ukraine: kyiv for another khreshchennya

Winter this year in Moscow hasn't been very wintery. It still feels like late fall, the ugly part of the season. The weather has been the same in Kyiv, much to my disappointment. Despite this, I decided to return to Kyiv for another year to take park in khreshchennya, the 12^th day of Christmas, when Jesus was baptised in the River Jordan. This takes place each year on 19 January in countries that have Orthodox Christianity.

Since you can no longer fly directly from Moscow to Kyiv (thanks to the ongoing political mess between the two countries,) I went for the next best option: the train. It is easy enough, but it involves waking up twice in the middle of the night for border controls. 

Thankfully, this year I wasn't pulled for a random interview, just a few questions while the officer was looking at my passport.

My train arrived on time in Kyiv, back to one of my all time favourite train stations. It's grand and traditional, and I love it. After arriving I went to a fast food restaurant across the street to charge my phone and use wifi. After hanging out there for an hour I walked to the accomodation I'd booked.

There was no sign on any door of the building where my hostel was located, but I noticed that there was a wifi signal with the same name, so I climbed the stairs, hoping eventually a door would have a label. Thankfully, it worked out well.

After getting myself sorted for another hour, I started walking again. Since I lived in Kyiv for six years I have seen a lot of the city, so I wasn't aiming for anything in particular, I just wanted to relax in a place that still feels comfortable, like home.

The first place I saw was St Volodymyr's Cathedral. It's a giant yellow church across the street from metro Universitet. Last year during our visit we walked past the church, this time I walked inside. Since this was the day before the holiday, there were plenty of people in the church. Even though I was there in the middle of the day, it was quite dark, as there isn't a whole lot of lighting inside.

The inside of the church is covered in frescoes, it's lovely. I watched people and absorbed the atmosphere for a few minutes.

From there I walked down the hill, passing the pedestal on which the statue of Lenin used to stand. The bottom of the pedestal is now painted blue and yellow, (Ukrainian national colours,) and there is currently a contemporary art piece in front of it.

I arrived at one end of Khreshchatyk Street, one of the main streets of the city. It was rebuilt after the war, by the Soviets. Because of this it is a wide boulevard, perfect for tanks and military marching parades.

I stepped into the Roshen chocolate/candy store (owned by the former president Poroshenko,) and found my favourite toffees, yum. It's not amazing, but it's good :)

At the other end of Khreshchatyk is Maidan Nezalezhnosti, or Independence Square. It has been turned into a sort of living museum, with signs and information in both English and Ukrainian, descibing what happened in the winter of 2013 and 2014. The emotional reaction I had back then always comes back to me, and I always take a few moments to honour those who died for their country.

As I was walking through the area I noticed that the trade building has been fully rebuilt, it looks stronger than I remember it being during my first couple years in Kyiv.

I walked up the alley of the heavenly hundred heroes (I'm not exactly sure on the translation of the Ukrainian name,) with all of it's memorials, ribbons, and flags, thinking again about everything that happened during that time.

I decided to go see a building I hadn't seen since my very first year in Kyiv, the House with Chimeras. I'm not sure why the building was built, or what it was for, but it is eye catching no matter what. It is across the street from the official office of the president, so it was completely blocked off for several years during and after the revolution.

As I got there I saw that a small seasonal ice skating rink had been set up, and people were queued up to take their turn. Very nice, and there was music being played somewhere.

After taking photos of the carvings on the building, I turned around and walked back north. I'm not sure how I got there, but my next stop ended up being a random cafe, this one with a menu of croissant sandwiches. Yum.

From there I kept walking and ended up next to the Rada, or parliament building. The photo I've always wanted to take means standing in the middle of the street, so I've never taken it. (I don't trust Ukrainian drivers, just like I don't trust Russian drivers.) I don't know how often politicians are in the building, or how much power regular Ukrainians have in making changes to their country's laws.

Behind the Rada is a palace that has never been open since I first arrived in Kyiv. It is always mentioned in the guidebook and travel apps as a sight, but that's not accurate. You can see the outside of the building, and it's gardens, but only from a locked gate in front. The gardens seemed more cleaned up than in previous years, so who knows, maybe there is a plan to eventually open the land and building to visitors. I hope so.

That brought me to Mariinsky Park, which follows the river for a bit. The weather was dark and cloudy, I couldn't see the other side of the river, booo. I followed the paths through the park, all the way until the big platz with the Friendship Arch. 

I think it was given by the Russians to the Ukrainians in the days of the USSR, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be given now.

Side note, the arch was painted in a rainbow during the weeks Ukraine co-hosted the Euro cup with Poland, in 2012, in an effort to show how tolerant the country is. I love Ukraine, but tolerant it is not.

By that point the sun had gone down, so I was able to see some of the city lights, those that weren't covered by clouds. It's always a nice spot.

From there I slowly made my way back to my hostel, stopping at a supermarket along the way to pick up dinner: ramen noodles. 

Despite the noisy roommates in the dorm room, I still got a lot of sleep, it felt good.

The next morning I packed up and checked out, then met Oresta on the platform of one of the nearby metro stations. Oresta was a colleague when I worked in Kyiv, we've kept in touch ever since I left the city.

We rode the metro a few stops, getting off at Obolon station. There we met one of her friends, Genia. (In this case the nickname is the short version of Evgeniy.) He drove us out the north side of the city to an area I've wanted to visit for a long time: the Kyiv Sea.

The weather was the same as the day before, meaning everything was gray. Gray water, gray clouds, etc... Even though there was no colour to be found, I could see why Oresta likes the area so much.

Some locals had chosen to go in the water for their 'baptism' in this area, there was a platform specifically set up for this. We arrived around 1115, so it wasn't yet too busy. By the time we got back to the car it was a lot busier, many more people hanging out near the platform.

We followed the path along the water for a while, it was nice. Quiet, and nice. Eventually we got to a man made beach area, with cute little huts that are probably great picnic spots in summer. Needless to say, it wasn't so lovely on this particular day, oh well.

We walked a little further so Oresta could show me something she'd found a few years previously: an abandoned bobsleigh track!! AWESOME!! There is a gate in front of the track, but there are huge holes in the gate, and a footpath has been worn around one side of the gate. 

Clearly it is regularly visited.

I decided to climb up onto part of the track, using the metal support under the track itself. I wanted to walk further along the track, but that would've meant trusting the wood that still remained, and I wasn't that confident. Plus, I was a bit worried about some of the nails sticking out in random places. Anywho, so fun!

We walked back to the car, and Genia drove us back to one of the metro stations in the city. When I lived in Kyiv it was called Petrovka. Sometime in the last three years it has been renamed, to Pochaina. Apparently the name Petrovka was too Russian. Sigh.

We took the metro to Hidropark, where I've always taken part in Khreshchatyk. As I knew it would be, the metro station was packed. It is probably busier that day than any other day in the year, even when people come to the park in summer. Ukrainians make the religious event into a giant party.

Since there was no snow or ice this year I decided to go in the water on the busier side of the river. Even without the snow and ice, it was still plenty cold, but I'm still glad I did it. Does taking part mean I'm fresh and clean for the coming year?

After drying off and getting dressed again, we went back to the metro station. Oresta went home and I went back to the city center. It was great to spend a few hours with her, catching up on anything and everything. I treasure my friendships.

Instead of trying to see more places in the city I decided to check out a new cafe, the Blue Coffee Cup. I discovered it had a good menu, good prices, good portion sizes, nice decoration and atmosphere, and good service. I might have overeaten, but I regret nothing :) I ended up staying in the cafe for several hours, just because I could.

After dark I finally got moving again, and started walking back toward the train station. I've done that walk so many times that I don't need to use my phone to figure out where to go. Getting back to Moscow was just as easy and smooth (though no one loves the two border control wakeups in the middle of the night) and coming west. 

I'll always be happy to go back to Kyiv. (And hopefully more of Ukraine at some point.)