KIEV IS A LARGE CITY TODAY...
IT MIGHT REMIND SOME AMERICANS OF CHICAGO...
THERE ARE A FEW THINGS THAT CREATE LASTING FIRST IMPRESSIONS....
FIRST...THE MASSIVE APARTMENT COMPLEXES...ALL WITH THEIR STANDARDIZED "STALINIST BALCONIES"... REMEMBER KIEV WAS AND IN SOME WAYS STILL IS A "SOVIET STYLE" PLANNED CITY.
THE TOURIST WILL SEE THESE BALCONIES BY THE THOUSANDS...COMING IN FROM THE AIRPORT....ALTHOUGH SOME APARTMENTS HAVE BEEN RENOVATED...OTHERS STILL SEEM RATHER "LOW INCOME"...
THERE ARE NEW APARTMENTS BEING CONSTRUCTED THAT DO NOT RESEMBLE THE "STALINIST" RESIDENTIAL "MASSIVES" THAT YOU SEE BY ALL THE SUBWAY STATIONS...ALL OVER TOWN.
AS A RULE... THE CLOSER AN APARTMENT COMPLEX IS TO THE METRO STATION...THE OLDER IT IS...
AND THE MORE LIKELY IT WILL APPEAR RUN DOWN...
THE "NICER" NEW APARTMENT BUILDINGS...WHICH ARE ALL STILL HUGE ....PERHAPS NINE TO FIFTEEN STORIES TALL .... AND ABOUT AS LONG AS A FOOTBALL FIELD...ARE THEREFORE FURTHER AWAY FROM THE OLD METRO STATIONS...AS A RULE...
MOST OLDER APARTMENTS HAVE COMMUNITY WELLS THAT TENANTS COME TO FOR DRINKING WATER...BECAUSE THE TAP WATER IN KIEV IS...WELL, ....QUESTIONABLE?
YOU WILL SEE PEOPLE COMING TO THESE WELLS WITH TWO HUGE PLASTIC WATER JUGS ON EACH HANDLE BAR OF THEIR BIKES...
WHY THEY CAN'T CLEAN UP THE WATER IN KIEV IS BEYOND ME...?
THE PARKS AND PUBLIC TOILETS IN KIEV ARE NOT UP TO US STANDARDS...
GENERALLY THE "MAINTENANCE" OF THESE "PUBLIC PLACES" IS LEFT IN THE HANDS OF "BABUSKAS" OR RETIREES...
THE GRASS IN THE PARKS IS A BIT TOO HIGH...AND THE WEEDS TO BIG...
AND THE PUBLIC TOILETS...FOR WHICH YOU HAND A BABUSKA 2 IN UKRAINIAN MONEY...? ARE, WELL... PROBLEMATIC.
LETS JUST SAY...USED THE MICKY D'S BATHROOMS....! OR THE ONES IN THE MAJOR HOTELS...
KIEV IS DIVIDED INTO MANY DISTRICTS NOW...
MOST OF THE "LEFT BANK" (FACING SOUTH) IS NOT HISTORIC...IT'S A FLAT FLOOD PLAIN THAT IS MOSTLY INDUSTRIAL AND MASSIVE RESIDENTIAL APARTMENT COMPLEXES NOW...BUT IT MAKES AN IMPRESSIVE "SKYLINE" ...VIEWED FROM THE HISTORIC CITY...IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT'S REALLY OVER THERE..."ACROSS THE RIVER"...
THE RIGHT BANK...ON THE HILLY SIDE OF THE RIVER...IS THE HISTORIC PART OF KIEV...
KIEV ORIGINALLY HAD THREE DISTRICTS...
FIRST THE OLD CITY ON THE HILLS WHERE ST SOPHIA AND THE MAJOR CHURCHES AND ELITES WERE LOCATED...
SECOND, PODIL...WHICH IS THE RIGHT BANK FLOOD PLAIN WHERE THE MERCHANTS LIVED...YOU GET TO PODIL BY TAKING THE FAMOUS ANDREWS DECENT...FROM THE HISTORIC CHURCH THAT RASTELLI ...DESIGNED IN THE 1750'S... RASTELLI DID THE HERMITAGE AS YOU MAY KNOW...
THE THIRD HISTORIC DISTRICT WAS ACTUALLY A "SUBURB" IN THE 11TH CENTURY...
THIS IS WHERE THE CAVES MONASTERY IS LOCATED ...
AND THE RULING CLASSES HAD THEIR "HUNTING LODGES" IN THIS "REMOTE" PART OF KIEV IN THE 1100'S!
...THIS DISTRICT IS JUST TO THE SOUTH OF THE OLD CITY...BUT IS STILL IN THE RIGHT BANK HILL COUNTRY...THE GOLDEN DOMES ARE VERY IMPRESSIVE WHEN SEEN FROM THE RIVER...OR ANYWHERE ELSE!
KIEV NEVER RECOVERED FROM THE MONGOL INVASIONS OF 1242...
BUT IT WAS NOT DESTROYED...RATHER IT WAS USED BY THE MONGOLS AS A GATHERING PLACE FOR THEIR LOOTING EXPEDITIONS ...FURTHER INTO EASTERN EUROPE....INTO POLAND, RUSSIA, HUNGARY AND EVEN PRESENT DAY AUSTRIA...
THE MONGOLS ... AKA "TATARS" .... DID NOT STAY IN WESTERN EUROPE...
BUT THEY WERE AN HISTORIC PLAGUE FOR THE KIEVAN RUS... AND THE NORTHERN RUSSIANS FOR OVER 200 YEARS...
AFTER WHICH THE MONGOL "EMPIRE OF LOOTING" FRACTURED AND FINALLY COLLAPSED...
ALTHOUGH THE CRIMEA WAS A HOLD OUT FOR THE MONGOLS...OR MORE ACCURATELY THE "TATARS" ...WHO WERE A BRANCH OF THE MONGOLIAN TREE... AND REMAINED UNDER OTTOMAN TURKISH PROTECTION ....UNTIL FAIRLY RECENT TIMES...
HENCE THE RATHER "ASIAN" INFLUENCE IN CRIMEA EVEN UP TO TODAY...
SO THE ORIGINAL THREE HISTORIC DISTRICTS OF KIEV ARE STILL RECOGNIZABLE TO THE VISTOR...
BUT KIEV HAS EXPANDED INTO IT'S SUBURBAN DISTRICTS ...WHICH ALL STILL HAVE A MOSTLY RUN DOWN STALINIST LOOK...
THE CITY IS NOT REALLY "OVER-STORED" LIKE THE US... MUCH SHOPPING IS STILL DONE AT THE UNDERGROUND METRO STALLS...
ALTHOUGH THERE ARE SOME TOP SIDE "SUPERMARKETS" THAT HAVE AMERICAN STYLE SHOPPING...
INDEPENDENCE SQUARE HAS THE GLOBUS SHOPPING CENTER WHICH IS ABOUT 80% UNDERGROUND ....LIKE MOST KIEV SHOPPING AREAS DOWNTOWN... AND IT'S VERY WESTERN IN APPEARANCE...LIKE ANY MALL IN THE US...
KIEVANS LOVE TO STROLL ON KRESHATIK STREET WHICH IS THE "MAIN STREET" ALTHOUGH IT'S NOT VERY LONG....
KRESHATIK EXTENDS FOR ABOUT LESS THAN A MILE FROM THE BASSARABIA MARKET (AN HISTORIC MARKET ...AT THE FOOT OF TARAS SHEVCHENKO BLVD.... WITH AN INTERESTING LENIN STATUE STILL STANDING)
IN SUMMER... KRESNATIK IS CLOSED ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY FROM EARLY MORNING ... UNTIL ABOUT 10 PM...FROM "TSUM" (NOT" GUM") DEPARTMENT STORE...TO INDEPENDENCE SQUARE...THAT'S ABOUT 1/2 MILE...
AND THERE IS USUALLY AN 'EVENT' OF SOME KIND PLANNED...WHICH BRINGS OUT THE CROWDS...
BUT SINCE THE METRO CLOSES AT MIDNIGHT...IT TENDS TO BE AN EARLY NIGHT FOR A LOT OF YOUNGER PEOPLE ...WHO HAVE TO GET HOME BEFORE THE METRO STOPS RUNNING...
THOSE WITH CARS CAN STAY LATER...AND THE CARS ARE PARKED ALL OVER THE SIDEWALKS...BUT IT IS ACTUALLY ORGANIZED AFTER A FASHION...SORT OF PARIS STYLE PARKING...
KRESHATIK IS A GREAT PLACE TO HAVE A KIOSK BEER...MAYBE A KIEVAN "HUT DUG" (HOT DOG)...GRAB A PARK BENCH ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE STREET...WHICH HAS THE WIDER SIDEWALKS...
AND JUST WATCH THE PEOPLE GO BY....
THE DOWNTOWN IS MOSTLY CLEAN...SAFE AND VERY MODERN... TRY TO FIND A JUNKY LADA...THERE ARE A FEW...MAINLY OUT IN THE SUBURBAN PARKING LOTS...BUT I THINK THEY ARE COLLECTORS ITEMS NOW...
KRESHATIK WAS MOSTLY REBUILT AFTER THE WAR...BECAUSE MOST OF THE BUILDINGS WERE BLOWN UP DURING THE NAZI OCCUPATION...SO KRESHATIK HAS A STALINIST 50'S IMPERIAL LOOK...
BUT... THE REST OF THE "OLD TOWN" AREA HAS A VERY 19TH CENTURY LOOK TO IT...WITH HIGHLY DECORATED BUILDINGS LIKE IN KRAKOW, PRAGUE OR LVIV...
SOMEHOW SAINT SOPHIA...THE CROWN JEWEL OF KIEV...HAS SURVIVED ...AS WELL AS THE VERY IMPORTANT "CAVES" MONASTERY ....AND FOR THAT WE CAN BE THANKFUL...!
MORE LATER.
