ukraine: kyiv again

I lived in Kyiv for six years. When I first moved there I never would've dreamed I would end up staying for six years. During those six years I had all kinds of experiences and adventures, including a national political revolution. One of those experiences is called Khreshchennya, or Baptism.

Khreshchennya takes place on Epiphany, the 12^th day of Christmas. In the western world, this is the 6^th of January. For those who follow the Orthodox calendar, this is 19 January. When I've been in countries or cities in the western world where this is a celebrated holiday, I've seen festivals and markets and such. In the Orthodox Christian world, there is an aspect that is a party, but it is a much more religious celebration.

Orthodox Christians imitate baptism by going into bodies of water (pond, river, lake, etc...) and go under the water. Typically they go under the water three times, crossing themselves each time.

I did this three or four of the six years I was in Kyiv, and always loved the experience. My first year in Moscow, I found a place to do it, but didn't like it nearly as much. The experience in Moscow didn't feel as real, as raw. I don't know quite how to explain it. I was super excited when I looked at a calendar and realized 19 January would be on a Saturday, which meant I could take the train to Kyiv and participate there.

The girls thought I was crazy, but chose to come with me, and I convinced them to participate too. 

The train ride from Moscow to Kyiv isn't super long, but it feels that way because you're woken up twice, in the middle of the night, for border control with each country.

On the way to Kyiv, I got pulled for a random interview with a border control officer, which was a bit scary. He asked where I'm from, why I was going to Ukraine, why I live in Russia, etc... I was able to answer the questions, but I don't think he liked all my answers. (For instance, when I said that I liked Khreshchennya better in Ukraine than in Russia.) Since the questions were mostly in Russian, and my Russian isn't very good, plus this was a legal situation, I was more than a little nervous. 

Thankfully I passed the interview and was stamped out of the country. It was a lot easier to enter Ukraine than to leave Russia, wierdly enough. That being said, the border officers of both countries were surprised to have three foreigners riding this particular train, in platzcar, or 3^rd class. Usually foreigners spend a bit more money and go for 2^nd class at the very least.

Arriving in Kyiv felt like coming home for me. I was excited to show the girls the train station, because it is what I expect for all train stations in Ukraine and Russia, but haven't had nearly as often in Russia. The main hall is giant, with a beautifully decorated ceiling.

We ate breakfast at a fast food joint across the street, then started walking. Almost immediately I remembered how hilly Kyiv is, especially in comparison to Moscow. Kyiv is built on seven hills, and walking around the city often feels like you're going up or down.

We walked near Shevchenko Park, and I figured the girls ought to at least see the front of the main university building across the street from the park. Taras Shevchenko is a Ukrainian hero, a writer and political figure. He is given general credit for inventing the Ukrainian language.

Kyiv National University is named for him, the main building is painted cherry red. 

I think it's ugly, but the exterior facade isn't what matters when it comes to a university. We were able to take our first team photo in front of that building.

More walking brought us to Khreshchatyk Street, the main street in the city center. It was built after WW2, and was built in a way to accomodate large parades of soldiers and tanks. It's wide, and mostly straight. This street has changed a lot since I moved to Kyiv in 2011. The stores in the buildings on either side change regularly, as do the coffee stalls and such on the pavements.

One store that hasn't changed is Roshen, a chocolate store. Roshen is a candy company owned by Poroshenko, the Ukrainian president. I don't know why I remember this, but the first time I ever had Roshen candy, I was in the middle of nowhere, in Mongolia. Weird. We stopped in the store, buying more than we needed, but it was worth it.

We wound through a couple more streets, before finding the office for the accomodation we'd booked, a flat in the city center. It was a challenge to find cash for the deposit, as we hadn't known we'd need that. 

(The guy said this was normal, but I've stayed all over Ukraine and this was the first time I'd ever needed such a thing.) Anywho, the flat was good and the location was good, so we were happy.

After a little while relaxing, we walked out of the flat and continued exploring the city. There are a couple UNESCO sights in the city, and I wanted the girls to see them both.

We visited St Sophia's Cathedral first, because it was super close. The foundations of the cathedral were laid in the 11^th century, but it took another 20 years to finish. (I always wonder what local citizens thought of the neverending project while it was going on. And on and on and on.) 

The layout of the building looks really similar to the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.

The interior of the cathedral is impressive. One of the parts I like best is the chance to climb stairs and see everything from the second level. It's a view you don't often get in Orthodox churches. It is easy to see where renovations have been done, and where things remain as they were a long long time ago.

As of right now, no particular religious branch has the right to have services in the church. It was an active church until the 1930s, when Soviet authorities wanted to get rid of religion.

They took religious art and treasure out of the church, but didn't destroy the church. It was then made into a history museum.

Near the end of the 1980s authorities told locals they would be giving the church back to religious authorities, but it was never decided exactly who would be in charge. Wikipedia tells me various religious groups have laid claim to it, so there are no active services.

We also climbed the bell tower, because there are great views of the city from up there. It's also super windy, but oh well.

After leaving the grounds of the cathedral, we made our way to Khreshchatyk metro station. We love metro system in Moscow, and I wanted the girls to experience the system in Kyiv. It isn't as extensive, or as nice, but it is still a great system, and relatively cheaper.

Our arrival station was Hidropark, so we could all take park in Khreshchennya. Ever since my first experience with this holiday, I've figured this must be the busiest day in Hidropark all year long. Getting through the turnstiles isn't easy, as there are so many people, going both ways. The ticket office normally has a queue, but this time it was just a mass of people. 

I led the girls over the bridge in the middle of the park, and we stopped to watch everything for a while. I'd tried to explain the whole thing to them ahead of time, but there is nothing like seeing it in real life. There are heaps of people all over the beaches, with a couple rowboats in the water. Random people dash into the water, go under three times, then dash back out. When they get back out they are usually greeted by family or friends, and wrapped in a towel or clothes or a robe.

We crossed the bridge, and I led the girls to a section of beach that is less busy. I wanted each of us to be able to have a photo or video with just us, not a huge mass of people.

Then we did it! I went first, then the girls. I loved it, and while I'm not sure they loved it, they were glad they did it. We finished just at sunset, and the moment the sun went below the horizon we could feel the colder temperatures.

From there we went straight to dinner. One of the gazillion sushi places has a happy hour between 1500 and 1800, buy one get one free. Obviously, we ate too much :)

The next morning Angela and I got up a little earlier, as I wanted to visit a bakery that had cinnamon rolls I loved. Sadly, when we got there, we discovered no cinnamon rolls, and very little else. I'm not sure if it was because we were there just after it opened, or if the cafe has changed quite a bit, but I was totally disappointed.

While on this walk I pointed out a couple huge building murals to Angela, I loved the murals. There is even an app that is supposed to map all the murals in the city. I don't know how accurate it is, but it's still pretty neat.

We packed up and checked out, and were able to leave our packs in the front office.

From there we walked up the hill to St Michael's, another Orthodox church that isn't far from St Sophia. This one is more photogenic, but is also a lot newer. The original St Michael's was quite old, then the Soviets blew it up in the 1930s, in their effort to get rid of religion. It was rebuilt in the early 2000s, if I remember correctly. 

When we went inside the church there was a service taking place, so we didn't wander around as much as I would've liked.

More walking brought us to the top of Andreivsky Descent, a well known street in the city. At the top of the whole thing is St Andrew's, but it was under renovation, and not open. You are allowed to go to the pavement around the church, but doing so now costs 20 griven (about 85 US cents,) even though it was free when I lived there. Argh. We didn't go up the stairs.

I convinced the girls to follow me part way down the street, to another big building mural. When we got there, I was disappointed. 

I remembered it as being brightly coloured, but it didn't feel this way anymore. Argh. Maybe I"m used to see photos on social media, where the colours have increased saturation.

We went the rest of the way down the hill, to an area called kontraktova ploshcha. (Kontrakt square, would be the English translation I think?) There is now a ferris wheel there, which strikes me as somewhat out of place, but seems to be permanent. There are regularly seasonal markets in the area, so there were still Christmas stalls set up.

We found the nearest metro station, and rode to Arsenalna. (Side note, Arsenalna is one of the deepest (if not the deepest) metro stations in the world. Getting up and back out takes a while on the fast escalators.

Our walk first brought us to the biggest WW2 memorial. Near this memorial is a viewpoint showing two memorable structures: the Holodomor memorial and the Lavra. There is also an amazing view over the river, and left bank of the city.

The Holodomor is a man made famine that took place in the winter of 1932-1933. Exact numbers have never been stated, but millions of people died. The Soviet government said it was due to the weather of the year, but there were other factors, including forced communilization. The borders were closed, so people weren't able to leave to get help, or to tell the outside world what was happening.

The memorial is a small museum, the girls and I went in to look around. There are books listing many of those who died, as well as photos and items from that time.

Next up was the other UNESCO sight in the city: the Pechersk Lavra. When we entered the grounds of the Lavra we were joined by Josh, who is someone I worked with in Kyiv. It was fun to take a team photo, since we teach at four different branches of our school.

We wandered through two of the main churches in the Lavra. One of them didn't used to be open except for service times, I guess this has changed. (Probably due to tourist interest?) The other church has one of my favourite ceilings. One side of the property has a beautiful view over the rest of the property and the river.

At that point the girls were tired and cold. Josh left us, so the three of us went back to the city center by metro. We went back to Roshen to buy more chocolate, then back to the same restaurant for more sushi. This time we took the second portions to go, but we ate the second desssert portions.

The train going back to Moscow was a lot easier, though we still had the two middle of the night wake ups for border controls. It seems easier to get into Russia than to leave!