An Evening in Podil

1. "Tiny Town" in Podil

2. Jim, Anne, and Robin at the Georgian restaurant in Podil

3. Embrace the dill!

4. View of descending funcular from the ascending one. The view in the background is the river Dnepr harbor area of Podil.

[Robin]
We met Anne and her husband, Jim, at the head of the horse in square in front of St. Sophia's and had a nice walk downhill to Podil. This stretch of walkway (Andriyivsky Uzviz) is very popular and lined with stalls with people selling souvenirs. Nearby there's also a new section of homes being built that Anne and Jim call "Tiny Town." (because it looks tiny when viewed from the park above). Probably four blocks of buildings that look close to completion but they continue to work on newer sections. None of it is inhabited, so it had the feel of being on a movie set (Suzi--Any minute the flash flood from Universal Studios was going to rush by...).

[Phil]
Anne and Jim also took us to a real Ukrainian market, where pretty much only the locals shop. Robin bought 2 very roomy but cheap bags that they call "babushka bags", since that's usually what they use to haul their stuff around in. After that we headed over to a Georgian restaurant, whose khatchapuri was MUCH better than the khatchapuri at USSR. We also had lodhi (a red beans with onion and parsely), and stewed chicken (which was not as good as USSR's), along with a plate of pickled vegetables. It was a beautiful evening and we had a great time (see photo above).

[Robin]
A comment on the bags I bought. These were also termed the "workers bags" in China. I tried to buy these same bags on that trip and could never find them in the tourist areas that they took us to. They are plaid and made of plastic and are used for everything from hauling groceries to being their suitcases for traveling.

Anne and Jim have been living in Kyiv for a while and had some great advice on places to visit and things to watch out for here. They are enjoying living here, and I think Kiev would be a good choice for someone who wanted to live abroad. They pointed out that pre-2004 Kyiv would have been a much more difficult place for us to visit. Since that time they have been amazed at how quickly things are changing and how "European" the city is becoming. They did encourage us to venture outside the city to see the real Ukraine. When we come back, I think we will definitely try to see some of the village life here.

Some of the pictures we will post will be a mix of things we have seen while here and didn't have time to post earlier. It's our last day here, and we may have just one more post (on the way home).