Kiev isn’t the first place you think of when planning a European city break, but for those willing to make the leap, it’s well worth it.
The city is an unexpected beauty. Nestled on both sides of a gigantic river, the mix of soviet-era architecture, golden topped churches, statues, monuments and greenery were a huge treat to our eyes.
It’s also cheap. I mean, really, really cheap. It has a huge range of restaurants, and it meant we never went hungry. On our first night for instance we managed to spend £2 each, for a lot of food, beers and a decent bottle of Georgian red wine!
Throughout our trip we floated between Georgian and Ukrainian food, both delicious and both covered in dill – the country’s favourite garnish, which is literally used liberally and at any opportunity. A lot of Ukrainian food consists of sashleek – which are huge joints or slabs of meat grilled like a kebab, cheese and dill.
So, as a vegetarian, I was concerned that it would be hard to come by good food, and I’d just be left with potatoes and cheese. However, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Although a lot of cheese was consumed, it wasn’t hard to find the types of food needed to sustain my lifestyle.
Something else that we consumed a lot of, mainly due to the ridiculous cheapness of it all, was alcohol. Living in the UK, you’ll be lucky to find beer cheaper than £4 a pint. But in Kiev, you’re looking at more like £1 – yes, you read that correctly. £1. You can go even cheaper, 90p large bottles of beer can be found too. And the spirits, and they do like spirits in Kiev, are relatively cheap too. If you’re brave enough, you can take on some locally made Samohon (home brewed liquor), which although in some cases is incredibly strong, can also be really tasty.
As we experienced Kiev during Orthodox Easter, there were lots of parties and celebrations happening all over the capital. We were lucky enough to stumble across a full day festival happening at Pyrohiv, which normally is just a museum of folk architecture, but on this particular day you could pay a little extra to see live bands, and drink Samohon to your heart’s content! The old houses were beautifully preserved, and the windmills were stunning, set against the lovely Ukrainian countryside.
Moving away from the countryside, and back to the city, the greenery was still there. Parks of beautiful trees and flowers around every corner, you could really escape from the hustle and bustle of Kiev. However, if tourist attractions are your thing, there is an array of cultural monuments and statues to visit.
Rodina-mat which translates to Mother Motherland,situated on the top of a hill overlooking Kiev, is a really good place to start. The monument is a huge woman bearing her sword and shield, facing towards Russia. The views are fantastic, and it really gives you a great view across Kiev – on one side, you can see the beautiful ornate golden roof of Saint Sophia’s cathedral, and on the other side, the river snakes its way through the city, as far as the eye can see.
Kiev in one word: Picturesque
These Wild Journeys 