Downtown Kiev (Kyiv) June and July 2021

Kiev has some interesting artwork of mosaics on their buildings. This one is my favorite. It is located by the registrar office where we had to register for temporary housing. 

We walked after our registration and found a beautiful park called "Mariinskyi Park" There next to it was the "Mariinskyi Palace" where the government is. It is a beautiful building. 

The palace is usually heavily guarded and many demonstrations take place there or other government buildings. We did not investigate and found a cute area of restaurants to eat. I found my favorite restaurant called "Vatra" We have been there several times. They have this honey cake to die for. 

Here is a recipe I found online but I have not made it yet. It sounds like it would take a long time to make. not all bakeries make it the same, so you have to find the right kind. I like mine with plenty of sugar.      Honey Cake Recipe

We went to the Opera and Ballet Theater in Kiev the second week we were here with other missionary couples and some members of the church whose husband's work for the Embassy here in Kiev. We were able to see the Ballet "Swan Lake".  The theater was grandioso, and the Ballet unbelievable. We had second row seats and social distancing. It was like we were the only ones attending.

Kiev is a very busy place. Many cars and trolleys and buses. The tunnels to the subway (metro) run very deep underground. Sometimes in the busier sections of the city you have to walk using the underground tunnels to get to the other side of the streets. There are usually shops of all kinds, small markets, phone supplies, convenient shops, and many, many flower (KBITKA) shops. Sometimes when it rains real hard the tunnels get flooded. We have ventured out taking buses and the metro into town. It is a long process and you have to give yourself time but the adventure is worth it. 

This is the "Red University" in the heart of the city. It is also one block from the Church Offices. 

Below are the long escalators to the metro. There are two flights of escalators. The metro is run very well and goes all the way out to the road the temple is on, but you have to take a 20 minute (HA....Roads are so crowded at times that it takes longer than 20 minutes) ride to the temple site. But it is an adventure.

Once we went down with a missionary couple on the metro and one the way home two stops before we were to get off the train stopped and everyone got off. We didn't know what was happening, so we got off with everyone else and the train disappeared into the tunnel, then another one came with a crowded train and we squeezed into it like sardines. 

We sometimes have to go downtown for team meetings. We have take Ubers for rides, but next time we will try the bus and metro. It might take a little longer, but we like adventures. We figure if we get lost we will call Uber...that mode of transportation is very good here.

Language Barrier: since we started Russian lessons in 2019, here it is Ukrainian and little different. 

We get by, surprisingly. Most of the younger generation speak a little English. When we don't understand we just make a weird face and say something like, "only English" so then the people either ignore us or try to explain by actions. It is interesting.