Day 4 - Ukraine

November 24 -

I took the metro to the area around the Mariyinsky Palace. Arsenalna metro is one of the deepest subways in the world. Taking photos is a no-no here, so imagine how tense I became when I got caught taking one and was duly reprimanded by a metro worker. Thankfully, it's the Ukraine, not Russia, or else I'd be bribing the police to get me out of this jam. Mariyinsky Palace was beautiful (lovely shade of blue), but as luck would have it, under reconstruction. Still, I could see much of it through the fence and I snapped tons of photos.

Checking out the Mariyinsky park and all the stray dogs, it was sunny out this morning, the weather was nice. There was a tiny religious village set up in the park and I couldn't make heads or tails what it was all about. I do know there was an Orthodox cross erected directly in front of the Parliament building, which sits next to the palace. I'm sure there was an explanation, but at that moment, it was all completely lost on me.

Back to the hostel for breakfast. Omlettes again. Now I discovered why they were so delicious. Oil. The omlettes were cooked in about an inch of vegetable oil. Explains why I was sick the entire trip. Almost everything I consumed was cooked in tons of oil. Out again, and my day continued with a stop at the Golden Gate. Since I had walked this route the previous night, I felt like a pro now. St. Sophia Cathedral was gorgeous and the climb to the top of the Bell Tower rewarded me with the most magnificent views of St. Michael's just down the road. It was so beautiful outside and I got some fantastic photos. I walked over to St. Michael's and then headed to Andrew's Descent.

Other than St. Andrew's church, which the area is named for, the Andriyivskyy Descent wasn't exactly the most thrilling aspect of the neighborhood. From what I had read, I initially gathered that it would be some funky, cool place to hangout. To tell you the truth, it was all just meh. The real challenge were the people running the souvenir stalls. Of course, they speak perfect English. And the hard sell was tiring. Since this is the only area where you can get the best selection of cheap souvenirs, I had to deal with it. I did walk away with some gorgeous, and super cheap, colorful easter eggs (Pysanka). I ate at a traditional Ukrainian restaurant and headed down the hill to check out the neighborhood of Podil. Podil was the more funky area and where I saw more locals, cafes, nightclubs, and loads of kiosks selling almost everything one could think of. Kievans buy everything kiosks.

Having walked for eons that day, I headed back to the hostel and asked the manager to write out my train instructions in Russian. Apparently, the written request I came armed with wasn't sufficient enough when I originally tried to buy tickets to Lviv. The manager explained that nothing was wrong with them, just that the ticket booth women were too "stupid" (her words!) and needed only the basic of information. Thankfully, this new train ticket request worked because I had my tickets in just a few minutes, including, I think, a slight smile from the woman working the booth.