Kiev, Ukraine

Currently, I am on the plane departing from Kiev, Ukraine on our way to Krakow, Poland. Kiev, known for its beautiful women with bottle blonde hair offered more than just human beauty but also architectural jewels within the city walls. To get some background on the country, we did some research. We learned that not only was Ukraine apart of Russia for most of the 1900s, but that Russia is still a very big part of their everyday lives. Most citizens speak Russian on a daily basis and even as their primary language. Also, Russia is their number one trading partner so it is a very important part of their economy.

As for Kiev, it is the capital and largest city in Ukraine, and is also co-hosting the Euro Cup soccer games. The city is also pretty close to the location where Chernobyl, the site of one of the most disastrous nuclear accidents of the twentieth century. There was 100 times more radiation released through the Chernobyl accident than that released by the atom bombs dropped in Japan. We visited a museum that explained exactly what happened and the effects of the accident. Apparently, the accident happened because when they were building the power plant they wanted it to be more efficient so they left out some parts that seemed unimportant but resulted in the self-destruction of the of the power plant, hundreds of deaths, and radiation for hundreds and thousands of years. The Chernobyl disaster was the worst nuclear incident in Europe and although there is no way to know how many people were affected, we do know that the deaths and deformities originating from this accident will continue for many years .

We also got a chance to walk around the old town and see the medieval churches and buildings. A lot of them were redesigned many times over the years so we could see the different styles like baroque, and the original frescos. It was pretty cool to see the different architectural styles all in one building. My personal favorite was St. Andrew’s Orthodox Cathedral. It had a beautiful pale blue exterior with domes plated with gold leaf.

Also in the city, we got to visit a very cool store called Sarahunt, that was filled with highly edited fashion, catered mostly to young rich Ukrainian women who were very tall and thin. It was fit with a café and four floors of both men and women’s fashion and beauty. It was a nice oasis to the days of sightseeing. All in all I learned a lot about Ukrainian history.