Sights Seen

Well faithful readers, I have had a fantastic couple days of sightseeing.  Hopefully I’ll remember everything, because I was too tired to write last night.

So let’s see.  Yesterday was September 1, the first day of school and National Education Day.  That means the streets were full of uniformed youngsters on their way to school.  The girls wear these huge white bows in their hair, which seem to be a sort of status symbol--the bigger, the better.  I got to see all of them as I jogged around the neighborhood.  Adorable.  Then Mike and I went in search of St. Sophia’s Cathedral.  First we went to what we thought was St. Sophia’s but what was actually St. Michael’s.  St. Michael’s was so beautiful that I was actually totally satisfied, until we read the sign.  So after that we crossed the square, passing by an impressive statue of the three brothers and one sister who supposedly founded Kiev.  

Finally, we made it to St. Sophia’s.  It’s embarrassing that it took us so long to physically locate it, because it is not only the most famous but also the biggest cathedral in Kiev.  But it was worth it, boy howdy.  It was founded in the 10th century C.E. by Jaroslavl the Wise, whose sarcophagus is still there.  Not only is it exquisitely beautiful, but they also have it so that you can parts of the original artwork and architecture alongside the restorations.  Right now they have an exhibit of centuries-old mosaics rescued from, of all places, St. Michael’s.  At one point I got yelled at for leaning on a railing outside the golden iconostasis, and I wasn’t bothered by that, but because the woman yelled at me in English.  “Please!  Stop!” 

That night we went with Anthony, the Fulbright program director, to a fancy wine bar and had a Ukrainian wine sampler.  Now I know why Ukraine isn’t famous for its wine.  The white wines were palatable, the reds drinkable, but once we got to the “dessert wine,” I discovered even I have some standards.  We went to an overpriced, understaffed pseudo-Japanese restaurant for dinner, but, as in the wine bar, it was the company that really made it fun.  Unfortunately, I was too tired and full to join the group for after-dinner champagne, so I went home and watched The In-Laws with Hannah.  It was, frankly, one of the best decisions I’ve made in a long time.

Today, after a long and lazy morning, we embarked on the touristiest day yet.  Hannah and Katherine had not yet been to the Lavra, AKA the Caves Monastery, and I hadn’t been to the World War II Museum.  Luckily, the two are at the same metro stop.  Actually, I didn’t even want to go into the museum, but outside the museum are unbelievable, larger-than-life stone statues of scenes from the war.  These pieces are really incredible and touch on every aspect of the struggle, from the factories to the battlefields to the camps.  The museum itself is underneath my absolute favorite monument in Kiev, the Rodina-Mat or Motherland.  She is a gorgeous silver woman with a sword in one hand and a sickle-and-hammer-adorned shield in the other.  Heads taller than the Statue of Liberty, she is visible from most places in the city.  Moreover, she has this mysterious power over me, like I can’t look away but am strangely empowered when I look at her.  In fact, sometimes my camera shakes when I try to photograph her.  

After a sickly satisfying dinner at McDonalds, we went for a booze cruise along the Dnieper River.  For thirty griebens (about $8) we got an hour-long ride past all the sights we’ve now seen.  Katherine, who had actually taken the ride before with her friend Ina, wondered how many people on the boat were tourists and how many were locals.  It seemed to me that plenty of Kievans took the ride, either on dates or just to relax/celebrate with friends.  We had fun drinking beer and listening to the Russian pop music and nauseating remixes of good American pop songs.  But no one had as much fun as the middle-aged group behind us, one man and two women, who in the course of the hour enjoyed champagne, beer, cognac, vodka, a homemade picnic and more vodka.  By the time we disembarked, we were all dancing a little shakily.  

Now we’re back at the apartment, watching Saved by the Bell and planning tomorrow’s adventures.  Our time in Kiev is winding down, but today we took care of all the most important sightseeing.  Tomorrow I think it’s back to the beach, past which we sailed today.  We’re not just going to swim, but also to eat Kiev’s best shwarma.  As you can see, we can now navigate the city like a bunch of real Kievyankas.