After my travels to Ukraine, I think it very well might be one of the best former Soviet countries to visit. I found the capital Kiev to be an interesting and beautiful city, and the seaport town of Odessa had some of the best World War II history I had so far visited. Many places remain unexplored in Ukraine such as the resort towns in Crimea along the Black Sea, or some of the huge national parks located to the west. Based on my experiences here in Ukraine, I definitely look forward to returning and seeing other parts of this country someday.

The capital of Ukraine is the city Kiev, located in the north central part of the country. Its population is approaching 3 million people and most of them live in high rise buildings found all over the city. Kiev has several large districts within its border and is split by the Dnieper River. Most of the interesting places for travelers and main downtown areas rest in the western side of the Dnieper. Above is a shot of the eastern side on the upper left, and some high rises on the right.

These two monuments above were built in the Soviet times. On the left in the Park of Glory is a monument and eternal flame dedicated to Soviet troops who died in World War II while fighting the Nazis. This park seemed to go on forever and had lots of people enjoying the spring weather and going for strolls while stopping at the occasional ice cream or food stand. I know about a year before my visit a woman was arrested in the park for cooking hotdogs and frying eggs over the eternal flame saying it was nothing more than a Soviet propaganda site. I think everyone would agree that the Nazis were evil, and since the memorial honors those that died fighting them it looks like I'm going to side with the Soviets on this issue! On the right is the Mother Russia statue which is almost 200 feet in height. It's part of the WWII museum or Great Patriotic War Museum as former Soviet countries often call it. I found it interesting that the tip of the sword on this statue was cut in order to keep it lower than the Pechersk Lavra cathedral's tower.

The war museum of Kiev was closed by the time I got there on Sunday, and is closed all day on Mondays. I was able to get inside and take the single photo above on the left since they hadn't locked the front doors yet. The other areas outdoors were open and worth a visit which included a military park with dozens of tanks, an ICBM Missile launcher, a few aircraft including a mig and other forms of military vehicles and artillery.

Also in Glory Park directly in front of the Rodina Mat statue are these military portraits. Both sides of the statue are lined with military learders during the Soviet era.

The memorial on the left is from a great famine known here as the Ukrainian Holodomor; something I had never heard of until I visited Kiev. In the 1930s when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, a famine started which killed an unprecedented amount of people; between 2 and 4 million with some claims even reaching as high as 8 million. The greatest tragedy about the Holodomor is that this wasn't created by forces of nature such as a drought or natural disaster, but instead was man made. There are probably some people who argue against this being a man made disaster, but most blame the famine on the economic policies of the Soviet Union, and some go as far as to say it was an intentional way to murder Ukrainians to demoralize rising nationalism. In 2006, the Ukraine government passed a law officially declaring the Holodomor as genocide, and denying this is now a criminal act. Now that Ukraine has once again gained independence in the 1990s they are able to control their own destiny. The statue on the upper right is far from the Park of Glory, but is of a group of Vikings that were credited of taking over the settlement of Kiev and transforming it into a city in the mid 9th century.

For some reason I've found it nearly impossible to find out what this building on the upper left is. Since it's nicely taken care of and located right outside Independence Square I figure it could be anything from an art museum to a school. I do know that the large fountain on the right stands in front of the Berehynia statue. The Berehynia is a Slavic goddess who protects the homeland or in this case Ukraine, it was built in 2001.

These two buildings are also part of Maidan Nezalezhnosti or in English, Independence Square. On the left is the Arch on Triumph which felt quite small when compared to the last Arch of Triumph I came across in North Korea. The right side buildings are businesses and a hotel and was where I got picked up for my trip to Chernobyl. I stayed close to Independence Square so I found myself walking through here almost daily. There were always a lot of vendors here, and selling T-shirts seemed to be a popular trend at the time. I also so a beer stand that was selling alcohol when I passed by at 8 in the morning! The most entertaining thing I came across was two guys dressed up like Disney animals and when some older teenager walked by and gave one of their tails a hard pull. The guy dressed up didn't take this lightly and immediately took off his smiling animal head portion of his costume to reveal his true identity. He gave the head to his friend and started to angrily shove the teenager around. The guy who pulled the tail was clearly intimidated and backed out without fighting.

Center Street which extends after Independence Square is amazing, and even better to visit during the night. I had missed the visit to Center Street on Saturday night because I was somewhere else in Kiev, but a taxi I was in pointed out the fireworks in the sky and told me there was a larger festival going on and I was disappointed that I missed it. These photos are from a Sunday evening and you can see there was still lots of life music, street performers and plenty of activities going on.

These are two other photos I took while walking down Center Street. Unfortunately all the photos I took of restaurants and the street performers were not worthy of posting on my website, so you'll have to take my word on it that there is plenty of entertainment here. I expected the lively part of the street to extend only a block or two but I walked to the very end and there was never a shortage of people and busy businesses. Since I'm a budget traveler and I was solo in Kiev I never gave any of the nice restaurants a chance, but next time I won't miss out.

One of Kiev's most famous religious sites is the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, also referred to as the Cave Monastery in English. The cathedral was founded 1,000 years ago in 1015 AD. The ancient history of Kiev Pechersk Lavra and its complex underground cavern system is what make it famous today. Some of these caves are rumored to be over 1,000km in length and even reach other cities like Moscow! I find that difficult to believe, but regardless there is no denying that the cave system is complex and impressive and definitely one of the largest of its kinds in the world. Above on the left is the Cathedral of the Dormition, and on the right part of the Church of the Saviour at Berestove.

Like a church I visited in Sochi, Russia, women visiting churches in Ukraine were normally seen covering their hair. The two women on the left I believe were just visiting like I was, on the right two women are actually knitting though at first I thought they were sending text messages.

I also didn't have a guide in the monastery, so I just have to assume that this bell here was one of the originals that was kept in the bell tower but has since been replaced. They had this on ground level outside to be viewed, or maybe they simply took it down for cleaning and maintenance purposes. I'm also not sure if the Easter Eggs on the right are always kept here or maybe they were created during Easter which had been only a few weeks ago.

Next on my list of cathedrals and monasteries was St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery. This beautiful monastery has an interesting past. It was first built in the 18th century though the history of churches and worship on these grounds goes back 1,000 years. In the 1930s, the Soviets felt the need to destroy the monastery and replace the it with their own Soviet Administrative center for the Ukraine region. Once Ukraine got independence, they almost immediately rebuilt the monastery to the original design before the demolition.

My favorite Cathedral was St. Sophia's. Along with the cave monastery, St Sophia's cathedral is also named a world heritage landmark. Like the other two monasteries, this one is also about 1,000 years old with its history beginning in 1037AD. On the left is the main complex of St Sophia's cathedral, on the right is the bell tower which you are allowed to climb and gives some amazing views of Kiev.

Kiev has an endless amount of cathedrals and churches, so it would be impossible for me to list them all on this webpage. Probably the same could be said about city squares, such as Bohdan Khmelnytsky square on the left with a park and buildings immediately behind it. Both of these photos were taken from the top of St. Sophia's Bell Tower.

I spent my first day in Kiev walking around aimlessly and stumbled across these two places. The building on the left is a beautifully made metro stop; unfortunately on another day I happened to see the train arrive and it was on the opposite side of the beauty scale! The rainbow on the right is used above some concert grounds, and it looked like I had just missed some event. Everyone was for the most part leaving but I think it had been some type of music concert.

The good thing about walking around Kiev randomly like I did is you'll never run out of any kind of small stores if you need a snack to keep you going. Above is a coffee shop and on the right is an indoor shopping mall that was underground. During the spring and summer, you'll also never have problem finding ice cream anywhere in the city.

These surrounding photos are the remains of the city of Chernobyl. I've dedicated a full page to Chernobyl and have over 60 photos so check it out here. The city was abandoned in 1986 after a nuclear power plant melted and forced citizens to evacuate leaving most of their belongings.

To the very south of Ukraine is the city of Odessa. It's a relatively new city and is only 200 years old. Odessa is famous for its beaches and warm weather, but to the southeast is the peninsula of Crimea that extends out into the Black Sea. I didn't get to visit Crimea on this trip, but from my understanding of both places I think it would be fair to call Odessa Ukraine's Miami and Crimea Ukraine's Key West. Since Odessa is a big city, it's the largest port for the country and makes trade possible by ship to other Black Sea nations like Georgia, Bulgaria, Turkey etc.

My hotel wasn't in the nicest area of town but the people here were still nice. I met an evil group of guys in their early 20s in Kiev and a guy who I think wanted to fight me on a bus in Odessa, but otherwise everyone else I met was helpful and nice to me. Above are some of the more common living spaces for locals in Odessa. I actually had a room in an apartment which was nice since the building was shared by locals and not in a touristy area. This made it more difficult to travel though since hardly anyone speaks English here.

Odessa is made up of several districts, like this cobbled stone area that leads into the most popular street called Deribasovskaya street. On the right is an indoor mall in the city.

One of the most famous buildings in Odessa is the opera house which opened over 200 years ago. It's long been a source of pride for the city, and after World War II ended this was one of the first places that the Soviets returned to inspect and were happy to see it had received virtually no damage from the war. On the right is the theater itself with some ads on the left showing upcoming events.

The icon of Odessa is the Potemkin Stairs, seen as the entrance to the city for those coming from the sea. By the Potemkin Stairs are several of the city's most famous landmarks. In 1925, a silent film was made on the tensions between the the Tsar's Cossacks and Czars, with one of the most brutal scenes showing Tsar's marching up the steps killing dozens of unarmed people. This event never actually happened, but as the film was such a success it's always associated with the stairs today. To the right located close to the stairs is Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov's Palace in Odessa, with a large statue of him below in a city park. He was a famous Russian prince known for his leadership in the Napoleon Wars and other battles that took place during the mid 19th century. The man on the lower right is a modern day military hero who told me he was once crew on a Soviet submarine. Since I once lived on an American naval ship when I was in the Marines, I guess technically we were cold war enemies at one time, with him once scoping out US military ships. I was able to gesture to him that I was once on an aircraft carrier and he shook my hand.

I'm not sure what the building on the left is, but it was right by the opera house and it got my attention. On the right is the Spaso Preobrazhensky Cathedral located on Deribasovskaya street. With no guide and not knowing any local languages it was hard to get information about this place.

These paintings were all for sale around the front of the church. Several artists have their work set up here and offer pretty good prices.

Ukraine seems to love city parks, but the ones in Odessa appeared to be maintained much better than the ones in Kiev. This nice park is located in the center of Odessa and for some reason seemed to be extremely popular with young mothers.

Two random pictures from Odessa, some teenagers playing in a park on the left, and some younger kids going on a field trip to the Opera house.

Like Kiev, there is no shortage of international restaurants here. I passed by a McDonald's in Kiev that was super packed and later regretted not getting a photo, so I took one of a McDonald's in Odessa. The photo on the right was my lunch at a very nice restaurant in downtown Odessa. I was going to go back since the prices were good, only $6 for that meal at an upscale place! The people here though ripped me off and charged me $4 for a 8 ounce bottle of water so its a shame that you have to be careful even at nice restaurants with corruption. Most of Ukraine is known for its nightlife, and of course Odessa being a seaside town is one of the best. I didn't go out drinking in Odessa since I was traveling solo and more than a few drinks at night when you're by yourself is never a good idea.. Even though I didn't visit the main nightlife strip where I hear there are lots of clubs, there are plenty of other nice bars that are throughout the city. I do love Guiness so when I came across an Irish pub I tried to order one but they were out. This Mexican restaurant had a nice bar in it and great food too.

 

And of course one of the highlights of Odessa, the sea and their beaches. There are miles of beaches here in Odessa, some are packed like Otrada Beach in the surrounding photos, while there are some remote beaches and even a nudist beach out there as well. The water was still cold in May, but if you're willing to get used to it it's not that bad after you give it a few minutes. The weather was still warm though with temperatures in the mid 70s F or mid 20s C and most people out to work on their tans.

An example of a nice cafe along the beaches of Odessa and a street shop selling fish on the right. Odessa has several beaches along the black sea, with these photos being only one of them. I didn't make it to the other ones, but everyone here seems to worship Arcadia beach.

Like almost every city in eastern Europe, there is some deep world war II history here and fighting here when the nazis entered. Above is a memorial for those who fought the nazis in the city of Odessa in the military museum here. There is plenty of equipment from the war and personal items such as the medals on the right. Below are two motivational posters from the war which say "the motherland is calling" and "avenge" respectively (Thanks Ami!).

One of Odessa's most famous features is its underground catacombs that are said to be the largest in Europe. Originally these natural catacombs were expanded by miners and after they were abandoned they were taken over by criminals and smugglers. This has an interesting history in itself, but probably their most important service was during World War II when people fought the nazis by living underground here, sometimes up to several years. Most of the catacombs are blocked off, though there are entrances all over the city. On the left is one entrance that has been blocked. On the right is a machine gun that had been positioned in front of an entrance and was manned by a soldier in pure darkness. This made it impossible for Nazis to enter the catacombs and see what was ahead of them, and would run into machine gun fire.

After spending so much time underground, the partisans eventually decided to build some more infrastructure which includes the large classroom on the left and the bed designed for several people on the right.

Examples of how laundry would be done and clothing dried while the partisans lived underground for several years. The well on the right still has water and was their life line to being able to survive here for so long.

Some of these items are authentic World War II memorabilia, but most are replicas. The two photos show a Soviet command center on the left and some World War II gear on the right which includes Molotov cocktails.

On the left is a repainted slogan that was used by the partisans who were living in the catacombs. On the right is a setup of what one of the Soviet Leaders offices would have looked liked.

Above is a memorial build for those who lived and fought the Nazis in the caves during World War II. The memorial was built about 40 years ago, but the writing on the wall was written during the actual war. I don't know what it says but I know it's a comic insulting the Nazis.

Outside of the major cities, rural parts of Ukraine look like pretty much any other country. Farmlands seem to be the biggest real estate taker with a few small villages and communities in between. I passed by several really tall posts that had some giant birds nesting in them with chicks in rural parts of Ukraine. I was on a bus though so I couldn't get a photo which was pretty disappointing. One town I passed through even had a mural of the nesting storks so it seems like they live in harmony with the people. 

Aside from the obvious forest fire prevention, I'm not sure what else these sign say. It seems they care about their outdoors though, and I was sad I didn't get to make a trip out to any of the national parks. At least it leaves something to look forward to when I revisit. Below is a photo of a bench in a forest about an hour away from Kiev and some tree in bloom that I saw all over the country.

When I visited Ukraine it was the end of May, right when the trees had just reached full green and temperatures were consistently warm. I've always like outdoors and nature, especially green scenery like above. These trees above and on the right only grow up in the northern latitudes of earth, so it's not very often I get to see them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, I traveled with my macro lens and took some quick macro shots like the picture of these two guys I found. Both seemed somewhat common in Ukraine, the beetle on the left I saw many times dangling on these flowers. I'm not sure what the guy on the right thought he was doing, but several of his friends had also climbed to the highest point of a plant and were just hanging on admiring the view.

 

Ami from USA: Beautiful photos! The motivational posters say "the motherland is calling" and "avenge" respectively. The first slogan in the catacombs says "blood for blood, death for death". The forest fire sign says "Take care of forest fires!" I look forward to reading the rest of your site!