into the church, but there was a service taking place and it was really small; I felt as though I was intruding.

Further along the street I came to another supermarket, where I bought snacks I didn't need. Not too far behind the supermarket was another church I'd been looking for. One can never call Ukrainian churches boring, and this one was no different. It was painted sea green on the outside, with typical domes on top. I loved the interior, and remembered to look up as soon as I went inside. The cupola was painted inside, and it was lovely.

I walked back into the city center, and found the pedestrian street I remembered from my previous visit. It isn't an exciting street, but since this was a Saturday and the weather was decent, there were plenty of people out for a walk. I had already seen the sights on the street, but walked it anywho, just bcause I could.

Along the way I passed restaurants and cafes, shops, a theatre, a church, and more. The end of the street brought me to another church. I entered the bottom of the bell tower, there is a small iconostasis in a small room.

I lit a couple candles and said a couple prayers for loved ones in my life. I was the only one in there, which was nice.

I entered the main part of the church as well, and remembered why I don't love this church so much. The large iconostasis is still being built, and is made of wood. There is no color right now. The interior of the church is still relatively new, the floors are made of slippery stone, and no painting has been done. Since the church is still new (or at least the interior is new,) it didn't feel very welcoming to me. I don't love churches that are super busy in terms of decor, but I want something other than just plain white.

I walked back up the street, as darkness fell. As I got to the end I found a branch of a sushi restaurant, and had dinner there. On the way home I ordered what I thought was a large hot chocolate at a bakery, but it wasn't big and it wasn't nearly as hot as I wanted.

Since it was still mid to late February, the sun goes down early enough that nights can still be quite long. In other words it was dark but I wasn't ready to sleep yet. I wasn't terribly productive though, I played around online for several hours.

My bed wasn't very big, but it was comfortable, and I fell asleep quickly.

The next morning I woke up early as I always do even when I don't want to. I wasted more time, as I always do, but it wasn't as bad as my usual time wasting. Breakfast wasn't included in my room rate, but I'd seen a menu I liked the night before, so I opted to have breakfast at the hotel. Fried eggs on bacon, oatmeal, and tea. All that for less than $4, yum.

I packed up and checked out a little after 10am. That's a good two hours earlier than normal for me. Yay for progress in terms of not wasting travel time! I left my backpack at the front desk, which was handy.

I walked along the street of the hotel, ducking into a few open backyards at times. I have taken a lot of pictures of old postboxes while in Ukraine. Poltava has a lot of storage units in backyards, as well as outhouses. A lot of houses I saw were old, and not in great condition.

I came to an intersection, where I saw another memorial. This one is supposed to be to the resting place of Peter I.

As I arrived, a little boy was climbing all over the monument, being watched by his parents. I stood there for a few minutes, they left eventually. I took my photos of the monument and turned onto a different street. This street took me to a viewpoint, looking over the northern part of the city. I was able to look over to a monastery, a place I wanted to visit during this trip. Along the fence were heaps of padlocks, I supposed this was the local equivalent of a love bridge.

Back on the first street I walked, I went into a church. I lit a few more candles, and said a couple more prayers.

I kept walking, heading toward the church I'd stepped into the night before. I didn't want to go into the church, but I did want to go behind it, where another unique monument is located. I have no idea why, but there is a monument to halushky here. Halushky are the local version of dumplings/mandu/vareniky. It looks like a giant bowl of them, with a giant spoon next to the bowl. I waited for a family to take their photos, then took my own.

I walked back up the street, to my next destination. This was a museum I'd only seen from the outside previously. The Poltava Museum of Local Lore has a really nifty looking building, but I was expecting the interior to be the same as many other regional museums I've seen in Ukraine. I figured I'd be in there for 30 minutes or less.

I was pleasantly proved wrong. The inside of the building was just as unique as the outside. Most of the columns were tiled, with flowers and/or green. The stairs to the second floor were split in the middle. Basically, the whole building was one giant photo op.

Not only was the building itself photogenic, the displays were really good. There were areas dedicated to the geology of the area, to the flora and fauna of the area, older history, more recent history, traditional life, etc... If I could read Ukrainian I would've been in there sevearl hours, learning a lot about the region. I really enjoyed the temporary ceramic displays, and one room that made me think of a banquet hall or theater. Stunning, to say the least.

After the museum I walked back toward my hotel. I walked on the pedestrian street again, and remembered along the way that this weekend was the weekend the whole country celebrated the traditional holiday of Maslenitsa/Maslyana. It's an old holiday, basically saying goodbye winter and hello spring. There are traditional clothes, traditional dances, and the most common food is a blini. (In English we'd say crepe.) The blinis represent the sun, and are eating with toppings like jam or nutella. Yum. I didn't buy food from any of the stalls, but I made a mental note for later in the day. I watched the dance performance in front of the theater for a few minutes too.

I didn't go into my hotel, but walked on the same street as I'd first walked after checking in the night before, only in the opposite direction. I went down the hill, taking a few photos of old houses along the way. The one that stuck in my mind was blue. The paint was peeling off, but still had the same intense colour I'm guessing it had when first painted.

At the bottom of the hill the road starts to switchback, but I didn't have to follow the road, as there were stairs going straight across the area, going up the hill. The stairs took me under a railway stop (for a commuter train, I'm sure,) and to a final set of stairs. These took me to a side entrance of the Holy Cross convent. This was what I'd been able to see from the viewpoint earlier in the day.

The property of the convent is surrounded by this wall, but the gate at the top of the stairs was open, and I went in.

There were two churches to see. I went in one, after putting on a head scarf. As soon as I got inside, someone indicated to me that I needed to put on a wraparound skirt as well.

There was a box of them, so that was easy enough. None of them went all the way around me, so I had a slit of sorts. Since I was wearing pants it's not as if anything was showing that shouldn't have been showing. I stood in there for a few minutes, loving the iconostasis at the front of the church. The church wasn't big, but the iconostasis made it feel grand. The iconostasis was gold, or painted gold. Along the entire roof were pieces of wood in a pattern, which I also really liked.

I went into the other church, which was much bigger. Much much bigger. There were also other visitors, unlike the first church I walked into. I wore another wraparound skirt in this church, this one wrapped all the way around me. The iconostasis at the front had more levels, but was made of wood, and not painted in gold. All the decorations around the church were made of unpainted wood, so it was a different sort of grand.

Of course the icons were colourful, they always are. There were a couple coffins, I'm not sure if there were mummies or just representations of saints inside. When I looked through the glass lids I could see a 'crown' as well as the 'gown' worn by a man of the church, which is why I don't know. There was a steady stream of visitors while I was in there.

I went outside and looked at the bell tower. From what I saw, there was no way for visitors to climb up, darnit. I left the property the same way I'd entered, through the side door. Back down the stairs, then back up the hill toward the city center. When I got back to the pedestriant street I bought grilled chicken. Yum.

From there I walked back to the circle shaped park. I walked through the park and out another street. I walked to a mosque, taking note of it just because you don't see a lot of mosques in the country.

I looked at my phone to check the time, and realized it was going to work out fairly well.

I walked back to my hotel and picked up my backpack. From there I basically walked back to the train station, stopping at one of the bakeries I'd visited the morning before. This time around, the train station was a lot more crowded, apparently heaps of people needed to go back to Kyiv. I only had to wait around 20 minutes before the train arrived, yay. The train arrived, we all piled on, and off we went. I had to kick someone out of my seat, but everything was good.

3 hours later, we arrived in Kyiv, on time. This will probably be my last trip to Poltava, but I've learned never to say never.  

ukraine: lutsk and klevan

The second time I visited Lutsk (three months ago,) my goal had been to visit Klevan (the tunnel of love) but it didn't happen. I decided to come back to Lutsk and try again. 

When I booked my hotel in Lutsk they said it was okay if I left my bag there during the day. My train arrived in Lutsk exactly on time (0511!) and I spent about thirty minutes in the train station figuring out timing, as well as where to go. 

Then I started walking. It was still dark, but most of my walk was well lit. Just under an hour later I arrived at the hotel. Even though the ad online said there was a 24 hour front desk, it didn't appear that way at first. I tried three doors before finding an open one, and found another door to a stairway. One floor up I found another open door leading to a hotel hallway. 

Almost immediately I saw the open door with the label of hotel administrator. It was more like an office than a front desk, but I was able to leave my bag there. 

I took a different way back to the train station, it was fully light by this point. Lutsk had gotten as much snow as Kyiv, so there was a problem about where to put it. Sidewalks hold most of the snow, which is fine and dandy for drivers, but not so great for pedestrians. I spent a lot of time figuring out where to walk without spending the whole time in deep snow or melted slushy water. 

Back at the train station I bought a ticket for the electric train to Klevan. My timing was good, I didn't have to wait long to board the train. 

Electric trains are quite common in Ukraine. You don't ride them across the country, rather they take people around different regions of the country. 

They are not at all luxurious, the bench seats are wood with straight backs. Howeva, the tickets are really cheap and they have heaters under each seat. 

My ride was around 75 minutes, arriving in the small town of Klevan. I kept dozing off during the ride, but it was a smooth, easy ride overall. 

When the conductor came through to check tickets, he assumed the kid sitting across from me was with me, much to the amusement of me and the lady he was with. 

I alighted in Klevan, and went into the train station to ask what time the train would come through in the afternoon. After sorting that out, I started walking. 

Since this was my second visit to Klevan, I knew where to go. I followed the train tracks, and found the path I was looking for easily. 

The tunnel of love is sortof man made. It's part of a set of tracks, which were used regularly for a long time. So long that the trees grew over the tracks. In summer when everything is green, it really looks like a tunnel. I don't know where they came up with the love part of the name. I suppose you can say it's a combination man and nature made place. 

I'm glad I got to see it in winter, though I think I was a week to late. I was there when the temperature was just over freezing, and had been for several days. There was still plenty of snow on the ground, but it had all melted off the branches. What I could see were heaps of ribbons tied onto the branches of many trees, I have no idea why. 

The beauty of this tunnel is that you can walk as much or as little as you want. The annoying part of the tunnel is that the wood planks between the tracks are slightly higher than the ground. They're at a normal distance from each other by train standards, but this distance is a bit short for my walking pace. The planks are not even with the ground underneath, so you have to watch where you put your feet. To do that, either your steps are slightly short, or too long. In the snow I couldn't see where the planks were, sometimes I landed on them, sometimes not. 
Since I wanted to see what was in front of me but had to look where I put each foot I was rather frustrated that my eyes couldn't do both at the same time. 

Judging by the footprints I could see, I walked further than most people had since the last snowfall. I was tempted to walk all the way to the end (is there a marker at the end?) but then I'd have to walk all the way back. I'm pretty sure I walked at least a couple kilometers each way. 

While I was in there an engine of some kind came along the tracks, it was green. Nice to see the color in a land of white and brown. How often does that thing come through? And what is it for? (As I understand it, these tracks are no longer used.) 

As I came out of the tunnel, I moved along a different street from where I had entered. This must have been the 'official' entrance, because I saw a homemade sign with tunnel of love (written in Ukrainian) that could be used for photos. There was also an arch covered in ribbons, over a red painted heart shaped rock. 

I walked along for a while, taking random photos every so often. A few cars passed and probably wondered what I was doing. The road curved, and went straight through the middle of town. 

I was able to follow this street all the way to my next sight, it was not a short walk. Around 75 minutes I think. No part of this street was cleared, so I had a choice of slush, snow, ice, or water in or on which to walk. Good fun.

I finally made it to Klevan castle, only to realize I was on the street that went under the bridge from which you enter the castle. Argh. I had to climb up a fairly steep hill to get to the entrance, I slipped more than once. 

Before getting to the top I expected to pay an entrance fee for the castle. That most definitely did not happen. There wasn't another soul around; the entire thing was abandoned, and falling apart. 

Im actually surprised it wasn't blocked off, for safety reasons. As I wandered around, I could see that every staircase had collapsed, as had most of the ceilings. I normally like going through abandoned buildings, but I was worried enough about this one not to do much. I looked in windows, and could only wander through ground floor rooms. Some of the walls between rooms were collapsing as well. Eeek. 

When I read the description, this was supposed to have been a fortress. As I approached it and saw the bridge going to the entry, I agreed. After walking through, I don't see how that could've been a fortress. 

I left the 'castle' on the bridge, which took me to a church. The front gate of the church was open (the dog stayed outside the gate, I don't know why,) but the door to the church itself was padlocked closed. I liked the look of the exterior, I like blue churches :)

I continued walking, back to the main street that brought me to this area of Klevan.

This was a slushy area with even more water, I wasn't thrilled. I walked back in the direction from which I'd come, on the other side of the street. 

At one point I looked off to the side and saw another church. I followed another wet slushy street, but this time the outer gate was closed. I was only able to stick my camera through the gate to take a photo, then continue walking. 

I got back to the main road and looked at the clock. I realized I had to walk fast to make sure I caught the train when I got back to the train station. I knew I didn't have the option of catching another train later.

The walk back was full of more slush and water. I alternated between the sidewalk and street, depending on which was less liquid at the time. At some points the water on the street was big enough to be a pond, so I watched carefully for cars flying through and splashing me. It was a long walk. 

I made it back to the train station in time to be able to sit for ten minutes. I watched the old ladies also sitting around, talking nonstop. 

The train ride back to Lutsk was a lot more crowded than the morning ride from Lutsk. From the train station in Lutsk I walked to the sushi place I visited last time for dinner. From there I walked back to the hotel. I finally got to check in, more than 12 hours after I first dropped off my bag. 

I checked my Fitbit, and found out this was my biggest day ever in terms of steps! More than 46,000 steps. No wonder my feet were tired; I went to sleep early.

The next morning I was awake early, but didn't get moving for a while. I finally left the hotel a little after noon. The weather wasn't great, argh. It wasn't raining, but the temperature was above freezing, so all the snow and slush continued to melt. Figuring out where to walk was a day long challenge. 

I followed a main street back into the city center, taking random photos along the way. I found the so called 'bridge of love,' which was the local take on the idea of closing locks onto a bridge. The bridge itself was quite small, but rather cute, there was a nice bench to sit on at one end. My favorite part were the little houses on the water for the ducks. 

I saw a giant, boring government building, with a religious monument in front. Totally normal in Ukraine. 

I found a church still under construction, holding a service as I walked around outside. The building itself seemed finished, but it didn't look finished, if that makes sense. It still looked really raw. It was one of the flattest (imagine you've squeezed the front and back of a church together,) churches I've ever seen. Nearby was a giant mural on the side of a building, of the Ukrainian trident. 

I went through a supermarket, picking up a couple snacks and juice. I also went to a bakery for a sandwich and cookie, since it was afternoon and I hadn't eaten anything real. I've never been good about eating regular meals, and traveling doesn't help that bad habit. Some people travel to eat, I'm not one of those. 

After eating I walked toward a huge park, called the park of culture and rest. I don't know what the name is referring to, but that doesn't matter. It was fun to follow the different pathways and see how everything looked in winter.  

There are a few waterways through the park, all of which were frozen. I saw one guy coming out of a hole in one of them, he'd gone for a dip in his birthday suit. If I'd had proper clothing (and a towel,) I'd have done it too. It's a nice park, a great place to wander, or to have a family picnic. There are benches all over as well, if you want to sit and people watch. The park wasn't all that crowded, but there were people out and about. I even saw two people cross country skiing on the paths!

In one area is a small amusement park, more for kids than adults. It was almost tragic to see the rides there, covered in snow and not being used. I wonder when the season officially starts. 

After the park I decided to walk along random streets I hadn't walked before, just to see different parts of the city. I found some nifty graffiti in one area. In another area I found a really old bus parked next to a really old truck. Next to that were large glass eggs, I'm guessing they are put on display somewhere when Easter rolls around? 

On yet another street I found a synagogue. Well, I'm not sure it was a synagogue, but that was my guess based on the Star of David I saw through the front window. It was a gorgeous blue building. 

I wound through various streets, one of which brought me to another giant mural on the side of a building. This was one of the best I've seen in the entire country. Beautiful. 

Eventually I walked on a street that took me on a bridge over a river. The sun was starting to set, so the sky was changing colour, which looked great next to the mostly frozen river. 

As the sun fell, I walked back toward the city center, and went back to the sushi place to eat. I was there for a couple hours, just wasting time. Then I walked to a supermarket, and picked up breakfast food for the morning. From there I walked back to the train station, and waited a few minutes to board my train. Another night train ride brought me back to Kyiv. 

I probably won't return to Lutsk, unless I can use it as a base to visit nearby lakes, and can figure out a free weekend to do so. 

russia: peredelkino

Another weekend, another day trip. There is always another area to explore in this country and Moscow is surrounded by heaps of small towns with one or two sights. Peredelkino isn't mentioned in my guidebook, (if the guidebook mentioned every little place with one or two sights it would be several volumes, not just one,) we found it on Instagram, because of a photogenic church.

Peredelkino was originally a really big estate, owned by the Leontievs. Wikipedia tells me they were were relatives of Peter the Great. 

In the 1930s the estate was 'given' over (suggested by Maxim Gorky,) to the Soviet Union, and was made into an area with cottages for people the government wanted to support.

As usual, Claire and I met on a metro platform, then found a commuter train station. We hopped the next elektrichka heading toward Peredelkino. The 'station' at Peredelkino was tiny, but as long as there is a place to buy tickets, does it really matter how big it is?

We exited the station and almost immediately found an outhouse. Obviously it wasn't a sight of any kind, but I noticed it because the door was open and some snow/ice had gathered inside. I couldn't tell who owned it, it was just kind of, there.

Not a fun place to have to use in this kind of weather.

As we walked toward the first place we wanted to see, we figured Peredelkino had been through crazy weather. While there was snow on the ground, and lots of it, there were also plenty of big, 'scary' icicles.

A nine minute walk from the train station brought us to the church we'd been hoping to see. The name didn't mean anything, but it was definitely a newer style, a modern take on Orthodox church architecture.

We took a team photo, standing in the thigh deep snow in a field surrounding the church. While running back and forth from the camera I managed to drop my phone. Thank goodness I realized it really quickly, and didn't have too many places to check to find it again.

This church had coloured tiling around each entry door, of which there were four; there were also decorative tiles around each of the doors. So many things of which to take photos. Of those four doors, only one was actually open for entry. We went inside, but a service was taking place, so we were only in there for a minute or two.

After exiting we found the walls of a monastery about ten meters away. The walls were painted, a dark red colour. We found an open gate and walked in, it was really quiet. There was no one else around, and there weren't any other open doors. This wasn't a huge surprise, as the buildings looked to be housing. Nevertheless, we walked all the way around the grounds. It was fun to see the piles of snow in various places. Some of the benches would've been really picturesque if not covered in snow. They were picturesque as was, just not okay for sitting on at that point. 

After exiting the monastery we went back to the church, which was mostly empty at this point. I loved the interior, and the ceiling felt more space agey than other churches we've seen.

Not too far from the church was a graveyard. We tried to go in, or at least we thought about it, but after following several streets we couldn't get to where we wanted to go, which was the grave of Boris Pasternak. (The Soviet writer who authored Dr. Zhivago.) We decided if we ever come back to Peredelkino we will come in non snowy weather.

After that we walked on the main road for a bit, managing to avoid getting run over by crazy drivers. Eventually we turned off, and got to our second and final sight of the day: the dacha in which Boris Pasternak lived as a government supported writer of the Soviet Union.

Pasternak's most famous publication was the story of Dr. Zhivago, though it was rejected for publication in the Soviet Union. Ironically, it was this story for which Pasternak won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Not surprisingly, the government was quite angry about the award, and he wasn't allowed to receive the award; he actually had to decline it.

The entry fee for visiting the dacha was only 150 rubles, quite cheap. We were able to wander through the house as we wanted, we were also given a set of papers with information about each room we saw.

The windows were fantastic. Not only was the dacha pretty big, the rooms felt quite airy. Part of the reason was because there were so many big windows that let in heaps of natural light. I'd love to live in a place that had so much natural light. He slept in a single bed that didn't look very comfortable. (Then again, any furniture I've seen from the first half of the 20th century has never looked comfortable.)

The bookcases held some of the other things he wrote, some of the supplies he used, a set of encyclopedias, and copies of Dr. Zhivago in various languages. On the bottom floor was the room in which he died, which seemed a bit morbid to me.

After seeing the house we walked back to the train station, we didn't have to wait long for the next train back to central Moscow, yahoo!!

Day trips are awesome. 

ukraine: uman

I first heard of the Ukrainian town of Uman during my first year in Ukraine. It's most known for a giant park, named after a Greek woman called Sophia. For some reason, I never traveled to the town until now, in February of my 6th year in the country. 

This trip was even less planned than most of my trips. I booked a place to stay on Thursday, when I planned to arrive sometime on Saturday. There is no train directly to uman, I knew I would have to come by bus or marshrutka. 

My idea was to catch transport around 8 or 830 Saturday morning, of course that didn't happen. Instead it was more like 1115, and my arrival in town was just before 1400. 

Immediately after getting out of the marshrutka I knew it would be interesting in terms of getting around town. I say this because everything was ice covered. Roads and sidewalks were covered by an inch of ice. The snow we had earlier in the week melted into slush and water, which froze before going away. 

We all know I am sorely lacking in natural coordination, so pretty much every step I took all weekend was cautious. Still, I fell numerous times and scrambled even more. I had to laugh at myself, it was quite comedic to see my 'walking' through the eyes of someone else. 

I wandered through the town, in the general direction of my accommodation. Several of the comments said my place was difficult to find, and I didn't want to get stuck trying to find it after dark. 

I only fell three time on the way to my hotel. One of those falls. Had me sliding all the way down a hill, ugh. I managed to stand up again, feeling that the backside of my pants was wet from the fall and slide. Argh. 

I was wet and cold when I checked in, but I took advantage of the radiator in my room to dry off my pants, and quite quickly. 

Google maps said it would only take 30 minutes for me to make the walk, but it was more than an hour later by the time I arrived. This was because of my slipping and sliding, as well as find out that roads didn't lead where google maps said they would. I turned around several times, and found out that the hotel itself didn't list a very good address. Anywho.

After drying off I walked out again making my way toward the edge of town. I was heading toward a church nearby, which seemed easy enough to get to. It would've been easy to get to, except for a hill. The hill would've been easy to go up, except that it was covered in ice. Every step I took was challenging, and I was sliding all over. I finally resorted to trying to move on all fours. That didn't work either, I was still sliding everywhere, going backward more than forward. 

A total stranger was coming up the hill and helped me stay upright, and move where I wanted to go. I have no idea how I didn't take him down as well, with all my sliding. 

I finally made it to the church. I thanked my helper, who kept walking. It was a small, puke yellow church. There were a couple dogs outside, they looked well cared for. I went inside the church, realizing immediately that I'd arrived in the middle of a service. Instead of walking all around, I stayed at the back, just watching and listening. 

Getting back down the hill was just as entertaining as the way up, though somehow I managed to avoid falling. Skating on an uneven ice rink is tough. My walk took me up another street, which was also ice covered. Another struggle to move forward. Ugh. 

Crawling on all fours, holding on to cement walls (or trying to) or every plant along the way was all I could do. Heaps more sliding backward and sideways. 

I finally got to a road slightly less covered in ice. Or, at least the ice was rougher on top, so I was able to have traction. I found a supermarket, I grabbed snacks. I found a cafe for dinner, a place called Burrito. Google maps lists the place, trip advisor does not. I haven't had anything with refried beans in ages, it was quite good. 

It was dark when I left dinner, I decided to go back home instead of wandering. Not only do I not love being outside by myself after dark, but with everything ice covered I worried about my safety. 

My room was so well heated I had to open the window in the middle of the night. I would've preferred to turn down the heat, but it was centrally controlled, I didn't have any control. 

Breakfast was included in the price of my room. I found it served in the bar, by following other hotel guests. I ended up with fried eggs, slices of cheese and ham, and slices of bread. Not great, but not awful. 

I packed up my pack, made sure everything was charged, and figured out where to go. Of course this took longer than it should've. Oh well. 

I first went back to the small church I'd visited the night before. I wanted to see it in daylight. It was lovely, and I was the only visitor at that time. Getting there wasn't any easier, going up that hill was just as difficult, but I didn't fall as often. 

I walked back down the hill and down another street. I saw a monument of some kind (it looked like Cossacks on horses? 2 men on horses instead of one!) which had two Ukrainian flags flying nearby: one blue and yellow, the other red and black. 

I walked up a hill into a neighborhood that was clearly Jewish, because everything was written in Hebrew. Everything. It was the first time I've seen anything like it in Ukraine. 

It took me a few minutes to find it, but eventually I found what I was looking for. It was the tomb of Rabbi Nachman, a place of pilgrimage for many observant Jews. One lady saw me walking around, probably looking a little lost, so she beckoned me to follow her. She showed me the womens' area of the tomb. When I entered the room she put a wraparound skirt on me, and I sat down. 

It wasn't just a place to see a tomb, it was a place of study, and a place of prayer. There was a wall, which ran down the middle of the tomb, I presume the men had a room just like ours on the opposite side. I saw a few women gathered near the tomb, but most of us were sitting in the chairs. 

I saw some women rocking back and forth in prayer, and while reading. I saw tears on the faces of a few. I'm not Jewish, but I could feel the faith in that room. Incredible. 

I left the room after a little while, and got back on the road. When I saw a bakery, I went in. All the labeling was in Hebrew, so I had no idea what I was getting, but it looked good. I got four different pastries, and they were good. 

I kept walking up the street, eventually making a couple turns. I found my next sight, a memorial to the soldiers who had fought for the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. It wasn't as interesting, or as big as I thought it would be. 

I made a loop, and headed back toward a street I'd already walked. When I got there, I walked in the opposite direction I'd walked previously, and much further. The sidewalk was covered in ice, more slippery times for me. Eventually I decided to walk on the edge of the street, as that was mostly ice free. My body was already tired and sore from all the unintended skating.

This street took me directly to my next destination: the park for which the city is so famous. There was a sign with prices and hours listed, but I didn't see a ticket seller anywhere. The gate was open, so I went in. 

This park is world famous in gardening circles, and is over 200 years old. It was built by a Polish count in honour of his Greek bride. (Remember that Various parts of Ukraine have been parts of multiple  other empires over the years.) The park is decorated with ponds, fountains, gazebos, grottoes, etc... I would've preferred to visit in a more colourful time of year, but I figured winter would be unique as well. I was right in that thought, as everything was frozen. I was able to walk out on a couple ponds to take photos not possible in other seasons. 

I walked all over, trying not to fall on the slippery ice. I succeeded most of the time, hee hee. If I go back in another season, I will find other paths to explore. 

Eventually I walked out of the park the same way I'd walked in, then back toward the city. I went to a supermarket for snacks, and back to the cafe for another burrito. 

After eating I walked back to the bus station. It was easy to find the next marshrutka departing for kyiv, and I had to wait less than an hour. We stopped far more often on the way back to kyiv, than on the way to Uman. The weather was also far worse. Most of the drive was in blowing snow, so we didn't go as fast either. At one point the marshrutka turned around, drove back a bit, and took an exit to a different highway. I don't know if it was intended or not; that is, I don't know if the exit was originally missed, or if the change was made because of bad traffic on the road we were originally on. 

All in all, the ride back was 4 hours, as opposed to the less than three the day before. Fortunately, the stop back in kyiv was close to a metro station, so getting home was easy.

I'd like to go back to Uman in a different season, as I could walk more, it would be cleaner and safer (no ice,) and there would be more daylight.