We eventually left beautiful Antalya, feeling all emboldened and simultaneously Ottoman and Roman. We ate like kings and queens, and soaked up the sun. But alas, it was back to Odessa. Now late November 2017, I hadn't been back since I left for Prague in June.
We flew Turkish Airlines over the mountains for a short layover in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. I will NEVER forget that flight, as the 737 was thrown around on down draft air currents coming violently off of the mountains and making for one turbulent ride. At some point it got so bad that the cabin went completely silent. The flight attendants all disappeared. The pilots stopped all communication back to the passengers. The plane dropped into vacuum air, then caught hard air at the bottom and lunged right and left. A woman sitting one row up from us got out of her seat and kneeled down in the aisle and started praying. But we landed in Ankara. From Ankara we took an uneventful flight back to Odessa. Fun fact: Ukrainians are fond of clapping when the plane lands. It's a sure sign that you're back in Eastern Europe, in fact. It really silly, and kind of gauche, but after a while you sort of come to enjoy it
We pick the story up in Kiev, actually, the capital city of Ukraine and the oldest city in all of what was once Kievan Rus, later Russia. Kiev is one of my favorite cities. A note: it's becoming more fashionable to spell Kiev "Kyiv," as I think this is the Ukrainian-approved version and Ukraine has made strides to distance itself from Mother Russia (it hasn't, really). I still spell it Kiev. Use either expression for now. The city is pronounced "keev" in English no matter what anyone says. To Kiev...
Independence Square in Kiev city center. A must see. No worries: it's the center of the city center. If you miss it, you have major issues.
The square on some other trip to Kiev. We made several. Most of the photos in this post are from the December 2017 trip. We were there for the Catholic Christmas, better known to readers of this blog (most of them) as "Christmas." In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, Christmas falls on January 7 due to differences in the calendar adopted (or not adopted) by the Catholic church dating back to the Middle Ages. We have the "updated” date in the West.
Other note: The square is where the protests and unrest all take place. There's a wonderful tribute to Ukrainian protesters and icons of the independence movement. Among them are singers and activists who died under mysterious circumstances from former Soviet governments. I have a photo of it somewhere...
I don't know man. Maybe no.
As I remember it, the statue is of the founders of Kiev, a legend that dates back to antiquity. Kiev is the original (I may have said this) seat of Kievan Rus, which became Russia after hordes of Mongols invaded it, along with Vikings from the North and variously Turks and marauders from what is now Poland. The city and indeed Ukraine itself sits on high steppes, which is great for nomadic travelers like Cossaks, but not so great when trying to defend against Mongols like the Khans. Kiev changed hands over its long history until, eventually, the Slavic people migrated north and founded what is now Moscow and Saint Petersburgh, the center of Russian rule only for the last few hundred years. The whole question of the origins and history of Kievan Rus is very confusing and contentious. Suffice it: Slavic people know their own blood and their own people, and unlike Westerners they take pride in pulling things IN to the center. This is a cryptic remark that I will leave sit as is.
Photo taken on my last night in Kiev before flying to the US, through Berlin, Copenhagen, Reykavic, and to Chicago. I remember this coruscating palatial grandeur well. Ah, wait. I believe this is Ukraine University. The main university.
You know you're in Eastern Europe when you're man-on-horsing' it.
It says "Italian restaurant" errr "Home Kitchen." The food is generally bland but bakeries are wonderful. I can’t recall this restaurant.
The square is great for just hanging out. Relaxed atmosphere. Chill people. When it's not chill people protest and get assaulted and die. As advertised, you can see the memorial at the base of the statue to some famous folks (now dead) from the independence movement.
Looking from the square to the main street in front.
He's got his hands full. Or will soon.
"Kiev Creep-toe Confurentzia." Or in other words "Kiev Crypto Conference." The alphabet is Cyrillic, which of course is not Latin-based like English and other languages (mostly, the Romance languages like French, Italian, and Spanish). Technically English is Germanic, along with modern German and Swedish. Spanish and the rest (Spanish is considered Iberian Romance grouped) are the so-called "vulgar" Latins. English is a melting pot of grunts from hairy Germans and some suave French throwing in some "wi, wi." Russian is Balto-Slavic, which puts it on another branch of the large Indo-European family, and mostly explains why it's hard to learn Russian generally if you're a native speaker of a romance or Germanic language.
Yeah.
A singer I think. He died in a car crash. Yeah.
A "tzoom" is a big apartment store. The West doesn't quite have the equivalent of this anymore. It would be something like a large store like Nordstrom or J.C. Penny or something but with other stuff. Like a mall but all in one building. Sort of. Anyway that's a "tzoom."
The horse is like "Dude, you're not bad actually. And thanks for getting off my back."
Statue of man holding hat and umbrella. Wink, wink. I don't know who this is. There are actually lots of statues in Kiev of historical folks holding their hats and umbrellas.
Very famous old hotel in Kiev.
This is Saint Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery. Very beautiful. You can pay a couple of hrievnas and take a tour of the grounds. Very much worth it.
Shoveling snow.
You can see the mural in the background. Very beautiful.
Man-on-horse. Here you'll not he's killing a small dragon.
Elevated man on horse
Merry Christmas!
Sadly, I don't recall which cathedral this is.
Another shot of the I think Opera Hotel.
This is the old Gate that used to protect ancient Kiev. It was burned down by whomever, and later rebuilt in I think the 19th century.
Pantoosha, the cat. Legend has it that Pantoosha was the favorite cat of the owners of an old bar (behind me where I'm taking the photo). The bar burned down, and Pantoosha reportedly helped save some folks. Or something like that. Pantoosha warned folks of the imminent conflagration. More likely. More likely still: the cat bolted when the place caught fire. Anyway they memorialized her here.
Here's the memorial to fallen Ukrainian freedom fighters in Independence Square.
They founded Kiev.
Get a Slavic girlfriend. Go to Kiev. Stand in a snowstorm, happy as F%$*. I love Kiev. I know I said that. To me it was the real soul of Ukraine. Odessa is sort of a Russian port city by comparison. It's a long discussion.
Another aspect of Kiev: it is the heart of all unrest and trouble. Here we photograph a protest outside of then president Poreshenko's offices near the square. The police are turning their backs on purpose to avoid getting their faces in "Western" cameras.
I'm not sure the significance of the clock here. Note the cross in front.
Anya in the square.
Perfectly wintrous.
Monument to the independence movement from Russia. This whole issue of Ukrainian independence is just enormously complicated. I will attempt to explain it some other time.
Happy girl.