Kharkov and Kiev: Dancing and Walking

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Kharkov and Kiev 21-30 June

Day 1

Yanaul - Moscow, about 20 hours, by train.

This time I go to Kharkov and Kiev for no other occasion than to see Tiesto again, the mighty dj, dance and have some walks round the cities. Especially Kiev, photos of which are on a broken hard disk drive which needs to be repaired. May be you will hear about that first trip later. I started early in the morning. I like when a train trip starts early in the morning, it means one can sleep for at least some hours due to tiredness. I hope you forgive me if my English is not quite authentic in some phrases.


I laid almost during the whole day, listening to my player. My earphones got broken, but we reached Kazan after midday, so I had an opportunity to buy new earphones.


I was sleepy the whole day, but managed to read two books. The first was by P. Wodehouse, Right ho, Jeeves, about an aristocrat and his servant. I like English humour immensely, it is so kind and peculiar. The second book was S. Crane’s tales of the Civil War. Reading lets me forget about time, and I am not bored. The women, my neighbours, one in particular, got very interested about me reading English books and asked who I was and why I read English books. I answered as appropriate.


A train in summer can be very exhaustive if it has no fresh air supply. Which occurs not very rarely. Not all trains are equipped with air conditioners, but an open window is a Very Good air conditioner. What strikes me most is that people get cold with an open window. I myself can get cool, but not cold. Besides, it's summer time and the air is warm.


This is the first story I am writing outside home. It is cloudy in Kharkov, and it is not so hot. I am rather excited about the walk, and I am hungry. I will have a bite soon.

Day 2

Moscow - Kharkov, about 13 hours, by train.

The train arrived to Moscow at 4-40 in the morning, 5 hours before the train to Kharkov. I did some things to kill the time: received my train tickets, brushed teeth, looked for currency exchange. Then I sat until 6 o’clock, to wait until the metro opened, and in ten minutes was at the Kursky Railway Station. There I was to spent some 3 hours. So I bought food, batteries, and sat in the waiting room, feeling very sleepy. However, I did not sleep. I had a snack (very interesting details, ha-ha) and read the book of Crane’s stories to the end. Music was the thing which made me energetic.


I like speed trains, like this one. It stops almost nowhere, only for some minutes in big cities. And it had an air conditioner. The cities we passed were Tula, Orel, Kursk and Belgorod. This time I did not read any book, because was very sleepy, though sleeping in a chair is difficult. However, time flew rather quickly, and when I fell sleeping again, I was awoken by the conductor saying it's Kharkov.


I was rather happy to the square in front of the train station. It was dark already, and the lights were on, which made it look wonderful. There are benches and fountains - a nice place to have a rest.

Day 3

After such good sleep I went to buy a sim-card, and was arrested again, they though I was taking drugs, but yes of course, I’ve been taking them for the whole night!! They say my eye pupils looked suspicious, so what, I'll just wear sunglasses next time. I hate such situations. May be I will attract less attention wearing glasses. Now sitting in the hotel, watching TV, translating a document and drinking juice.
The hotel is very cheap, less than 10 euro per night, a double room. I am alone here now. The hotel is some 2 minutes away from the train station, and that’s what I like most. It has a usual Soviet look, but I care not for anything luxurious or modern at the present stage of my life. Only need a minimum of conveniences, most crucial of which are a bed, shower and electricity. The view from the window, 6th floor, is the train station, trains, and the square in front of the station, with people going to and fro like small ants.


After 3 o’clock I will have a walk with a girl. Looking forward to that. But the walk took only 20 minutes, a rain burst out, and we parted. I went home, sadly. Perhaps she did not like me.


So, my decision is to ask her for a walk tomorrow again, and tomorrow I myself will be walking a long way. Get up early in the morning and walk throughout the city. Oh, Tiesto in the evening, i.e. night, will make me happy as no other man/woman can! One more note before I leave to watch TV - girls here are beautiful. The day is over, and my low spirits were a bit cheered up by that very girl and watching TV - I almost don’t watch TV at home. I drank a small bottle of cocktail. Speaking of alcohol, I am a person who was drunken only once (twice) in my life. I take first few drinks with pleasure, and then I have the feeling of pouring liquid into my body without an apparent reason. I don’t take much pleasure in drinking, except that you get a bit relaxed.


I will spend two more nights here, and then leave to Kiev.

Day 4

I slept very well and got up early, and had a 4-hour walk in the centre of the city. I wanted to see the cathedrals again, then went on the Sumskaya Street to the Square of Freedom and Shevchenko Gardens. It all looks no less beautiful than in autumn. There was an exhibition of dinosaurs on the Square of Freedom and the entrance was free. There were big reproductions of dinosaurs and some other prehistoric animals. It seemed to me that I had a more vivid feeling of content this time, as compared to the first trip in September. One of the most magnificent cathedrals is the Pokrovsky Cathedral, and one should know that it is prohibited to walk in shorts there. I’d rather not break the rules, and the guard man gave me good trousers. I spent a very short time there. By the way, it is not a very long way from the train station, so I walked on foot.


Kharkov is very good, with all the paraphernalia of parks, fountains, old buildings and amusements.


Then came a whole hour and several minutes of pure pleasure. I met with K., the girl. We went to the Botanical Gardens and sat there talking, since both were tired. It was immensely unusual to have such nice communication, lively and interesting. I will always remember it. She gave me many presents, it was absolutely unexpected. The Botanical Gardens are free of charge and small. We found only one bench there. I will not reveal all thoughts concerning the girl here, and to conclude, I’ll say that we parted.


When I came to the train station I noticed how wonderful the square was. It looks colourful and lively. Actually, few train stations have such great places of rest in front of them. I was still more astonished when I went there again to find food, and heard classic music playing there. How amazing! And every one seemed to be enjoying themselves, children and grown-ups and myself. I will definitely miss K. very, very much. It’s so easy to communicate in the internet, but embarrassing in the real life at first. I am no man to get accustomed at once, I need some time for that. It simply means that it takes time to know another person.


There is going to be a huge party with Tiesto tonight, my main hope is not to get caught by the militia again in the metro and not fall asleep during the night. I’ll be filling my stomach with energy drinks, caring little for their possible harm.

Day 5

The party began from an enormously stupid and very unpleasant thing. The guys at the entrance behaved like idiots when they saw my ticket, bought from the official site of the company. You know, that’s an e-ticket, which one prints. They said I drew the ticket myself and the website of the company, which has a good reputation, is a fake, and a dumb-headed policeman said I must go away. That’s a very good example of disrespect for people. Why does the company sell e-tickets if their dumb-headed personnel make round eyes and violate their clients' rights? I have several times visited parties with e-tickets, and there were no such stupidities. I suppose it will be the same in Kiev. What strikes me most is that when finally a man checked the ticket and the police let me in, guys at the second entrance behaved exactly in the same way!!! I got very nervous. Finally, they let me in. That's ugly and disgusting, no matter what excuses there might me. There shall be no excuses for such treatment. I express my resentment towards such people.


My spirits were low. I danced for a while, and then Tiesto started playing, amazing, energetic, and extremely powerful. There were only 3 djs who made me forget about time - Above & Beyond, John Digweed, and this time Tiesto. It was 3,5 hours of complete pleasure and drive. The way the crowd shouts “Ti-es-to” in chorus is beyond description. He played the best tracks from the Kaleidoscope album and some good old classics. I enjoyed every second of it.


I went home by taxi at 4 o’clock in the morning. It was already sunrise, and I had enough money to have a taxi, not to waste time in waiting for a metro or tram. The driver was like some man from a horror movie, coughing terribly and spitting in the window, I would suppose he has a very severe lung disease or something, and one might suggest such a man might take you to a forest and do something bad.


While the taxi drove I saw some one-storeyed old buildings which made me think of cities and towns. I suppose each an every city has this contrast between new and old, poor and luxurious, beautiful and ugly. Kharkov does. It feels extremely good when one comes home pleased after a good night, I mean a party night. We drove on the Poltavsky Shliakh, and since I did not walk there and still have a whole day before leaving for Kiev, I will have a walk there.


I am thinking about K., the girl, very often. That conversation with her left a deep and long-lasting impression on me. So, I will write about today’s events in the evening.


Always hope for the better, be ready for the bad, and try to be optimistic, if you can.


Before I left for Kharkov, that’s a small digression, I watched two films about the Universe, and about us, the humans, and also about too complicated issues like the matter, dark holes and the theory of Big Bang. I was interested in astronomy from the seventh grade. Who we are and why are we in this world? If we are a step of the evolutionary process, then in thousands of years we must develop into some other beings. By the way, they were searching for extraterrestrial creatures (finding planets like Earth, if more specific) in one of the films. I like films about development of the Earth, and about its nature.


One more thing - K. has a very charming Ukrainian accent. There is a strong idea with the teachers that your pronunciation in a foreign tongue must be perfect, to which I am strongly opposed as far as this concerns the ultimate goal of communication, which obviously is not making lovely sounds with your mouth and vocal cords, but simply trying to convey information. I understood this very clearly when I was in Europe and tried to mutter sounds in Polish, French, and Dutch. I studied them on my own with various levels of success, but only by books and had no one to speak to. My specialty in the institute was English, which I do speak. But in those languages I managed to convey my ideas. Primitive though, like buying a metro ticket or other things. As long as people understand you and you don’t wish to be perceived as a native speaker, pronunciation does not matter. If people don’t understand you, that’s something to develop, but if they do - never mind your pronunciation. I watched several BBC films, and liked the accent of the story tellers very much. It’s simply magnificent!


I walked on the Poltavsky Shlyakh. It is an old street. I simply needed to get to the cash dispenser. Then I looked at some more monuments and went home.

Day 6

Kharkov - Kiev, about 10 hours, by train

I was very sleepy and slept all night very well, and the train was late for about 20 minutes. I did not book the hotel in advance, but went straight to it. They made me wait for about 1.30 hours, the receptionist being absent. How sad, there is no TV-set in the room and no shower. The shower is on the floor I suppose.


I decided to walk in some parks and visit the Kievo-Pechorskaya Lavra. I started from the Kreschatik, the main central street, and first of all visited the Maydan Nezalezhnosti (Square of Independence), which is a wonderful place with a huge monument, a trade centre, benches, statues and fountains. It's one of the places which make Kiev peculiar. I’ve only had some 6 hours of walking. Here is my complete route: metro station Maydan Nezalezhnosti - Evropeyskaya Square - Khreschaty Park - Missky Gardens - Square of Constitution - Mariinsky Park - Arsenalna Square - Ivana Mazepi Street - Alleya Geroyev (The Alley of Heroes) - The Memorial to Famines Victims - Kiev-Pechorskaya Lavra - Naberezhnoye Highway (here one might better go somewhere else, to visit the next point) - Square of Heroes of the Great Patriotic War - Vidubitska Street - Vidubitsky Monastery - The Central Botanical Gardens, and after that some two bus stops to the hotel. I’ve notices that when I came to this city for a second time, distances seem to be less, and I can plan my route more effectively.


Parks which I visited are all large, and there are vast pieces of forest, which is not so usual for other large cities. At some points one can get a view on the Dnepr River and the modern apartment buildings on the other bank, and bridges. If you are interested in history of the 1920-s and 1930-s, you will surely find it interesting (and sad) to see the huge memorial to famines victims (it is a complex of various monuments). It shocked me to read inscriptions on marble stones, by Lenin V.I. and Trotsky. I will include a photo of that.


The Kievo-Pechorskaya Lavra deserves a special talk. When I first visited it, I at once included it into my list of my favourite places. It has a lot of churches, monuments, and is just the right place to have a quite walk, think about your life, and simply enjoy the aesthetic beauty of it. One can come to Kiev to see only the Lavra, because it’s really worth seeing. I will not speak more of it, just come and see.


Then comes another huge memorial complex, dedicated to the Great Patriotic War. You’ll surely notice a huge statue from far away. It looks astonishing. I was determined to see it this time, though on my first visit I saw it only from the Lavra and did not know that the distance was not so long. I also visited an open-air exhibition of military machines: aircraft, tanks etc.


After that I walked about a kilometer or so to the Vidubitsky Monastery, and again saw beautiful churches hidden among trees. Several steps away from the monastery there's an entrance to the Botanical Gardens, which also offers the pleasures of nature, walking, and rest.


Tired, but satisfied, I went home.

Day 7

Today is a very hot day. I had a short walk today, because I have to finish the damned translation and go to the party. In any case, walking long in such heat is not so easy.


Here is my route, which I even can suggest as a good route for seeing the main monuments (on foot): metro station Ploschad Lva Tolstogo - Park named after Shevchenko - &&& Cathedral - The Opera - Volodimirska Street - Sofiyska Square, the Cathedral - Mikhailovsky Zolotoverkhy Monastery - Andreevsky Spusk - Frolovsky Convent - Kontraktova Square - Sagaydachnogo Street - Pochtova Square. That’s much to be seen on this route. I was again being very stupid. First of all, I did not charge the camera accumulator, but fortunately, it would suffice for some 4 hours, so I bothered little about that. Then I came to the Sofiyska Square and saw that the price was 40 hrivnas, but I had not the money, so I spent some time finding a cash machine, and only then did I come back to the cathedral and see that the ticket to the territory cost only 3 hrivnas. I have to be more attentive. The cathedral itself is magnificent, and it is very old. One definitely should see it. Then, there is the monument to national hero Bogdan Hmelnitsky, and right from that point you see another colourful monastery - the Mikhailovsky Zolotoverkhy Monastery. I adore the colours of it. Remember that I almost never go inside them, so I speak only of the external appearance.


If you return to the Volodimirska Square, you will have a great opportunity to see works of art - the whole right side of the street is full of pictures and drawings for sale, big and small, in very different styles. An art lover will certainly not leave that place empty-handed. As for myself, I can't draw absolutely, so I express my greatest awe for the talented people, artists in this case. There are still more drawings and other pieces of art on the Andreyevsky Spusk. Girls, you’d better not walk on heels there, because the pavement is cobblestone. Right at the beginning of the Spusk you’ll find another astonishing church, standing high above the hill.


I saw drawings of very different styles there: something modern, landscape paintings, portraits etc. A little way down there is the building where the famous Russian writer Bulgakov lived, and a monument to him. One of my personal favourites is his “Master and Margarita”. Please read it, if you haven’t.
Building No. 24 on the Sagaydachnogo Street has a special treat. It's a cheap and tasty self-service restaurant (or cafe, I don’t know exactly). It’s more like a canteen, and everything is neat, nice, tasty and cheap. The name is Puzata Khata.


From the Pochtova Square you can have a look on the Dnepr River and take a boat trip. I didn’t, not this time.


After all that I went home, did the translation and had an immensely fine night. It was a crazy 4-and something hour marathon with Tiesto.

Day 8

This is the day of my departure, and the train is only at 6-30 in the evening, so I can have another walk. Here is the route - it’s quite subjective I think. I walked directly from the hotel to Ploschad Lva Tolstogo (about 2 km), then to the Kreschatik Street. I visited it the last because I have been there during my first visit to Kiev in December 2009. From there I went to the Park “Volodimirska Gorka”, then again to the Pochtova Square and then to the Park’s Pedestrian Bridge. It is old and needs painting, but on the whole I enjoyed it. I always enjoy, and I even had a bathe in the Dnepr. It was cold.


After that I simply went to the train station on foot. Today, having got back home, I understood that I dislike most of all the time of waiting for the transport. It makes me sad.

Day 9 was spent in the train, and this time I read Hemingway’s “Farewell to Arms”.
Cheers)

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Photos

A View from the Hotel
to the left, the train station, to the right - the largest building in the city

Poltavsky Shliakh
one of city's oldest streets

Monument in Honour of Ukraine Independence
one of my favourite places in Kiev

Maidan Nezalezhnosti
Square of Independence

no title
the same square

Part of the Memorial to Famines Victimes
a huge structure