Kiev roofscape

My last picture of Kiev is this view from my hotel window. I chose it because I very much like the restored building with the green roof, the way this contrasts with the building next to it, and the new building in the background.

My second trip to Kiev was better than the first mainly because this time I was in a hotel that is in the centre of the city which meant that a short walk took you past many interesting places. There was also a better choice of restaurant.

The hotel guided us to a Ukrainian restaurant, Taras, in Schevcheno Park next to various museums and the university. Luckily the menu was in English (and Ukrainian) and they also had pictures of most of the dishes so you could get a really good idea of what they all were.
We liked it so much that we went there two evenings in a row!

Not all of Kiev has been refurbished

There are a lot of fantastic Baroque and modern buildings in central Kiev which makes it a great place for anybody who is interested in architecture to explore. But it is not all like this. This road leads down from the Opera House to the main street so is very central, is surrounded by lovely buildings but is clearly in a state of disrepair. I think that it looks fantastic as it is, which is why I took the photograph!

New year's tree in Independence Square, Kiev

In Ukraine, so I was told today, trees are decorated for the new year and it is a good sign if they can be kept looking healthy for a long time. Unlike in the UK where they should be taken down twelve days after Christmas or risk bringing bad luck, they can stay up until the next big festival on 1st May.

This tree is in Independence Square and looks its best after dark when the lights come into their own. The pattern of lights moves all the time and after a few attempts I managed to capture it with most of them on.

Back in Kiev

It would appear to be four months since I was last in Kiev, where does the time go?! This time I traveled there during the day on a Sunday and managed to get a few hours explore time in before it got too dark. This is the Golden Gate, which is just down the road from my hotel.

A little further down the road is the main street in Kiev, Khreschatyk. During the week this is a busy thorough fare but, unlike London, it has wide pavements. Today there was even more space for pedestrians as most of the road is closed to traffic at weekends. This is a very popular place for Ukrainians and I saw many people taking photographs of their friends in front of famous landmarks, particularly in Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square).

A last look at Kiev

On my last day in Kiev I had a little time to do some further exploring and shopping. A chance turn off a road that we had walked a few times before took us into a park that covers the slopes of the steep hill that leads up from the riverside to the top of the town. The park is spacious and has lots of interesting features, such as avenues of trees, statues, pathways, flowerbeds, views over the river, places to sit and a funicular railway.



After leaving the park, we took some random turns to walk down roads that looked interesting, including the one pictured here. This is a fairly typical view of Kiev with baroque architecture and trees which combine to make the place both attractive and peaceful.



With elections on the Sunday, there were signs of campaigning wherever we went, and that meant lots of flags.

Kiev is very pretty

Work finished promptly today so we walked back to the hotel, a walk of about 5km or 7km if you follow our route! This gave us the opportunity to see a lot more of the city, a lot of which looks like the photograph above.



The center of the city is quite large and there are decorative and impressive buildings in all directions. There are a number of squares, fountains and statues. Most of the squares are currently occupied by political campaigners ahead of the elections this weekend (30 September). This campaigning brings a host of flags and small tents to the squares and brings democracy to the heart of the city.

The main street in Kiev is wide and busy. The pavements have been designed for promenading and have lots of places to sit and lots of things to look at while seated. This is clearly a popular pastime with the locals as most of the benches were occupied by people resting or reading.



And every now and then you find a building as grand as this one.

Kiev in the rain

My short trip to Kiev got off to a wet start but I still managed to walk around the city center for about an hour before it got dark and hunger forced me back to the hotel.

First impressions are good. There are many beautiful baroque buildings to remind you of places like Prague and Riga but there is a little extra too with the domes on the orthodox churches, such as the one in this photograph.

There is much evidence of wide-scale renovation so the city center is likely to look even better soon. All the building that I could see under construction (including the one in my Facebook album) are in the baroque style so the character of the city should remain. And before you moan about mock-Baroque all I can say is that I have seen large scale building in the old style in Gdansk and it works!

The only negative so far is that the overground public transport (i.e. trams and buses) seems to be a little thin on the ground.

I am here until Friday morning so hopefully I will get the opportunity to explore the city a little more.