1-Week Anniversary

1. Robin writing on our blog at "Le Borsch". You can see the lunchtime buffet in the background.

2. Robin riding down the endless escalator at the Golden Gate metro station.

3. Phil in the Golden Gate metro station in the bowels of the Earth.

4. Side view of the Babi Yar monument.

5. No ice cream on the subway! And absolutely no sitting (? - I hope that's what it means) on the escalator!

[Robin]

It seems like we have been here more than a week, not in a bad way, but just that the days have been pretty packed and we've seen and done a lot already. Today we got up and had breakfast at the Belgian place. You are probably wondering what the attraction is of this particular spot, especially as we are in Ukraine, to explain this I will just say that it is close to our house, has a very pleasant atmosphere including a pretty above-the-street outdoor area, friendly staff and a diverse menu. This morning I had a frittata (that they called an omelet); it was really good despite being covered with the Ukranian national herb--dill--which is literally on every item of food you order. You must embrace the dill!

After breakfast we walked over to the metro station and Phil was able to buy four plastic coins/tokens for access to the subway area. One of the signs on the way in was a "no ice cream" symbol. I found this extremely funny and took a picture of it. Everyone here eats ice cream and there are an enormous number of ice cream kiosks surrounding every metro station and park. We proceeded to take the escalator down. It was the fastest moving escalator I have ever been on (Tina, it would have given you a heart attack). It also was the longest escalator (take the Atlanta airport subway system stairs times 10). We thought we had hit the bottom and then there was a short walk and then another equally long escalator down. It might have been 1/2 mile.

[Phil]

So then we made our way 2 stops to the subway station near the Babi Yar monument. It was definitely the fastest subway I have ever been on. You had to hang on for dear life. After we arrived at the station, we took an equally long set of scarily-steep escalators to the surface and then walked through the neighboring park trying to find the monument. We walked a pretty long way and only saw people strolling, drinkers, children playing, etc., but no monument. At one point we obviously looked lost, and a woman asked me in Russian "What are you looking for?". I told her "the Babi Yar monument". She gave some directions that indicated that we were going in the wrong direction, although I was still unclear as to where the monument actually was. As we walked back in the other direction, I decided to take a short cut on one of the paths through the woods. Bad idea. We passed the remnants of numerous homeless camps - broken bottles, trash, burned-out campfires, etc. I think Robin was getting a little freaked out, so it was a relief when we found the main sidewalk in the park again. So then at the metro station I asked a woman where the monument was, and it turns out that it was on the completely opposite side of the metro station and across the street. (Sigh)

[Robin]

There aren't many signs pointing out the landmarks. I can't help but think this must be how it is for non-English speaking tourists to visit the U.S. and try to tour.

Once we figured out how to find the right path, we bought some flowers to place on the monuments. There was a grey, wooden cross with stone memorials listing the names of some of the partisians that were executed. Then we walked a little further and there was a very large monument hanging over a hollow grassy area. The guide book stated that a lot of people think this statue is overwrought, but both Phil and I appreciated the scale of it and the somber cast to the very dark metal and depictions of twisted bodies stacked on top of one another. We placed some flowers at the site and really felt moved by the fact that over 100,000 died here at the end of a machine gun. Shocking.

[Phil]

What made the site even more sobering was that they had basically turned the parkland around the monument into a large depression, all the more so to remind you of the ravine where so many Ukrainians were murdered. The actual site is located in a different section of the park, although we never made it there. Apparently there is a sculpture of a menorah there in rememberance of the overwhelming number of Jews that were killed at Babi Yar. This is a fact that is not really acknowledged by the Soviet monument.

On a very much more mundane note, tonight we're going to try to go to an Uzbek restaurant that is not TOO far from our apartment. It was listed in a Russian-language Kiev magazine, so I imagine it's pretty accurate. Robin is excited because they reportedly have six varieties of rice pilaf.

[Robin]

I am also excited because they apparently have belly-dancers and/or Uzbek musicians. Last night, back at the Belgian place, they had a trio of live musicians: a violinist, electric guitarist and an accordian player. They played what sounded to me like Russian/Jewish folk music. It was great and I really enjoyed it.

Tomorrow we plan to walk around some more and then see the Harry Potter movie which is playing here and dubbed. The theater where it is being shown looks really cool and I think this will be a fun experiment to see what it is like to see a movie here.

[Phil]

Yeah, it's a really old Soviet-built movie theater at Tolstoy Place, and I've read that these kind of places are pretty amazing. We'll let you know...