Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Kiev - Again!

So, I went to Kiev again this weekend. It was so nice to be in a small, green city with fresh air....
On Saturday afternoon we took off wandering toward the Lavra. We did everything backwards basically, but this was a new area I had not been to.
Here were some wedding pictures near the tanks!
We were at a museum, and there was an underground passage through to the area near the Lavra.
A VERY giant statue... Sorry, I don't know what it was...

These were sculptures on the walls of the underground passage. Quite interesting expressions of pain and suffering.
These people suffered - although my lack of war knowledge is huge, I had never heard of Stalin's famine in Ukraine before I was here the first time......very sad.

Back entrance to the Lavra

When I was here in March, I knew the gardens would be beautiful here...the smell of roses was everywhere! This is a view all the way down to the Dnieper River.

Right now, the local fruit available is very good. Cherrys, nectarines, berries, etc... you see it all on the sidewalk and in the metro. Well, I had never seen cherry trees before! I did try one from the tree - and it was a bit sour....

This was a tomb of somemone Domes of the Lavra

2 comments:

Sharon said...

Michelle, I am always impressed with your posts. I just love the pictures and little details you give. Things that aren't in travel guides or books about Russia. It is nice to see flowers in Kiev. The wedding in front of the tanks is interesting - portent of things to come?
I really liked the pictures from the Ukraine. There is a Bosnian lady that works at BGJHS that I've known for 15 yrs. or so who talks about the area you were and how beautiful it is. She still has family there.
It looks like the entrance to your current apt. is nicer that your previous one.
Keep up the posts. We enjoy them so much and they make me feel like you're not so far away. Love, Sharon

Michelle said...

Thanks Sharon! Yes, Ukraine is really very beautiful. Kiev is small, walkable city. It is a nice change of pace from Moscow.