Kiev, Ukraine- City of Culture and Curiosity
/Lets be honest—when I told my husband I wanted to visit the Ukraine, he told me I was nuts. Well, if you have followed me long enough, you know I am always willing to step outside the comfort zone when seeing new places. I do not follow the news, not because I chose to be naïve to the world, but I think the best way to truly know a place, is to see it first hand instead of relying on preconceived notions. This is how the Kiev trip was born. To provide my spouse some piece of mind, my friend Kristi joined me on the trip. Her husband had the same thoughts, but at least we were in it together.
As be boarded our flight to the Ukraine not really knowing what to expect, we were excited and nervous. Upon landing, we breezed through passport control and onward to our prearranged car provided by Dream Hotel and Hostel. The taxi dropped us off down the street and we began to walk to our hotel, down a very busy and crowded street full of vendor stalls. It was all so overwhelming.
The staff at Dream Hotel and Hostel was absolutely incredible. At check in we met our welcome hostess who showed us facilities and to our room. The hotel was just meters from the famous Andriyivsky Descent and 15-20 minute walk to most of the historic sights.
Andriyivsky Descent offered everything from food to souvenirs, and lots of handicrafts. Over the years I’ve found the best way to get my bearings in a new city is to jump on a Free Walking Tour. We chose http://freetours.kiev.ua/free_tours.html for our tour because they had great reviews on Trip Advisor. Currently, there are two tours a day covering historic sites and some further afield in the evening. The 4 pm Tour went along Khreschatyk street and included such sights as the Arch of Friendship, Mariyinskiy Palace, National Bank of Ukraine, House of the President, National Theatre and famous House with Chimeras. Alex, our guide, gave us a local perspective on not just the sites, but also the changes since the revolution in 2014.
It was hard to believe by the cities liveliness that it had one of its biggest revolutions just a few short months ago. Every place we ate, drank or shopped the locals were always looking to help and friendly.
Here are some places that I think are truly not to be missed:
Kyiv Pechersk Lavra and Caves.
We went during Sunday mass, so it was rather crowded, but very much worth the wait. Come prepared with a scarf to cover your head and most of the churches prefer you wear a long skirt or dress. You can borrow a shawl to wrap around if you have forgotten. There are two ways to visit the caves- One is with a tour guide (which runs rather infrequent from what we gathered) and the other is self guided, which will cost you about 3-6 UAH depending on the candle you purchase to light your way through the caves. If you are claustrophobic in the slightest, I would not recommend the caves, they were narrow and at times very busy, also, there is only one-way in and one-way out. Once finished in the caves, you can visit the rest of the complexes and the main church tower near the north east of the monastery. You can enter many areas for a small fee, but some were free. I recommend paying to climb the tower as the views of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, Motherland Monument and river are stunning.
St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery.
I highly recommend visiting this, it was recently renovated and the frescos inside the church are breathtaking. It is not very large, but it sure was grand in appearance. The monastery is just a short walk from the funicular, which brings you up from the lower part of the city.
If you love food and beer, well you came to the right city. We had the most enjoyable lunch at a local brewery Solomenska Browarnia on the famous Andriyivsky Descent. 2 flights of beer and some snacks put me back about $5. I was so impressed we came back for dinner to enjoy more food and local beer. They will actually bottle the tap beer to go, so if you are in a hurry this is the place to pick up that special pint.
The city is one of a kind and that made it that much more incredible.
Happy Traveling,
Katrina
Macedonia, Skopje- The City of Statues
/I know you are probably thinking the same thing I was when Skopje came up on my fare finder last year. Where the heck is Skopje? I can assure you before moving to Europe I was unaware this little gem of a city existed or even the country for a matter of fact. Macedonia or FYROM as it’s usually referred to is tucked between Bulgaria, Serbia, Kosovo, Albania and Greece. It is a perfect starting point if you plan to see the Balkan’s as most of the car rental places allow you to cross borders without an issue.
I was only in the country for a mere 36 hours. I know, not nearly enough time to soak it in a enjoy everything it had to offer, but the city of Skopje fit the bill. I stayed at Bushi Resort and Spa right at the edge of the Old Bazaar. This hotel was a steal and a great find with the spa being inclusive of the stay. The driver from the hotel collected me on arrival and whisked me into the city. While the city has nearly a million people, the city felt quiet and quaint.
I headed down into Old Town, which was just a short minute walk from the hotel. From here I found a square full of statues of leaders, conquers and musicians. The city is not as old as it looks as many of the buildings have been built recently due to the economic stimulus in the country and many buildings have been destroyed in earthquakes. On the way into Old Town you can stop in to the Holocaust Museum and the National Theater. One of the most amazing and very unique things I found in Skopje is that they have built an area surrounding the House of Opera and Ballet with music playing from famous composers. I sat for about 20 minutes just enjoying the sounds of the music and peacefulness within this large city.
If you book in advance you can visit the home of Mother Teresa. It was closed the two days I was in town so I had to miss it on this trip. In order to get into the rest of Old Town you walk over the famous Stone Bridge. The river is being renovated right now so the views were not very good as there are backhoes, diggers and mounds of dirt along the river. They have built to ships along the river with restaurants and rooms on board. They looked really cool if you were staying with kids. Now the amount of statues that existed in this city was crazy. Everywhere you turned a statue was just around the corner. They were down the river, on the bridge, in the squares and intersections. They really provided uniqueness to the city. Looking through the building in Old Town is was so surprising to see many were just built as late as 2012, but the architecture is in line with Roman period.
I strolled back up to the hotel through Kale Fortress on top of the hill. It was a great viewpoint down into the Old Town. Since the hotel was very close to the Old Bazaar I had a look at some of the goods they had to offer. It seems many people come here to go wedding dress shopping as there was a lot of wedding dress boutiques located in the bazaar. One of the shops allowed me to have a look as some of the handmade lace gowns and they were just stunning.
After a ton of walking I went back to the resort to find an amazing spa right in the hotel. I was not expecting much due to it being in a hotel, but I was surprised by the hotels spa, which included a salt room, sauna, Turkish bath, Jacuzzi, heated loungers and large pool.
Happy Traveling,
Katrina