ukraine: kyiv: returning to the food fest

I'd had such a good time at the food fest last month that I decided to return this month. The festival was in the same place, with many of the same restaurants selling food.

I met up with one of my coworkers, who was willing to look around even though he has really strict limits on what he can/will eat. We wound our way through the mall to get to the entrance to the fest, and paid the entrance fee, which was 70 griven. (Less than $3.) There was a security check, in that they looked in my purse, and we went through metal detectors of some kind.

Then we wandered. We looked at every single food booth in the entire area, and believe me, that's a lot of food. The theme this month was Eastern European, which didn't sound nearly as exciting as the theme the month before, which had been Mexican. Thankfully, not all the food was East European.

There were so many choices that looked so good. Burgers and quesadillas and paella and soup and eclairs and much much more. I already knew I wanted to come back the next day. (And I did.)

In addition to checking out all the food available we wandered through an art exhibit in an old warehouse. Many of the exhibits had chairs nearby in case anyone wanted to sit and look at a specific piece for a while. 

After each of us bought food we found an area where people were sitting in big bean bag chairs, facing a stage. We were lucky enough to find bags for ourselves, so we sat. Not too much later the performances started.

The performances weren't long, they were more just a number of groups of people in traditional clothing doing traditional dances. Good fun.
Eventually, I put my coworker back on the metro, then went home. My belly was full and happy.

ukraine: kyiv: ulichnaya eda food fest

Woo hoo, I finally get to write about something that happened close to my flat. 

I found out about a food fest that takes place near my metro station. It's a street food fest, it happens approximately monthly, with a different theme each time. 

I didn't know there was a theme, I didn't really know much of anything ahead of time, and didn't have many expectations. 

I walked to the fest from my flat, I think it was about 35 minutes of walking, maybe a little longer.

The entry fee was 70 griven,  (just under $3) I wasn't thrilled about that. I hate paying an entry fee for something where I'm going to spend more money to do anything inside the event. Argh. Anywho. 

I was quite impressed with this fest. It was much bigger than I expected, and well set up. 

I decided to walk around the entire area to find out what was available before buying anything, it took me a while. (Also because I took random photos while moseying.) 

There were a number of Mexican options, kebabs, drinks, donuts, burgers, etc... I found out later that the theme was Mexican, which explained all the quesadillas and burritos available. 

I ended up having some slices of meat on a pita with tomatoes and lettuce, mussels, donuts, and a drink. I came away wishing I'd arrived earlier so I would've had more time to eat more, and find space in my stomach for all of it. 

I can't wait for the next fest, I will be sure to attend both days, and get there earlier in the day :)