Ha, a few of you will get that Alan Partridge joke. That’s what it was like for us, so we decided to leave the house and force ourselves to go on a long walk, since it was so mild out. We looked up what was supposed to be a cheapie Chinese food place, and walked all the way there thinking about sweet & sour chicken balls (yes, we know, we know- trash, not “real” Chinese food, but the heart wants what it wants) instead of perogies for a change. We finally found it tucked behind a little alley and went inside… only to see the entire restaurant had been rented for a wedding. Oh, people, you can’t imagine the disappointment! So we walked a bit further and went to a sushi place instead.
Ukrainians are OBSESSED with sushi. Every second restaurant is a sushi place. The thing I am going to take away from Kiev will be a million shoe stores, lingerie stores, and sushi restaurants! Now, we’re not eating at the same type of quality places we’d go if this was a proper holiday, but I’m really thinking here that sushi must be hit or miss. Today’s was pretty good. But I’ve had some that were literally a bit of salmon the size of a pinkie fingernail wrapped in rice cooked to the consistency of oatmeal. And oddly, soy sauce is so expensive here! A little bottle of Kikkoman is over $10 CNDN. Isn’t that insane?
Then we walked home down Taras Shevchenko Boulevard, past the Botanical Gardens which are now in the throes of autumn. It is hard to believe that tomorrow will make it 6 weeks that we’ve been here. I actually get pretty sad when I think of going home, both of us just love it here and have already committed to returning sooner rather than later for a holiday. And the fact that it’s pretty much off the beaten track for tourism is such a bonus- you just know that in a handful of years you will see a Starbucks popping up here and there, and a Pizza Hut and Burger King. Kiev right now reminds me so much of Prague in the mid-nineties when it was 10 cents for a beer, and you could easily live on less than $15 CNDN a day including your place to stay. It just feels like you are somewhere else completely in the world, and I really love that.
We heard the bells of Volodymyr Cathedral ringing not in the regular ding-dong manner, but a beautiful repetitive chant full of different tones. If I ever figure out how to upload sound from my iPhone onto here, I’d make a link because I’m also taping sounds I like while I’m here, as well as taking photos. The Cathedral is a bright rich yellow like the colour of an egg yolk and the domes on the top are a deep navy blue painted with little golden stars that shine against the reflection of the sky. We went inside to take a look, and of course, the beauty again was stupefying. All the frescos that were stories tall and flecked with 24kt gold leaf, deeply shadowed, so everything looked like it was painted in faded jewel tones of burgundy, navy blue, ochre, plum, chocolate.
And then the yellow candles everywhere flickering in front of the gilded paintings of the saints, each in their special nook while ladies in babushkas prayed and crossed themselves and lit more candles. The smells of beeswax and the frankincense swirling as the church was blessed, and the choir of ladies sang- their voices carried up to the very ceiling of the domes… and again, there I started with the waterworks. I don’t know what’s the matter with me.
What else to tell you guys? While we’ve been here I’ve been doing a bit of family tree stuff because this whole trip has made such an impact on me. I keep looking at the faces of the people, especially when I see old photos in museums, and I guess I’m trying to see if I recognise bits of myself anywhere. I feel like never before that this is really “my place”, where I’ve come from and a sense of pride that I’ve never experienced before. I’ve been in touch with a guy that has some overlap on the Gorda side of our family, and now we’ve traced the Gordas back to 1803 in the village of Volka, which kept going back and forth between the Austro-Hungarian empire, the Russians, Romanians and Ukrainians. I’ve found my great-great grandfather’s paperwork from when he and his sons landed in Canada. Volka is now part of the Ukraine, and the entire industry of the village revolves around making wedding dresses, of all things! They are shipped all over Ukraine and Russia. I thought that was funny, it would be nice if we could actually go there but it’s like a 16hr train ride each way… so we’ll have to save it for another time.
Anyways, I didn’t take those photos of Volodymyr Cathedral, because obviously you are not allowed to, but I found them online and I’m including them here. Enjoy.
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