Kyiv, Ukraine

 The beginning of July the 5-8th, I went on a trip to the Ukraine.  This would have been the furthest east I've ever traveled in Europe.  This was a trip planned through RTT the base tour company, the first flight tour I took with them.  Later this year Sam and I are signed up to go to Romania on another one of there tours.

I mentioned I was going on this trip to some coworkers and two joined me on the trip.  Sam was unable to  come along due to work obligations. 

We arrived mid afternoon, and after arriving at our hotel we had a few hours to rest/explore around the area.  We arrive in Kyiv the Thursday after the Final Euro cup game had been played.  In the photo above you can see the purple sign and the stadium where it was played.  This area was about a 10 min walk from our hotel.

Also on this walk the first day we saw many unique buildings, the above one of them.  We had a later dinner, some amazing food, local cuisine.

 Our first full day started out pretty early, driving into the city through downtown areas.  We saw a number of cathedrals during our short stay in Kyiv.  The one above is we saw during our walking tour of areas of the city.  We also ended up seeing the St. Andrew Church which was a very short walk from where we were.

 The above and to the right pictures show the St. Sophia Cathedral and Clock tower.  This site is one of the UNESCO World heritage Sites.  Beautiful Cathedral, and a great tour sharing what we were actually looking at inside. 

 Prior to our lunch on this day we stopped at the St. Michael's cathedral and the Golden Gate, marking as one of the entrances into the old city of Kyiv. 

During the afternoon we took a cruise on the Dnieper River, and witnessed the city from a new view.  From the River you were able to see the Monastery and the Iron Lady Statue.  The Iron Lady was built during the Soviet Union.  The Iron Lady faces towards Moscow, Russia.  This is one of the sites that still is marking the time of the Soviet Union in Ukraine.  At the base of the statue is the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, which we did not get a chance to go in, but would be a great place to visit and learn of the cities history during the time period.

This picture is of the statue of the three brothers and sister who came upon the city of Ukraine. 

The above pictures are taken at the St. Michael's Monastery, which today is an active Monastery.  A number of buildings of the Monastery were destroyed during World War II and been rebuilt following.  While at the Monastery we also attended the Museum of Micro miniatures and Historical Treasure museum of Ukraine.

The afternoon we attended the Outdoor Museum where we had our third meal provided with the tour.  This museum had a number of rebuilt buildings that were among the history of Ukraine.  Our entire trip the temperature was in the upper 80's-90's and topped off on Saturday afternoon in the lower triple digits.  This was not at all what I was expecting, and we were all told that the weather was very unusual of that time of year.  Guess we were just lucky enough to be there during the hot spell. 

The below pictures were a number that I took during a walk we all took Friday evening.  This took us down one of the main streets in Kyiv where a there were a number of street performers.  So many  sites to see in such a short period of time.

Located at the Friendship Arch

In the end I think everyone had a great time discovering a new city.  I meet some very great people that have traveled all over the world.  I hope my passport can be filled as much as there's.  I now have a contact that is putting together a trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg for next year.  Hoping that we will be able to go on it!!

I know this was a bit behind, but this week/weekend has given me the opportunity to finally catch up with my posts.

Hope everyone enjoys the pictures, to view more check out My Picasa web site.  If any one has questions, I will do my best to answer them about Kyiv.