Kiev - Free Walking Tour 2

When Stacy was feeling better, we went on another Free Walking Tour...and we were the only ones! 

They have some pretty unusual sculptures around the city. This one shows 2 street lamps dressed as sailors, embracing on a bench. Our guide told us that they actually change their outfits every so often.

This is the "gate" into Kiev.

Another interesting sculpture of a tree with chairs hanging from it.

One of many beautiful churches in Kiev.

Inside the church.

A well...

...a wishing well, in fact! You're supposed to put a coin on a spiget and if it stays your wish comes true. Mine stayed! YAY! :oD

Another interesting sculpture. This one represents a man who had 2 girlfriends: 1 who he was in love with, who was beautiful, but poor; and the other was ugly but rich. He ended up marrying the rich ulgy one. It's believed that if you touch them in 3 places at once, you'll be lucky in love.

This is a new statue...can you see how small it is? It represents a Ukrainian soldier in battle with a dragon, which represents Russia. It was erected in 2015.

The old gate to the city.

Another good luck statue.

This might be my favorite sculpture in Ukraine. It's a cat made of forks climbing a tree.

Kiev - Street Art

While i was walking around, i went underground to cross the street and came across 2 tunnels of really cool street art! Poftim!

Kiev - Free Walking Tour 1

While Stacy was unfortunately sick in bed, i went on a Free Walking Tour of Kiev. Only 2 of us showed up...awkward. Ever since the turmoil with Russia in Ukraine tourism had decreased dramatically. Our tour guide was maybe only 19 years old. I've been on a lot of Free Walking Tours around the world and have never only been 1 of 2 tourists. But, he still showed us around and we had a good time.

This fountain represents the 4 founders of Ukraine - 3 brothers and a sister (the sister is wearing traditional Ukrainian garb). The other guy on the tour with me asked the guide where they came from and he said "no one knows". 

This functioning clock is bordered by 100 people that were killed in 2014 when Russia invaded.

Surrounding the base of this globe is the distances between that spot and other places around the world.

This "People's Friendship Arc" was built in 1987 to commemorate the unification of Russia and Ukraine with the Soviet Union. Now there are plans to remove the arc.

The statue on the left shows Russian and Ukrainian workers holding up the "Soviet Order of Friendship of Peoples". The statue on the right shows the Pereyaslav Council. In the background is a tiny amusement park that overlooks the Dnieper River. Random.

View of the Dnieper River.

I loved the story behind this sculpture! It's called the Eternal Love Sculpture. It depicts an Italian soldier and Ukrainian woman who had met at a concentration camp in Austria where they were imprisoned by the Nazis when they were 20 years old. After 2 years in the camp, they were freed, but were separated due to politics at the time for 60 years. In 2003, the man went on the TV show "Wait For Me" which finds missing relatives, friends, etc, and the woman was found still living in Ukraine and they were reunited!

This is a sculpture of an beloved Ukrainian actor and his dog.

The tour ended here. The story is that London gave Ukraine this double decker bus as a gift. Ukraine didn't know what to do with it so they turned it into a ticket booth.

Kiev, Ukraine - (not Ukranian) Food

Here is some of the food we ate in Kiev. 

How could we not eat an Obama burger?? 

Definitely not Ukranian, but o so delicious!

We also had some "fried" ice cream which was also quite yummy!

It starts with either a vanilla, chocolate, or green tea base. They were out of green tea, so i had a vanilla base. After you choose your base then you choose the fresh fruits you want chopped in. I chose kiwi and melon.

Then they spread it all out on a frozen (not hot) tray.

Then scrape it into rolls, and wallah! Pofta buna!