Sunday, March 26, 2017

Cold Kiev

Kiev, Ukraine is a five hour flight from Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Ukraine Airlines offered a reasonable price, so I visited this beautiful old city for a three day weekend. I arrived early on Friday and left on Sunday night, which was enough time for me to explore the capital city.

The food and architecture was the best and made the whole visit worthwhile. The weather was too cold for me though, I thought late March would be warmer, but it was mostly around 6 Celsius or 43 Fahrenheit, which felt like punishment to my blood that is acclimated to Arabian warmth...
St Volodymyr's Cathedral

I spent most of Friday drinking coffee to escape the chill and the coffee is very good! Lots of coffee shops to visit, each with unique character. 35 hryvia will get you a very nice latte and that is about $1.35. I will admit I mostly ate and drank my way through Kiev.
View from the Small Talk cafe.

Savory "varenyky" dumplings, like pierogi.

Cherry and cheese, sweet varenyky.






























On Saturday I took a sightseeing tour bus which left from Independence square and drove by the historic sights in about an hour and a half. This is definitely the best sightseeing bus tour price I've ever had-- only $7.
The historic Jewish district looked really interesting, but I didn't get to explore there at all. Golda Meir the fourth prime minister of Israel hails from this neighborhood.
I intended to visit a museum or art gallery, of which the city has many. But I never made it in time and the line was too long for the Pinchuk Art Center, for which several people recommended I visit. http://pinchukartcentre.org/en/ Maybe next time?
The Opera hotel was the only splurge, but was worth it. It is a beautiful old historic hotel with a spa. Great location and really felt Ukrainian.
Historic Opera Hotel, a very good location.


Would I go back to the Ukraine? Definitely. I love Eastern Europe, the food, the people, the charm. Compared to Budapest or Prague, Kiev didn't seem as developed for tourists, though there was definitely high end retail and lots of people ready to speak English. I liked that the city wasn't overwhelmed with other tourists at this time, but that could be because of the Crimea issue. I wish for the Ukrainian people that things settle down peacefully there and Kiev stays a vibrant city.
Al fresco serenade.

St Andrew's church

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