ukraine: kyiv: holodomor memorial

Two years ago I was in the Ukrainian town of Poltava during the 4th weekend of November. My friend Susannah and I were there to explore the town just because we could.
Just as the sun was going down, we came to the end of a major pedestrian street in town, and listened to a little bit of a speech. We could see the traditional blue and yellow flag of Ukraine, as well as the red and black flag used by the Ukrainian independent army in WW2. Since the protests of Maidan had started just the week before in Kyiv, we thought this was related to those protests.
We walked down the entire length of the street, which took us to a church area. Not long after, we realized there was a procession coming down the street behind us. A truck playing music, a priest at the head of the line, and many people carrying candles in coloured jars. We saw the flags too.

The procession came to a halt at the church, the priest spoke a bit, then went into the church. People with candles laid them on the ground around the church, along with flowers and food. I still didn't know this was anything special.
After returning to Kyiv, we figured out what we had witnessed: the annual remembrance ceremony of the Holodomor. Many cities remember what happened, usually with a speech by someone of honor, flowers, candles, wheat, bread, food in general, etc... There is always a religious aspect of the remembrance, in addition to the story of what happened.

The Holodomor was a famine that happened during the fall/winter/spring of 1932-33. The Soviet government (and current Russian government) have always said it was a year with terrible weather, (it wasn't as good as previous seasons, but not so bad as to cause this famine,) but the rest of the world generally acknowledges that the famine was man made. During these years the soviet government was forcing people into collective farms, and requiring certain amounts of grain be exported. The amount of grain required for export was too much, there wasn't enough left for people to survive. The situation was awful, especially because the people could see silos full of grain, and couldn't eat.

In an effort to keep events a secret, the government closed the borders, so people weren't able to leave and find food elsewhere. Official numbers of starvation range quite a lot, but most people say the official numbers are nowhere near actual numbers. Unofficially I've seen the range of 7-10 million people who died of starvation.
Last year I had friends in town, we spent the 4th Saturday of November touring chornobyl, which was about a lot of death in a different way. We came back to Kyiv too late to see anything rated to the Holodomor, but we did see flowers, candles, and wheat at the base of a memorial sculpture near St michael's church.
This year I wanted to see what happens at the official Holodomor memorial/museum in Kyiv. I had no idea what time anything started, but I remembered Poltava happening in very late afternoon.

I got to the memorial around 1520, after a couple detours. There were soldiers blocking several walking paths near the memorial, which was annoying as I came close, because I didn't know why. When I came close to the memorial, I had to go through metal detectors and an inspection of my purse.
At that point I realized why the paths had been blocked, and why I'd had to go through security. The President of Ukraine, Poroshenko, was speaking at the remembrance service. I was surprised I was able to simply walk up and attend the ceremony, there is no way that would happen if the US president were to speak at a ceremony like this.

I listened, but understood very little. I heard phrases I know well: "слава украіні, героям слава" (please excuse my terrible spelling)...the phrases mean glory to Ukraine, glory to the heroes. It's a call and response every Ukrainian knows, and one that still brings tears to my eyes after the way it brought unity to the country during the Maidan protests and violence.
After the president finished speaking, someone else spoke for a while, I have no idea who it was. I could hear him calling the names of the different oblasts (states) of the country, I presume a representative of each oblast was in Kyiv for this ceremony. After he finished speaking, most of the barricades seems to disappear. People in the crowd slowly moved forward, to lay candles, flowers, wheat, and other food at the base of the memorial. Up on the hill I saw candles that had slowly been lit during the speeches, they were beautiful (in a sad way) in the dark.

I watched for a while, and listened to the music playing. Other than the music, it was pretty quiet; a sense of reverence for what happened was in the air.
For the first time ever, I went into the museum area of the memorial. Since the temperature outside was at freezing or just below, coming inside felt amazing. There are books listing those who died in the various areas of the country. There are a few statues of starving people and children. There are displays of bread, since it is traditionally made with wheat flour, which wasn't available during this time. There were women singing, rather mournful sounding songs in one corner. On the walls are photos of some Ukrainian lands during this time, you can see buildings but a lack of crops.  It's a small area, but very intense.
I walked back to the metro and was home around 1930, happy to be in a warm place, with plenty of food.

ukraine: cherkasy

Another weekend, another trip in Ukraine. I was wandering around my neighborhood one day and found a small bus station, so I looked at potential destinations. Only one destination was a place name I recognized, a city called Cherkasy. This just happens to be the capital of an oblast, and less than four hours away.
The following Saturday I got started way too late, but still managed to get on a bus/marshrutka, and arrived in Cherkasy around 1400. I think. (I didn't pay specific attention to the time because it didn't matter.)

From staying on the marshrutka the whole way, and by looking at the map I could see that nearly everything was close to the main street of the town, called Shevchenko Boulevard.

I stayed on the marshrutka until the very end, even though most of the riders got off in the city center, because I needed to know where to find the marshrutka to get back to Kyiv. I speak a little Russian, but not much, and I don't usually have enough confidence in asking questions of people on the street. Fortunately, the final stop wasn't far from the city center.

When I say city center, it wasn't easily identifiable as such. It wasn't a platz, or other specific area. It was just a block or two along the main street of the city.

After exiting the marshrutka, I walked along the street, heading toward the edge of town. I figured I would head out a bit before turning around and coming back in. The main street is wide in places, and separated in others, so crossing the street isn't super easy. I did cross though, when I saw a series of construction barrier type concrete walls. I'm sure there is a name for these, but I don't know it. 

The reason this series of barriers caught my eye is because they had all been painted. Each one was different, and awesome. A few looked to be adverts, but most were stories of a sort, or just pretty. I saw one that was clearly dedicated to/about the events of the Maidan Revolution, and other about a sea club. 

Eventually I decided I'd walked far enough, so I turned around, and crossed the street again. On my way back to the center of town I passed a monument dedicated to Bogdan Khmelnytsky, a Ukrainian independence fighter centuries ago. 

At one intersection I turned, and using the map on a travel app found my way to what was once a palace/mansion of a local citizen. Needless to say, it isn't that anymore. I think it is now a civic administration building. The outside is still lovely, I wish I'd been able to walk through the inside. As I walked by, I saw a just married couple having photos taken, complete with rose petals strewn all over the steps. 

I also passed a puppet theatre, painted an appalling shade of green. 

I followed the street as it sorrow circled around, back to the main street. Nothing much to see, just a residential area.

Near the main street I found a sushi place that looked good to go to at dinner. Back on the main street I found a bakery with heaps of macaroons. I might've splurged a wee bit more than necessary. YUM. Looking back, I'd definitely go back for more macaroons, just because. I don't know how 'authentic' they were, but I loved them. And they were cheap!

Eventually I came to the cross street I thought would take me to my hotel, so I turned. I passed an abandoned building that looked good for exploring the next day, if I could find an open entryway.As I was walking (a lot further than originally expected,) the sun went down. Not so fun to walk in what was clearly the edge of town, after dark, in the cold. 

I used the map in two travel apps to try to find my hotel, they both listed it in the same place. Unfortunately, when I got to that point, nothing was there. I don't mean the building was wrong, I mean nothing was there. I could see a petrol station, and some kind of building behind a guarded gate. I then used an app to find another place to stay and walked back into the city center, and in the direction where I'd first walked upon arrival. I didn't cancel my original booking, which I should've done. Argh. 

I got to my 'new' hotel, checked in, warmed up, then headed out to dinner. The sushi place was fine. Nothing extravagant, but I doubt I would recognize awesome sushi even if it stared me in the face. The only way I would recognize terrible sushi is if it smelled rotten.

On the way back to the hotel I picked up water, and snacks for the next day. 

This hotel included breakfast in the room price, and it was a good breakfast. A buffet, with hot eggs and sausage, as well as bread, cold cuts, and the separate parts of a Greek salad. Tea and juice as well.

As I started eating I heard the conversation of three guys sitting a couple tables over. They spoke English, and we're speaking about some security issues, and from what I heard, they didn't think anyone else in the hotel spoke or understood English. After I introduced myself (asking the questions of why Americans were in Cherkasy, how long they'd be there, and where they were from originally,) their conversation changed to much more mundane topics. Lesson: never assume no one around you can understand what you're saying.

I left the hotel, and got back to the main street. I found a market of sorts, made up of older folks selling old stuff. Military buttons, old household goods, etc... I was particularly excited to find postcards in the market, though they were definitely old photos. 

My before lunch snack was a chocolate mousse of sorts from an 'italian' cafe. I doubt anything they made/sold was actually Italian at all. 

I followed another side street, which took me to a former hotel. Pretty, and somewhat photogenic. 

The next stop was glory hill, or something like that. Another large WW2 memorial, 'under' yet another big statue of a lady. This lady is on top of a hill, which goes all the way down to a riverside. I didn't go down the hill, but I did enjoy the view. It would've been better if the sky wasn't a solid gray. At least it wasn't raining.

I walked in another direction, followed a travel app again, and made my way to a church. A big church. This one was in the middle of a park, I saw a few people having picnics. (In the chilly weather and gray skies, it didn't look like fun.) 

The inside of the church (St Michaels,)felt much more welcoming than the outside, which seemed rather bland. I was surprised by the number of people inside, even though there was no service happening. 

I didn't stay long, as there was no place to sit, and I can only wander around a church for so long. 

Back in the city center I went back to the macaroon bakery to stock up for the ride back to Kyiv. Is 10 macaroons too many to eat in one sitting? Hee hee.

Then I went back to the sushi place for a real meal, as it was the first 'real' food since breakfast. 

I got lucky and found a seat on the next marshrutka back to Kyiv. I wonder how often they depart? I'm glad I didn't have to wait more than 10 minutes or so. I left just as darkness fell, and arrived home four hours later.