A few weeks ago Alex had a holiday on a Monday (never happens!) so we wanted to go somewhere for a long weekend. We were planning on going to Istanbul with our friends John and Trudy but we waited too long and the flights got really expensive, so Kiev, Ukraine it is!
We arrived in Kiev at 2:00am (probably why the tickets were much cheaper), got to our hotel and went to bed. Poor Alex had just gotten back from South Africa that morning and hadn’t actually slept at our apartment until before we left for Greece. Needless to say, he was exhausted. Once we all woke up for the day, we grabbed a really delicious breakfast at a nearby cafe then headed to the center. We started off with a hop on hop off bus tour to get a better feel for the city. We hopped off at a huge complex filled with churches, museums, markets, etc. We walked into one of the churches and were amazed at how beautifully decorated it was. Gold from top to bottom. We also walked through a small (kind of weird) market until we reached the building we were looking for, the Caves. Inside these narrow, dark caves are the mummified bodies of monks. We walked in the caves with our heads and knees covered, holding a candle and were immediately greeting by a group of women singing in low, chanting like voices. It only helped to add to the creepiness of the caves. We left soon after and hopped back on our bus. Kiev is huge, so it was a great way to see the main points of the city. Once we got off the bus, we found a bar to cool off in and have a beer. We saw someone order a flight of colorful shots so naturally, we had to try it too. We then had dinner at a “secret” restaurant where a password was required to enter. John gave it in perfect Ukrainian (or they let us in anyways) and we all enjoyed a (cheap!) meal of chicken Kiev.
Bright and early the next morning we headed to the train station to meet up with our group going to Chernobyl. Honestly, I really didn’t know much about Chernobyl so I wasn’t sure what to expect. We were all required to wear jeans and a long sleeve shirt which was a bit uncomfortable since it was 85°. When we arrived, we had to go through a series of steps just to get into the restricted area. We had to show paperwork and our passports to get through the gates, our van was checked and we got a radiation dosimeter to wear around our neck. Once through, our first stop was to the small town of Chernobyl for a few minutes then we moved on to Pripyat. Once in Pripyat we got out of the van and had an hour walk through the abandoned town. Everything was really overgrown which helped shade us from the hot sun. We walked past abandoned apartments, schools, hospitals (where we pointed a geiger counter over a piece of clothing worn by one of the firefighters and it jumped from 0.6 to 600!), a cinema, hotel, and much more. One of the more interesting stops was to an abandoned amusement park with bumper cars, swings and a Ferris wheel. Since 2011 visitors are not permitted to go into any of the buildings because they’re falling apart and not safe to enter. Our guide being young and adventurous, asked us if we wanted to go into one of the abandoned buildings but we had to be really quick and quiet about it. We all readily agreed! We entered a small back door, walked up two flights of stairs and came upon an old gym with a basketball hoop still intact. We continued through the gym and came upon a huge pool. We took a few pictures then continued through the locker room and then quietly made our way back out of the building. We got back in the van and continued to a firehouse, police station (littered with old, rusty vehicles) and a prison. We then stopped at the sight of the reactor – the thing that caused so much devastation. It was very surreal to stand before the sarcophagus (the huge protective dome) knowing the damage it once caused. Once we finished there, we headed to lunch. Before being able to enter the building, we had to walk through a radiation detector to check our levels. We all passed the test and were allowed to eat in the cafeteria. Then we had one last stop to the radar station before heading back home. To get out of the contaminated area, we had to go through two more radiation check points. We again all passed (only once, 10 years ago did someone not pass and had to leave their shoes behind) and headed back to Kiev. We ate dinner at a local restaurant then headed to a cocktail bar. Kiev is really cheap so we were able to try a bunch of cocktails without breaking the bank. We stopped at a bar called Witch Bar for a cocktail. It was really interesting because the waitress had us pick a tarot card and that card would then coincide with a drink. The only problem was that the drink list was all in Ukrainian, so until we received the drinks we didn’t know what we were getting. The waitress came over and explained the meaning of our cards to each of us (health, happiness, etc.) and we all decided to trust the cards and get whatever drink came with it. It was a fun way to pick a cocktail. Alex’s cocktail even came with a mirror for him to say a wish then turn it backwards so it would come true. After we had one more cocktail, we left to find a secret bar. This bar was seriously secret. No signs, no address, nothing. We ended up finding it by walking through an apartment building, through the other side to where a bunch of people were sitting outside. I’m glad we found it because it ended up being a highlight of the trip. We ordered a drink while Alex and John worked up the courage to order the “hammer” drink. The bartender gave them jackets and a helmet then proceeded to light the helmets on fire! He gave them 3 shots each to drink, hit them in the head with a wrench and then a keg, blew alcohol onto their helmets causing a huge flame then give them a fiery high five. It was insane! But oh so fun to watch. We called it a night soon after that.
We had most of the day to kill before our flight back to Cologne. We visited a few more beautiful churches, the deepest metro station in the world, a small souvenir shop, a food market and ended at a bar for one last drink. This trip exceeded my expectations. Kiev was a lovely, modern, lively city and I would totally recommend a visit. Thanks John and Trudy for joining us on this trip (and planning it) we really had a great time! I might just go back for the delicious port wine 😉
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Boy, you’re learning a lot on these trips! Love hearing about all the crazy stuff you do!
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