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 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 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 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 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.
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.
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