Where in Europe Photo Quiz
Can you match the picture to where in Europe it was taken? Comment below with how many you got correct and which ones you didn’t know. All photos were taken by me and can be read about in my blog posts 🙂
Tag: ukraine
Kiev and Chernobyl, Ukraine Travel Blog
I went to Kiev for two full days and I was completely surprised at how much I enjoyed it. After visiting tons of European cities, I started to feel like they were all pretty similar. However, Kiev definitely has a different feel from most European cities and I think it is completely underrated. I wish that I had at least one extra day to see some extra sights. I spent one day wondering around the city and the other day taking a guided tour to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. I flew into Kiev-Boryspil International Airport. After arriving at the airport, I went through immigration. Ukraine does not require a visa for U.S citizens. After getting through passport control, I took out some money at an AM (1000 UAH limit) before going to purchase a local SIM card. I knew that this would come in handy with navigating my way around throughout the trip. It was only about $5 for 8GB, which was the smallest option they had available at the time. I then found the Sky Bus outside of the airport, that takes you to the city. You pay for the bus ticket on the bus, which is 100 UAH, which is less than $4. The downside of the bus is that it does not go all the way into center city. It will drop you off near a metro stop and you will have to take the metro the rest of the way into the city. The bus does not announce the stops so it will be useful if you have maps pulled up on your phone. Otherwise, just get off on the first stop, which is about a 15-minute ride. The metro ride is only 8 UAH, which is only 30 cents. The metro takes about an extra 30 minutes to get into the city center. This mode of transportation is much cheaper than taking a taxi. If you want the convenience of a taxi, there is an official taxi desk inside of the arrivals terminal. This will get you a government taxi instead of getting inside a taxi from some random guy that may try to overcharge you. It is also safer going with the official taxis. Most Ukrainians do not speak English so you may also run into a problem if you take the taxi route. I stayed at an apartment in the Independence Square area. This is main square. The apartment is owned by Kiev Accommodation Hotel Service and can be booked on hotels.com. The apartment is in a great location and is only 30 USD per night. Since I arrived at night, I didn’t have time to see anything on the day of arrival. I read about a unique bar online, so I thought I would go check it out. The bar is called Palata No6 and is named after Anton Chekhov’s tale about life in a madhouse. It is hidden down a back alley and is a bit challenging to locate. The male bartenders are dressed in doctor’s scrubs and the females are dressed in white nurse’s outfits. If you ask for the Pyramida, you will be served vodka through a giant pyramid of test tubes. My husband asked for the Helmet, which involves chugging absinthe and getting your helmet lit on fire. I advise you not to order food though since it took over an hour just to get some wings. This bar was definitely an interesting experience though. On the first full day, I took a walk around the city to see the main sights. Everything was fairly walkable and goes in a circular direction. I started at Independence Square. If you have time, they offer free walking tours every day, but since I only had the one day, I wanted to explore at my own pace so that I could fit more in. Maidan Nezalezhnosti is the actual name of the central square and is also the name of the metro stop. It is located on Khreshchatyk Street, which is the busiest street in Kiev. The square is the location for political rallies, so I recommend making sure that there aren’t any going on during the time that you plan to come. I then headed down the road to People’s Friendship Arch. This is a monument built in 1982 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the USSR and the celebration of the 1,500th anniversary of the city. In 2016, the Ukrainian government announced plans to dismantle the arch as part of its decommunization laws. There are plans to put a memorial dedicated to veterans of the War in Donbass in its place. However, when we were there, the arch was still there although there was construction going on. Since the Friendship Arch sits high up on the hill, you can get a good view of the city. You can also look across the way and see Volodymir the Great statue. I didn’t want to walk down one hill and up another hill to see the statue, so I made my way to St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery. Admission to the monastery is free. Behind the monastery, you will find the Kiev Funicular, which connects the historic Uppertown, and the lower commercial neighborhood of Podil through the steep Volodymyrska Hill overseeing the Dnieper River. It is 8 UAH per trip (30 cents). I took the funicular down thinking that it would get me closer to St. Andrew’s church, but I actually just ended up walking back up the hill. However, I did walk up a cool street called Andriyivsky Descent. On this 720 meter, cobblestone street, you will find lots of street stalls selling souvenirs. At the top of the steep hill, sits St. Andrew’s Church overlooking the historic Podil neighborhood. This was my favorite church in Kiev because of the pretty turquoise color. The church was being renovated when we were there so we did not get to go in, although we were able to walk around the grounds. Not