в киеве!

Well.

I've been a bit busy but that's really no excuse. Right now I'm going to write about my trip to Kiev from September 19-21; tomorrow (or maybe sometime later this week) I'll write up a quick update about the last two weeks.

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When I am old and gray and losing my memory, I will at least be able to remember which pictures came from Kiev, as they all feature one of two things:


My orange balloon (orange is the national color of Ukraine) OR


My babushka outfit.

More on that later.

Seven of us took an overnight train from Moscow to Kiev; it left from metro station Kievskaya (sensibly enough) at 11 at night and arrived at 11 in the morning. We stocked up on cookies and tea bags and hopped on the train, where it turned out that none of us were assigned bunks that were close together. However, we managed to trade with some nice people (in our very mangled Russian, too!), so Carolyn and I spent the evening playing cards and talking and avoiding starting our Russian dictionaries. We decided to try to catch a few hours' sleep before getting in the next morning, so we hit the sack around 2 thinking we'd get plenty of sleep--but of course, the passport control people woke us up at 4:30 and the customs people at 7, so that didn't really work out. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed my first overnight train (!)--it's kind of soothing to know that you're on the road and you can relax and enjoy, and trains are fun. Plus you always meet fun people--Elena was in a section with four old men who taught her some Russian proverbs of sorts.

Kiev arrived all too soon, but we were ready to jump in. We figured out the Metro (a little different from Moscow, but not too much; plus Ukrainian uses basically the same Cyrillic alphabet as Russian and many words have similar roots, so we managed to find our way) and trooped off to the hostel to drop off our stuff. It was a huge business hostel, but it was very nice, and there were five people per room and five girls, so it worked out perfectly. After getting everything squared away, we began our blitz through Kiev!

We started out at Independence Square, which is right in the middle of Kiev. Liz told us all about the history of the square, which was great because I didn't really know anything about it--hundreds of thousands of people pitched tents there during the Orange Revolution in 2004 in the middle of the ice and snow for weeks to protest election fraud. Plus, there's a McDonald's.

Don't worry though, we didn't give in to our American friends. Instead we ate at a fabulously delicious and cheap Tartar place across the street. Mmmm. Refreshed and rested, I acquired my orange balloon which then accompanied me so faithfully and we set out to find some churches. We walked past St. Michael's and St. Andrew's (below) before dilly-dallying for a while on the main souvenir street in Kiev, where I picked up some fun Christmas presents. By that point some of us were losing a little steam, so the boys stopped in a cafe for some warm coffee while the girls struck out for the Chernobyl Museum. We made a plan to meet there later.


St. Andrew's Church--GORGEOUS

Let me tell you something, folks--this was an epic quest. You can actually visit Chernobyl now; it's not that far from Kiev, but it's definitely a day trip (and takes quite a bit of nerve). We chose the tamer option; the Lonely Planet guide said it was open until six, so we decided we'd walk up one of Kiev's most picturesque streets on the way. Little did we know that we were in fact walking the wrong direction; half an hour later, our fearless leader began to express doubts and we hopped back on the Metro to find it. We did--at 5:45--find the museum, but it had closed at 5, contrary to the the guidebook's information. Also, the boys weren't there, and of course, none of our phones worked in Kiev because we're all on Moscow plans. We figured we'd lost them for good, and as the exhaustion really began to set in, we figured the best plan was to take some ridiculous pictures:


So, so sad. Also the tank in the picture at the beginning of this post was parked outside the museum and was probably contaminated, come to think of it.

...and then leave the boys a note on an already-used post-it stuck to the "Closed" sign on the museum door to come meet us at the Hoegaarden, a bar/restaurant around the corner (we even drew them a map). Clearly, this was a good plan. We figured we'd probably see them again on the train to Moscow. However, they actually got our note and met us about five minutes! It was a miracle. We hung out there for a while and then decided to try to find this highly recommended Ukrainian restaurant down by Independence Square. On the way, Roxanne fell face-first in a puddle, we took a picture in a fairy-tale princess carriage, and a small child made a sad face at me when I would not give him my orange balloon. When we arrived, at about 9:30, the restaurant was full until 2 in the morning. Please note that this was the second thing we wanted to do that we could not because it was closed--and there's more to come! So we went next door to this weird lounge/restaurant thing and ate spaghetti carbonara and decided we'd head back to the hostel to get some sleep so we could wake up early the next morning.

We awoke at 7:45 (!) to head over to Kiev's big monastery, which is famous for the caves that monks have carved out over the centuries. The whole complex was gigantic and beautiful--domed churches everywhere, and arches and cobblestone streets. After running around and seeing the mummified monks in the small section of caves that are open to the public, we walked around and saw the sights, and attempted to go to the Miniature Museum, wherein lies a whole bunch of insanely small things. For example, a flea with golden horseshoes. Kitschy, sure, but pretty fun. BUT OF COURSE:


...it was closed.

This picture, I feel, deserves explanation on several points. First, please read that sign, because it is amazing. It's trying to say that the museum is closed when it's raining (which it was, by the way, in buckets), which doesn't make any sense because it's all indoors. Second, we had to wear longs skirts and headscarves to enter the monastery in accordance with Orthodox tradition, so I figured I might as well go for the full babushka look. Third, the gesture I'm making is a very rude way of saying "You can't have this!" We discovered it when a crazy old babushka in Red Square turned to us and shook this gesture at us while cursing at us in Russian for attempting to feed "her" pigeons in her Red Square. Maybe that doesn't explain it... but I still like it.

The rest of the day we spent in more churches; we saw part of traditional wedding in St. Andrew's, the beautiful church above, and also squeezed in a way-too-short visit to St. Sophia's, which was INCREDIBLE. It has mosaics and frescoes FROM THE 11TH CENTURY, and they were AMAZING. Out of control. No pictures were allowed, but I managed to sneak one when the extremely vigilant docents weren't looking.



Easily one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Then we grabbed some super-cheap and super-tasty cheese, salami and bread and jumped back on the train to Moscow at 5 in the evening and called it a trip. Little did we know that our adventures had not yet come to an end!

We arrived in Moscow at 6:20 in the morning--just enough time to head home for a little nap before our first meeting with our professors and all the students who were just arriving that day at 12. But when we pulled into the station, I noticed the barest hint of pink in the sky, and Elena said, "Let's go to Moscow State and watch the sun rise over Moscow!"

So we did.

Keep in mind that I'm still channeling babushka, it's absurdly early and we haven't slept or showered since Friday. Lunacy, but totally worth it. Elena, Carolyn and I raced to the Metro--the good ol' Moscow Metro--and got to the top of Sparrow Hill just in time:


The pictures don't do it justice, but eating bread and cheese for breakfast while watching the sun come up over Moscow made me as happy as I've ever been.

The rest of the morning we ran around Moscow deliriously and as a result had funny things happen to us. First we were recruited as extras for a Chinese movie about students at Moscow State in the 1950s, but we couldn't do it because they needed us all day and we had to get to class. Then we went to Red Square in an attempt to see Lenin, but OF COURSE it was closed. Instead we met a crazy Australian travel blogger and took pictures in Red Square, all of which are fabulous, but this is definitely my favorite, and possibly my favorite picture of all time:



A perfect end to a perfect trip. Finally, we showed up at school, exhausted and smelly but perfectly content. I already want to go back.