Sunday, April 20, 2014

My Russian Diary - Day 27

Day 27 – April 15, Sunday, Kiev

The Aeroflot plane was small with 28  passengers only and no check-in baggage. Arrived in Kiev in one hour. First impression of the city was good. Clean, inclined streets, more beautiful buildings. Checked in at Hotel Ukraine. From the outside, it looks simple but inside, it was magnificent. After check-in and breakfast, off we go for sight-seeing. This is the first order of the day in all our travels in different places.


Kiev, the old and third largest city of Soviet Union is like San Francisco, hilly. It is the capital of Ukraine, second largest and most prosperous of the 15 republics. It has many parks, 150 in all and many memorials and monuments. Soviet cities are known for this. I guess this makes up for lack of entertainment places. Many streets were made of cobble stones. Visited the Arc of Friendship, site where Kiev was founded. Panoramic view overlooking the famous Dneiper River. Visited Prince Andrew Cathedral, a 100,000 capacity sports complex, the grave of the unknown soldier, Czar’s Palace, Ukrainian Parliament, Chekovsky University, etc. Afternoon, we were at the Exposition of Industry in Ukraine – a 300 hectare pavilion telling the story of the place. Soviets are particular of this. They have a very rich and ancient culture and they really preserved it.








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