It's finally Fall Break so we decided that it was time to get out of the country. Four of us American teachers took a train to Kiev, Ukraine. It was an overnight train that left Moscow at 11:30pm. It was really nice because we sleep most of the way and then woke up and voila! You're in Ukraine. Ok so it was a little more complicated than that. So we left at 11:30pm. We booked our own compartment. It had four beds and a door that we could lock. At about 4:30am, the train stops at the Russian border. The train attnedants knock on the door and we had to open the door and wait for the passport agents to board the train. Then an agent comes to the door and takes our passports. He varifies our identities...looks through his book....asks us questions that we don't understand....walks away with our passports...makes us nervous...and then comes back and then we're off again. They like everything to be very official. They didn't like that some of our stamps were upsidedown. Oh Russians...gotta love them. :) Then we went back to sleep and about thirty minutes later we stop again and get to meet the Ukrainian passport agents. Then we leave again and sleep until we get to Kiev. We got there at 8am.
Once we left the train, we had no real plan about where we were going or what we were going to do for 17 hours. So, we started at a McDonald's look alike called McFoxy. Always a safe start. We get coffees as well as weird looks. It seems as though if you're speaking English and wearing a backpack...you're a novelty.
So we find the metro and decide to head to a station that looks promising. Oh and by the way, I just got my new Mukluks in the mail thanks to my mom! They really got broken in while in Kiev. We walked so much!! My roommate estimate 20 miles but we don't really know. Anyways, back to the story....we exited the metro and ask a man selling glass animals where to find a monastery. We walk the way he points and find a monument that looks like the Washington Monument. Turns out it was the The Monument of Eternal Glory at the Grave of the Unknown Soldier. Then we spotted some golden domes. We have been trained to walk towards them. :) There's always something to photograph. Turns out it was the Kiev Pechersk Lavra (Monastery of the Caves). We walked all over the grounds of this monastery looking for some caves. But none were to be found. We were on our way out and Kelsie bumps into a man. She says sorry and he replies in Engish. "Do you know where the catacombs are?" she asks. He does and points to where we should go. We walk down the hill and see an entrance to a cathedral. We all cover our heads and enter. Inside they are selling candles (which we were supposed to buy but didn't know that.) There is a small door leading down and it is pitchblack. All I can see is a small tunnel and people faces lit up the candles they hold in front of them. There is a group of people chanting and praying. I walk into a small tunnel and see a glass coffin. There is a body inside covered with fabric. I realize that these are really catacombs and they really buried people down here. I turn another corner and there are more coffins. For more than 900 years the imperishable bodies of the monastery's founders - the Venerable Anthony and Theodosius, Agapit the healer, Nestor the Chronicler, and relics of another 118 saints lie here. It was actually really amazing and interesting. I'm glad that we found it.
We decide that it is time to leave. I wanted to see this particular monument called the "Steel Wench." We decided that it looked to far away on the map but turn the corner and see her in the distance. I guess she wasn't that far away. She is really the Monument of the Motherland and is a memorial to the Great Patriotic War or WWII. There are actually two elevators inside the monument and tourists were once able to go inside the head, sword and shield. But these were closed due to a series of accidents. (yikes.) After that I was pooped. I really needed something to eat. We took the metro to Independence Square. We found a McD's and decided to eat there. After refueling we went outside and just happened to see the Friendship arch that I was wanting to see. This arch was built to celebrate the union of Russia and Ukraine. Next to the Arch were lots and lots of stairs leading up a hill. We decided to take them and discovered a Puppet Palace. It is actually a puppet theater and museum. We took some pictures of it. By then we were really cold and wanted to find some place to warm up. An art musuem sounded great. A little after this conversation, we walked right up to a huge art museum. We spent a few hours here. We also found information about the National Chernobyl Museum. Next we went here. It was a very interesting museum and I didn't realize how close this disaster was to Kiev. After this, we found a tram and took us up the mountain...more like a hill. Here we found a beautiful cathedral and also a monument built for the millions who died in a famine. The rest of the evening was spent eating and waiting around for our 1:21am train back to Moscow. About 30 minutes of that time was spent looking for a Starbucks. :) We asked a couple people making us look like typical dumb Americans. No one knew so we figured there wasn't one in Kiev and sadly, there isn't. I guess this monopoly with it's delicious coffees hasn't yet reached the quaint city of Kiev.
We were all amazed at how much we saw in just one day. Not speaking the language, not knowing the town, and only having one little map. We were thanking the Lord for all that we saw that day. I hope this blog entry wasn't too boring for you all. It was a great Fall Break trip. Now what to do with the rest of my Fall Break??? Work maybe? sleep maybe? ooo...shop? yes, i think so. From Russia With Love, Kristin
Once we left the train, we had no real plan about where we were going or what we were going to do for 17 hours. So, we started at a McDonald's look alike called McFoxy. Always a safe start. We get coffees as well as weird looks. It seems as though if you're speaking English and wearing a backpack...you're a novelty.
So we find the metro and decide to head to a station that looks promising. Oh and by the way, I just got my new Mukluks in the mail thanks to my mom! They really got broken in while in Kiev. We walked so much!! My roommate estimate 20 miles but we don't really know. Anyways, back to the story....we exited the metro and ask a man selling glass animals where to find a monastery. We walk the way he points and find a monument that looks like the Washington Monument. Turns out it was the The Monument of Eternal Glory at the Grave of the Unknown Soldier. Then we spotted some golden domes. We have been trained to walk towards them. :) There's always something to photograph. Turns out it was the Kiev Pechersk Lavra (Monastery of the Caves). We walked all over the grounds of this monastery looking for some caves. But none were to be found. We were on our way out and Kelsie bumps into a man. She says sorry and he replies in Engish. "Do you know where the catacombs are?" she asks. He does and points to where we should go. We walk down the hill and see an entrance to a cathedral. We all cover our heads and enter. Inside they are selling candles (which we were supposed to buy but didn't know that.) There is a small door leading down and it is pitchblack. All I can see is a small tunnel and people faces lit up the candles they hold in front of them. There is a group of people chanting and praying. I walk into a small tunnel and see a glass coffin. There is a body inside covered with fabric. I realize that these are really catacombs and they really buried people down here. I turn another corner and there are more coffins. For more than 900 years the imperishable bodies of the monastery's founders - the Venerable Anthony and Theodosius, Agapit the healer, Nestor the Chronicler, and relics of another 118 saints lie here. It was actually really amazing and interesting. I'm glad that we found it.
We decide that it is time to leave. I wanted to see this particular monument called the "Steel Wench." We decided that it looked to far away on the map but turn the corner and see her in the distance. I guess she wasn't that far away. She is really the Monument of the Motherland and is a memorial to the Great Patriotic War or WWII. There are actually two elevators inside the monument and tourists were once able to go inside the head, sword and shield. But these were closed due to a series of accidents. (yikes.) After that I was pooped. I really needed something to eat. We took the metro to Independence Square. We found a McD's and decided to eat there. After refueling we went outside and just happened to see the Friendship arch that I was wanting to see. This arch was built to celebrate the union of Russia and Ukraine. Next to the Arch were lots and lots of stairs leading up a hill. We decided to take them and discovered a Puppet Palace. It is actually a puppet theater and museum. We took some pictures of it. By then we were really cold and wanted to find some place to warm up. An art musuem sounded great. A little after this conversation, we walked right up to a huge art museum. We spent a few hours here. We also found information about the National Chernobyl Museum. Next we went here. It was a very interesting museum and I didn't realize how close this disaster was to Kiev. After this, we found a tram and took us up the mountain...more like a hill. Here we found a beautiful cathedral and also a monument built for the millions who died in a famine. The rest of the evening was spent eating and waiting around for our 1:21am train back to Moscow. About 30 minutes of that time was spent looking for a Starbucks. :) We asked a couple people making us look like typical dumb Americans. No one knew so we figured there wasn't one in Kiev and sadly, there isn't. I guess this monopoly with it's delicious coffees hasn't yet reached the quaint city of Kiev.
We were all amazed at how much we saw in just one day. Not speaking the language, not knowing the town, and only having one little map. We were thanking the Lord for all that we saw that day. I hope this blog entry wasn't too boring for you all. It was a great Fall Break trip. Now what to do with the rest of my Fall Break??? Work maybe? sleep maybe? ooo...shop? yes, i think so. From Russia With Love, Kristin
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