The Kyiv Days of Kyiv

 What a jam-packed day we had today. Marla will fill you in with some of the details I missed, but I'll try to briefly cover what happened this beautiful Saturday in Kyiv.

Welcome to Kyiv - Still Home to Euro 2012

We were lucky enough to arrive in Kyiv for "Kyiv Days", an annual celebration of the city and its history. This is when thousands of tourists pack Kyiv's 'Old City' to see the sights and take in its culture

Marla and Lev standing in the middle of  Andrievsky Uzviz

We started the day (after a hearty breakfast at the hotel) by climbing the Andrievsky Uzviz (St. Andrew's Descent), which leads from Podil', the lower city where many Jews lived, to the upper 'old city'. Today especially, the route was lined with street vendors and stalls selling every knickknack and souvenir imaginable. From Red Army medals, to paintings, to samovars, to wooden pipes, to tshirts, etc. You could find almost anything... for double or triple the usual price. 

Including more toy soldiers than is probably good for you...

It's like Ukraine in hanging ornamental form

After Andrievsky Uziz, we visited St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery, which was completely demolished by the Soviets when they invaded during Stalin's anti-religious campaign in 1937 that saw the destruction of many churches and synagogues. It was rebuilt and reopened in 1999 by the Ukrainian government.  It's still a working Ukrainian-Orthodox monastery and is quite beautiful with its blue walls and golden domes. [Marla's note: the colours reflect the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag (or vice versa) which in turn reflect the blue of the Ukrainian skies and the yellow of the ubiquitous fields of wheat in the countryside].

St. Michael's. Sometimes, it almost blends into the sky, so the domes appear to be floating.

Marla and Yuri taking pictures of  the Golden-Domed Monastery. Note the section with the uncovered brick, where the original facade of building.

After this we walked along proyizd Volodomirsky (Volodomyr's thoroughfare) to the St. Sophia Sobor (Monastery). [Marla's note: You could also call this Saint Wally's Way, but that's probably a bit too informal]. St. Sophia was built as an exact replica of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, only much smaller in size. It was originally completed in 1025.

St Sophia, with the exposed brick work of the old facade. Also, way too many domes.

The cathedral was redone later in its current style, though the original brick finish has been left in places. Since we weren't allowed to take pictures inside, you'll have to believe when I say it's interior is magnificent. Many of the original mosaics and icons (religious paintings) have been left untouched and parts of the floor have been opened up to show the original entrance, foundation, and flooring.

Marla and Yuri with their good friend Myron, who graciously gave us a tour of Kyiv despite feeling under the weather.

This art installation is entirely made out of Ukrainian pysanky (easter eggs). Marla and Yuri saw another piece by the same artist, Oksana Mas, in Venice at the Biennale on their visit there in 2010!

After this visit, we prepared ourselves for the emotional difficulty of visiting Babyn (Babi) Yar later in the afternoon. Marla will write about that visit in a later blog post. She'll also write about the Kyiv Days musical concert with a follow-up "Western-style" laser show that we saw tonight. So you can be reassured that it's not all heavy news for tomorrow!

Добраніч і спати спокійно / Goodnight and sleep well. [Marla: Actually due to problems uploading the photographs, this post was written  by Lev last night, but posted this morning, so we should actually be saying Good Morning, but let's just pretend it is still Saturday night in Kyiv.] :)

-Lev