Welcome to the first post of our 'See the World' journal entries! In 'See the World' we will feature a new destination every week. We hope the images and write up about these locales will get you excited for your next adventure or maybe even inspire your next trip. If you've been somewhere awesome, send us some pictures and a note and we would love to post about it! With Euro 2012 taking place in the Ukraine this summer what better first stop than Kiev.
If you don't speak Ukrainian or Russian, Kiev is always exciting as everything is in Cyrillic and not many locals speak English.
The architecture ranges from beautiful gold domed churches to Stalinist blocks to modern. We stayed in the vicinity of the central Kiev Square, Maidan Nezalezhnosti which translates to Independence Square. This is the center of public activity and where the Orange Revolution took place in 2004. There were concerts every night when we were there and a skating rink.
From our base, our main plan was to visit the Motherland Statue.
On the way there, we stopped at the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, also know as the Kiev Monastery of the Caves, an Orthodox Christian Monastery that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We checked out the bell towers and cathedrals and toured the underground cave system which had living quarters, chapels and catacombs. Definitely worth the tour!
Just beyond the monastery and also in the Pechersk district is the National Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War (of 1941-1945).
The memorial complex is on the bank of the Dnieper River and is centered around the 62 meter tall Motherland Statue which weights 560 tons!
Walking around, you can find lots of local places to eat with no english menus, luckily you can always find a place with a buffet to point and pick food! Did we mention it's a great night out as well? Book your flight for the Euro now!